In mid-December, the Austin Affordable Housing Corporation, a nonprofit subsidiary of the Housing Authority of the City of Austin, finalized the purchase of the former Broadstone 8 One Hundred apartment complex at the corner of Anderson Mill Road and West Parmer and rebranded it as The Royce at 8100.
Following the $73 million acquisition, which was funded by private capital and equity provided by Belveron Partners, HACA has added 376 total units to its affordable housing portfolio, according to Ron Kowal, vice president of asset management and housing development for HACA.
“This furthers our mission to create affordability where affordability doesn’t exist. It is an exciting time to be able to provide these units to people who would not usually be able to experience this property,” Kowal told Community Impact Newspaper.
HACA will price at least half of the units at The Royce, which was built in 2015, to serve residents at or below 80% of Austin’s median family income. According to the city of Austin’s Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Office, the 80% MFI limit for a single-person household in Travis County is currently $54,700. For a family of four, that same threshold is $78,100.
Kowal said HACA will further set aside approximately 30 units at The Royce for individuals and families earning 60% or less of Austin’s MFI. For an individual, that equates to $41,000, and for a family of four, that comes out to $58,550 annually.
The Royce will also be open to residents who hold Section 8 vouchers, Kowal said.
Rents on the property will start at $1,095 per month for a one-bedroom unit and $1,350 for a two-bedroom unit, Kowal said. He added the complex is currently at about 95% capacity, and as tenants turn over, rents will be adjusted to reflect the new affordable rates for qualifying residents.
“We are actually dropping rents, not raising rents, in order to meet these affordability goals,” Kowal said. “We come in, and we assure those in the affordable category that they don’t have to worry about a rent increase.”
For HACA, this apartment complex—which Kowal said initially became available for sale over the summer—can now provide high-quality, affordable housing to people in an area where affordable housing may become more and more scarce.
The Royce is located just one mile north of Apple Inc.’s upcoming campus site. As that site gets built out, it could bring as many as 15,000 white-collar employees who are likely to look for housing accommodations nearby. By securing this site now, Kowal said lower-income populations, such as service industry workers, have an opportunity to live at a comfortable price in the neighborhood where they work.
“We have an ability to lower rents in a high-opportunity area, which is unheard of,” Kowal said.
