The big picture
Officials with the city and Integral Care—Travis County's health authority for mental illness, substance use disorders and other disabilities—marked the opening of Bungalows at Century Park, the 60-unit complex, on Nov. 1. Move-ins are expected to begin later this month.
Bungalows is open to residents who've experienced lengthy homelessness in recent years and have a disabling condition. Under the permanent supportive housing, or PSH, model, tenants will receive help with their housing costs and have on-site services available like homeless case management, counseling, nursing, peer support and group therapy, employment assistance, and community events.
Bungalows at Century Park is one of several former hotels now owned or funded by the city and used for housing or shelter. Other facilities include the Northbridge and Southbridge shelters off I-35, which the city uses as part of its public encampment clearing program, and PSH buildings that opened this year including Pecan Gardens and Balcones Terrace from Foundation Communities.
A former motel off US 183 on the east side is also being renovated to house homeless victims of violence.
City leaders and Homeless Strategy Officer David Gray have focused on PSH in recent years, given the housing successes that residents in those programs typically see. About 98% of PSH clients in Austin either keep that stable housing situation or move out of the program into their own long-term housing.
Aside from the hotel conversions, Gray also noted that the city expects hundreds more PSH units will open their doors through the 2020s.
What they're saying
Mayor Kirk Watson framed the supportive housing addition, and Austin's funding, as one of several recent City Council actions related to affordable housing—especially after a year that saw more than 24,000 locals seek help with homelessness. Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Pool, whose council district includes the property, called the opening a "vital step" toward meeting area residents' housing needs.
"['Affordability first'] is to make sure we’re addressing the entire continuum of not just housing needs, but the entire continuum of people needs," Watson said. "That’s why these Bungalows at Century Park are so significant to what we’re doing: Because they provide stable housing and support services to chronically homeless individuals that needs our help.”
“Through the years in this apartment community, we will help residents reach goals of their own like, ‘feel better,’ ‘be in peace,’ ‘feel secure and have the chance to do something better for myself,’ ‘get my health back so I can dance,’ ‘find my son on Facebook,’ and ‘be good in my own skin again,'" she said, referencing the reported goals of some Integral Care PSH clients. "The one universal thing, though, that everyone needs to end their homelessness is a place to call home.”
Dedrick Callins, a 76-year-old native Austinite who's lived at Integral Care's Terrace at Oak Springs facility in East Austin, credited the health care organization for the help available at places like Bungalows.
“Upon [moving into PSH], I found that it’s something really great that can really help. Because you have a backup, a backup of what they call peer support, management, whatever," he said. "If there’s any kind of way we can all just get happy for the guys that’s coming here at the Bungalows, I’m pretty sure we can bring them some brightness, that they know they have a home.”
"We are helping people stay out of emergency rooms, emergency departments and decrease in overall medical days. Because again, when housing is health care we’re also able to support and produce people getting good health care, being successful in their own recovery in multiple, multiple ways," he said.
How we got here
The city bought the previous Texas Bungalows hotel property at 13311 Burnet Road in early 2021 to turn into a supportive housing facility for residents exiting homelessness. The $6.7 million purchase was funded through the city's 2018 housing bond.
In 2022, the city contracted with Integral Care to rehabilitate the building and its rooms to serve as permanent living spaces with other community features. Additional repairs were funded last year for a total cost of $1.76 million.
