A Georgetown City Council decision Tuesday gives Pedcor Investments, the company planning a 192-unit affordable housing complex at NE Inner Loop and FM 971, the option to delay a tax-credit application to the state to offset development costs if the project requires more time to finalize its financing.

Last November, the council approved two resolutions—one of no objection and another acknowledging that Georgetown has more than two times the state average per capita amount of housing tax credits— that Pedcor needs in order to apply for a 4-percent noncompetitive tax credit from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. According to the resolutions’ original language, Pedcor would have had to apply for credit in 2018.

Jean Latsha, vice president of development for Pedcor, said her company is moving forward as planned on developing the apartment complex, called Residences at Stillwater. She said changing the resolutions to make them effective in either 2018 or 2019 allows Pedcor to still apply for credit if financing takes longer than anticipated to finalize.

“Our timeline is still very much the same,” Latsha told the council Tuesday. “[The change to the resolutions is] just a safety measure in case closing gets delayed a little bit.”

Latsha told Community Impact Newspaper on Wednesday that Residences at Stillwater could break ground in the first quarter of 2019 at the earliest. Construction would likely take about 20 months, although the development would be complete enough within about 12-13 months for residents to begin moving in, she said.

Residences at Stillwater is one of four affordable housing complexes City Council has approved resolutions for since 2016. Affordable housing advocates in Georgetown say the city needs more housing options for residents with limited incomes.

The council voted 4-3 to support changes Tuesday to the first resolution and 5-2 in favor of changes to the second.

Council members Steve Fought and Ty Gipson voted against approving the changes on both resolutions. Council Member Tommy Gonzalez voted against changes to the first resolution, telling the council before the votes that he was hesitant to allow a delay Pedcor’s process due to the immediate need for affordable housing in the city.

All units at Residences at Stillwater are expected to rent at affordable rates set at 60 percent of the area median income, according to planning documents. A preliminary site plan shows the development would include nine three-story buildings as well as a community center and leasing office on about 11 acres of property.

Residences at Stillwater would be located south of Georgetown ISD's Forbes Middle School and Cooper Elementary School and southeast of the Katy Crossing neighborhood.

Pedcor is also building Live Oak Apartments, a 108-unit, income-restricted apartment complex at 4121 Williams Drive, that is expected to be complete in late 2018.