In Houston’s Fifth Ward, history isn’t just remembered, it’s lived.
For generations, the neighborhood has been built on faith, family and fierce community pride. It’s also the place that helped shape champions and changemakers like George Foreman, Barbara Jordan and Mickey Leland.
But alongside that proud history, the community now faces a modern-day challenge: the loss of affordable housing.
“All of our communities are losing affordable housing and we’re not replacing it,” said Kathy Flanagan Payton.
Payton is the president and CEO of the Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation, and for her, saving the historic St. Elizabeth Hospital was deeply personal.
Built in 1947, the hospital once served Black families during segregation, when access to medical care was limited.
After sitting vacant for years and falling into disrepair, many feared the building would eventually be demolished. But residents had a different vision.
“So often things are done to an underserved community and not for an underserved community,” Payton said. “This gave them a voice.”
Today, the building has a new life as St. Elizabeth’s Place — a mixed-income housing development offering affordable apartments for residents earning as little as 30% of the area’s median income.
While the building’s purpose has changed, much of its historic character remains.
Developers preserved the original masonry, terrazzo floors and many of the historic corridors that once served hospital patients.
That careful balance of preservation and community impact recently earned the project recognition from Preservation Houston with a 2026 Good Brick Award.
“In Houston, we have a lot of stories, a lot of diversity, a lot of great history that is deserving of being saved,” said Jennifer Kapral. “We can grow and expand and build and look toward the future while preserving the past.”
The project highlights an important issue for historic neighborhoods across the city: preservation without affordability can lead to displacement.
At St. Elizabeth’s Place, the goal was to do both.
From providing health care during segregation to providing affordable housing today, the building continues its legacy of service to the community.
“That’s what preservation is all about,” Payton said. “It’s about history then, history now. What we’re doing now is telling a new history.”
In Fifth Ward, the restored landmark stands as proof that progress and preservation can rise together.