Voucher shortfall places 1950 Fort Worth Avenue rehabilitation at risk, staff say

City staff told the Housing and Homeless Solutions Committee on May 27 that the planned rehabilitation and re-opening of the Miramar property at 1950 Fort Worth Avenue is at risk because a voucher contract with the local public housing authority is, as of the briefing, not in place.

Darwin Wade, assistant housing director, said the project's developer/operator considers project-based voucher subsidy critical to the project's financing and operations. "Without the voucher contract, this project would be in jeopardy," Wade said.

The project team reported ongoing conversations with Dallas Housing Authority, Housing Forward and HUD headquarters in Washington to resolve the subsidy question. Christine Crosley, director of the Office of Homeless Solutions, told the committee that vouchers are being used in other programs (including Street to Home) and that unobligated vouchers are not available from those sources for the Miramar project at this time. Crosley said the continuum of care and public housing authority determine voucher allocation practices and that HUD has encouraged targeting vouchers to people with the highest barriers.

Committee members urged urgency. Council members said the city has invested significant funds in the property and asked that tenant-based vouchers be made available if project-based vouchers are not yet obtainable. Staff said they would continue to pursue project-based vouchers but also explore tenant-based options and other subsidy mixes; staff warned that an unresolved voucher contract will delay the environmental review and thus delay use of federal construction funds and the property's opening.

Timeline and status: staff said the project came close to an opening timeline but that the voucher uncertainty would delay that schedule. One committee member cited an expected opening in March or May 2026 during the discussion, but staff said the voucher issue makes any previously stated timeline uncertain.

The committee requested additional follow-ups including deeper engagement with the Continuum of Care, DHA and nonprofit partners to identify vouchers and to return to the committee with options. Staff said they were working the issue with urgency and that multiple voucher and subsidy paths were under review. No formal action was taken during the briefing.

The Miramar/1950 Fort Worth Avenue project is funded with multiple sources and intended to produce supportive housing; the lack of an executed voucher contract is a critical path item that will determine whether the property can open on the previously projected timetable.