JPS Health Partners With NRP Group on Apartment Project

Fort Worth’s public hospital system, JPS Health Network, partnered with NRP Group to turn an old parking lot into an apartment complex.

JPS formed a public facility corporation to be a partner in the development of Thrive on Crawford, a 67-unit affordable housing project at 1310 Crawford Street, according to Cleveland-based NRP Group’s Max Whipple, the firm’s vice president of development. The recently completed project is adjacent to JPS’ Southside Fort Worth campus.

JPS owns the land the project is built on, and NRP Group leases the ground. Of the property’s 67 units, seven are reserved for people making 30 percent of area median income; 24 are set aside for folks earning 50 percent AMI; and 29 are reserved for renters making 60 percent AMI. Seven units will be offered at market rate.

The project is part of the state’s 9 percent housing tax credit program. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs selects projects for the competitive program, which provides equity for affordable housing development. The project also received financing from the Near Southside tax increment financing zone.

Thrive on Crawford cost about $21.8 million to develop, and the tax credits provided $15 million of the financing, Whipple said.

The pair teamed up in 2020 for the project, which opened in January. The pandemic got JPS leadership thinking about employees’ commute times and sparked interest in providing affordable housing options for employees, Whipple said.

NRP Group has developed similar projects in Ohio, partnering with Metro Health and Cleveland Clinic, Whipple said. To his knowledge, this project is the first of its kind in the state of Texas, but the developer has plans to utilize the public facility corporation program more widely in Texas. It is partnering with Austin Independent School District on a $142 million, 674-unit multifamily project on property owned by the school district at 4900 Gonzales Street, Whipple said.

Thrive on Crawford is just one example of a hospital system becoming more involved in Texas real estate. On the office side, health care institutions are taking advantage of office distress by purchasing office properties they plan to use. For example, University Health purchased a 143,00-square-foot office building 6200 Northwest Parkway on San Antonio’s Northwest Side in 2024 for $28 million or $196 per square foot.