The overview
Balcones Terrace is a former hotel that Foundation Communities converted into a 123-unit low-income residential complex. It's one of the nonprofit's more than two dozen affordable communities that are now operating or opening soon around Central Texas.
The project was supported by city funds and housing bond dollars through the Austin Housing Finance Corporation, which now owns the property, as well as the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, and federal home loan banks of Dallas and New York.
Balcones Terrace features a fitness center, computer lab, community room, food pantry, outdoor courtyard, dog park and other spaces for residents. Resources such as money management and financial coaching, vaccine clinics and nurse visits, counseling and on-site mental health care, and case management will be offered.
Residents in 50 of the project's 123 units will get rental support through housing vouchers from the Housing Authority of the City of Austin.
Foundation Communities aims to welcome its first tenants at Balcones Terrace in September. Applications for the nonprofit's supportive housing, including Balcones Terrace, are open online.
Put in perspective
Beyond being a much-needed housing resource, Foundation Communities Executive Director Walter Moreau and Austin Mayor Kirk Watson highlighted the community aspect of the new development Aug. 7.
"This is not just a roof over a head," Watson said. "It is a new chance; it is hope; it is stability. It’s love that otherwise would be lost. And that takes all of the services, and the people who care about people and make sure that those services are carried out."
That view was shared by Kellie Alexander, who was formerly homeless and now lives at Skyline Terrace, another Foundation Communities supportive housing site.
"These places save lives and give chances to people like me," Alexander said. "The one thing that [PSH] allowed me to do was to decompress because being unsheltered and on the streets—no words. But I was so pleased when I was accepted at Skyline, and I would like to tell people that if you are blessed to be able to be part of this lovely community, you’ll have your own space. You’ll have people who are looking out for you. You’ll have your own place to prepare meals ... and your own bathroom. And you’re safe.”
Some of the city dollars used on the project were reimbursed through the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant, or CDBG, low-income housing resource program. HUD's Southern Regional Director Candace Valenzuela attended Balcones Terrace's August opening to mark the federal office's contribution and the fifth decade of CDBG.
"On this, the 50th anniversary of CDBG, it’s an absolute honor and a privilege to know that HUD’s money ... is going to worthy projects like this one," Valenzuela said. "Not just putting people in boxes but building communities in Austin."
Zooming out
New developments from the city and other local organizations are expected to add hundreds of new supportive housing units across Austin over the coming years. Many of those projects are tied to a multiyear community plan to reduce unsheltered homelessness.
Balcones Terrace is also one of three city-supported hotel conversion projects for supportive housing. All three have required extensive rehabilitation work and delayed openings since they were purchased in 2021.
One of those city properties in Northwest Austin—Pecan Gardens—welcomed its first residents in August. The other, Bungalows at Century Park, is still in construction and doesn't have an opening date set.
Two former hotels are also serving as bridge shelter for the city's Housing-Focused Encampment Assistance Link, or HEAL, program that's moved hundreds of people out of public encampments since 2021.
