Oldham Goodwin breaks ground on $71M Stockyards apartments

Oldham Goodwin Group broke ground July 16 on The Exchange, a $71 million, 296-unit affordable apartment project just north of Fort Worth’s historic Stockyards, even as the district’s headline $1 billion redevelopment sits frozen in a legal fight. For developers, the contrast is the whole story: build the piece you control, and let the contested megaproject wait.

Why it matters

Big district redevelopments live or die on entitlements and partners, and the Stockyards’ $1 billion second phase is a case study in what happens when those stall, a dispute has parked it indefinitely. Oldham Goodwin’s move is the pragmatic counter: a self-contained, financeable phase on 14.6 acres that does not depend on the larger plan clearing court. Pairing with a housing authority on an affordable product also de-risks the capital stack in a high-rate market. It is a template for advancing a walkable district one shovel-ready parcel at a time rather than betting everything on a single grand approval.

The numbers

The Exchange sits at North Main and 29th streets, developed with Fort Worth Housing Solutions, and delivers 296 affordable units ranging from studios to three-bedroom apartments, with a pool, clubhouse and dog park. It anchors a 14.6-acre mixed-use plan that also envisions a Home2 Suites by Hilton, retail and dining. The separate $1 billion Stockyards North renovation, by contrast, remains stalled pending a legal resolution.

What’s next

Watch whether The Exchange’s start pressures the parties in the $1 billion dispute to settle, or whether smaller phases keep filling in around it. Either way the North Texas pipeline keeps building: The Exchange follows The Lucille financing in Uptown Dallas and lands in the metro leading the country in apartment absorption. For developers eyeing Dallas, the signal is that affordable, authority-partnered deals are still penciling where market-rate luxury has to fight for its financing.