The overview
The board approved a memorandum of understanding to partner with the Texas Workforce Housing Foundation. According to the district, PfISD staff aims to collaborate with the TWHF to establish affordable housing options for employees. Through the partnership, Texas Essential Housing Foundation will provide subsidized rent rates at a local apartment complex specifically designated for staff members.
This comes as the board works toward its goal to build affordable housing for teachers.
“This is a step to provide that kind of service before we even get to that project,” Superintendent Douglas Killian said.
The details
With the memorandum, the TWHF will establish an affordability fund with an initial amount of $1 million. The fund will then be used to provide rent discounts for district employees at specific apartment complexes. The district and the TWHF will find complexes where units can be reserved for employees whose households make no more than 30% of the area median income and those who make no more than 60% of the area median income.
The foundation will also provide annual payments of at least $50,000 to each apartment complex included in the program. The district, meanwhile, will not be financially liable or required to make any investments into the program.
Zooming in
One- and two-bedroom apartments will be available for employees who fall within the income guidelines. For example, a staff member making no more than $36,690 could lease a one-bedroom apartment normally priced at $1,295 a month for $621 or a two-bedroom priced at $1,829 for $744 a month. Concurrently, staff households making no more than $73,380 a year, the maximum rents for one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments could hover around $1,242 and $1,489, respectively.
Quote of note
“So it’s all pros and no cons,” Place 4 Trustee Vernagene Mott said.
Also on the agenda
The board approved a contract with Pinnacle/Woodbury Development to help the district develop its own housing for teachers.
This stems from a 2022 bond election, when voters approved a proposition authorizing the district to issue $43.9 million in bonds for the purchase of land and the construction of affordable housing for PfISD teachers. As part of the $2 million contract with Pinnacle/Woodbury, the firm will oversee the project’s design, construction and property management. The project is expected to facilitate up to 100-200 units on 6-10 acres available only to teachers. According to district staff, it could take two to four years to complete a housing development. Throughout the process, trustees will receive frequent updates and be asked to give approval of designs and construction.
“We want to do something special,” Killian said. “We don’t just want to build something that everybody builds.”
