San Antonio City Council on Dec. 15 approved 14 initial affordable housing projects that will be developed with proceeds from the city’s new housing bond.
Last May, San Antonio voters passed a $150 million bond to support long-term efforts toward building new affordable housing as well as preserving and converting existing structures to provide more affordable residential developments.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg said addressing housing affordability has been a key priority of his, and over the past five years, it is an issue that San Antonio residents have come together to rally behind.
“This direct investment in affordable housing will considerably boost local housing supply, preserve our aging housing stock, protect our neighborhoods and will help ensure that everyone has a place to call home,” Nirenberg said in a statement.
The city is investing a combined $43.9 million in bond and federal contributions to the projects that will add or preserve 2,532 units, including 2,461 rentals and 71 homeownership opportunities, in the local housing market, a city news release said.
A total of 552, or 22%, of those units are public housing or income-based housing that provides rents that adjust based on the resident’s income.
Additionally, 922, or 33%, of the units are deeply affordable, which is classified as serving families who earn less than 50% of the area median income, or AMI, for rental or below 80% for homeownership, city officials said.
The first set of approved affordable housing bond projects include Fiesta Trails, a 60-unit mixed-income apartment project NRP Group aims to build along I-10 between The University of Texas at San Antonio and the Medical Center area. This project was awarded $1.5 million per council approval.
Another North San Antonio-area project—the 76-unit Vista at Silver Oaks apartments complex—was awarded $3.3 million. Developer Atlantic Pacific is developing Vista at Silver Oaks between Northwest Military Highway, Braesview Drive and Lockhill Selma Road between Shavano Park and Castle Hills.
The San Antonio Housing Authority is a partner on each of these projects.
The approved projects were scored by committees, which included city staff and partners who have an expertise in one or more of the bond scoring parameters, along with appointed members of the Housing Community Bond Committee who developed the categories and a set of housing bond parameters, which prioritized:
- deeply affordable units for families earning at or less than 30% and 50% AMI;
- projects that prioritize universal design;
- projects with sustainability features beyond city code to include energy efficiency and water reduction features, and resilient building and weatherization practices;
- integrating high-speed internet and mobile infrastructure into design plans;
- projects with wide geographic availability and working to decrease racial and social economic segregation; and
- projects that included meaningful, on-site resident services.
The release said applicants seeking funding for new construction projects completed a displacement impact assessment to help the scoring committee understand and evaluate how their proposed new housing development could impact existing communities.
In coordination with Bexar County and the South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless, the city released a request for proposals for permanent supportive housing, the remaining affordable housing bond category. The request for proposals responses are due Jan. 23, 2023.
The second round of housing bond funding is expected to be released early next year for spring awards, the release said.
