Sanger-Heights resident Fernando Arroyo remembers the October night in 2008 when an arsonist set Sanger Avenue Elementary School ablaze. He recalls gathering with neighbors on a porch, the fire hot enough to feel on their skin.
He was thrilled to see the plan to redevelop the site with a mixed-income “pocket neighborhood” clear its final hurdle this month, 17 years after that fiery night.
Construction is to begin next year on Renaissance at Sanger Avenue at the old campus between 17th and 18th streets and between Sanger and Fort avenues.
The nonprofit Grassroots Waco plans to build 25 single-family homes on small lots there, including 14 considered affordable.
Arroyo described the development as a milestone for community-building in the neighborhood, which has seen the number of vacant lots plummet from a high of 200 to around 70 in the past 25 years.
“‘Renaissance’ truly speaks to the (project’s goal),” Arroyo said. “It’s a rebirth, a renewal of what was once there.
He and his wife are considering downsizing from their current home with a unit at Renaissance once their children graduate high school.
On Oct. 7, Waco City Council members approved the transfer of the 3-acre lot to Grassroots Waco, which is known for building dozens of owner-occupied homes in North and East Waco. The council also disbursed $3.3 million in federal grants to facilitate construction and site work.
“I’m really proud of the work that’s been done on this,” said District 4 Council Member Darius Ewing.
Sanger-Heights Neighborhood Association president Rory Partin, was equally complimentary of the development and its significance for the neighborhood.
“I look forward to having housing for some of the people in our neighborhood who’ve been renting and haven’t had an opportunity to buy a home,” Partin said, “but also those who are going to come into the neighborhood that look at it and think, ‘Oh, I can’t afford to move in there.’ ”
Honoring a legacy
The site design prioritizes social interaction and preserving traces of what had been Waco’s oldest public school before it burned.
It was built in 1903 and designed by famed Waco architect Milton Scott, boasting ornate brickwork, masonry and two turrets rising above a stone arch.
Plans for Renaissance at Sanger Avenue depict a common area lined with a shared lawn and a central shade structure linking two rows of homes in the middle of the lot. Residents’ front doors will face into a car-free green space rather than toward a driveway. Homes positioned on the lot’s periphery open straight onto a continuous sidewalk encircling the entire property.
The pocket neighborhood gets two pocket parks as well, according to the site plan.
Garage and vehicle access will be handled by two alleys that have yet to be constructed.
Meanwhile, bricks from the school’s former arched entranceway will form a step on the front porch of each home, Grassroots Executive Director Mike Stone told the Waco Bridge. References to the past continue into the alleyways.
“We named them Nina and Glass, which is the name (Nina Glass) of the historical principal there that everyone remembers,” Stone said. A large live oak tree on the property’s northeast corner will be preserved as well.
Expanding affordability
Initially, the project was only planned to have six affordable units, but a $3 million Community Project Funding award in 2024 allowed Grassroots to boost that number to 14.
Affordable units are set at 80% area median income: About $71,000 for a family of four or $49,800 for a single person.
“It’s amazing that we’ve been able to increase that affordable number up to 14 units,” Ewing said at the council meeting. “This will be transformational for North Waco.”
A combination of homebuilding efforts from Grassroots Waco and other local housing nonprofits has lifted Sanger-Heights homeownership rate up to 44% from 38% since the early 2000s, Stone said.
Arroyo praised an aspect of the development’s design you’re not meant to notice: Market rate and subsidized homes will look identical from the street.
“It allows for dignity to be preserved for our neighbors … and connect us to something bigger and better than our economic status,” Arroyo said.
Stone outlined a five-phase construction timeline during the October council meeting, beginning with infrastructure work in late December. Houses will be built in batches across the remaining four phases, from mid-2026 through the fall 2031.
The city of Waco chose Grassroots Waco in 2018 to develop the site, but limited and outdated infrastructure remained an obstacle to developing it. That hurdle was cleared last year when the city wrapped up a $4.9 million project last year to replace water and sewer mains along 18th Street.
“It’s a great location, nice design, nice price point and there’s some green space in there, too,” said Waco Mayor Jim Holmes, “so I think everyone’s a fan of what we’re doing here.”
