The city of San Antonio has chosen 13 more affordable housing projects to receive city and federal funding.

What happened?

City Council voted June 8 to fund 13 housing projects totaling $35 million from various local funding sources, including the city’s voter-approved 2022 bond.

A committee of city staffers and community partners scored 21 housing project proposals the city received in March in response to a request for proposals.

The committee helped to recommend 14 projects for funding with $4.8 million allocated for 88 single-family home units, $13.2 million to build 920 new rental units, and $17 million to preserve and rehabilitate 1,130 existing rental units.

The bottom line

City officials said the 13 projects will produce or preserve a total of 2,138 affordable housing units. Of these units, 559 will be reserved for families at or below 50% of the area median income for rental use and at or below 80% of the area median income for homeownership. These projects also include 414 public housing or income-based units.

City officials said these and other projects funded by the housing bond portion of the 2022 bond issue will help to significantly increase San Antonio’s stock of affordable housing. Council approved a first round of housing bond funding for projects in December.

One of the awarded projects includes the acquisition of Riverside Terrace, a mobile home park with 54 sites, 46 of which are occupied. Local officials said some bond funding will allow the nonprofit ROC USA to help Riverside Terrace residents to become owners of the park via a cooperative joint ownership entity, the first of its kind in San Antonio.

What they’re saying

City Manager Erik Walsh said the city has committed to addressing housing affordability through the Strategic Housing Implementation Plan and the voter-approved housing bond.

“These new projects change the landscape of our housing market by providing quality, affordable options for San Antonio families,” Walsh said.

What’s next?

City officials said there will be a second round of funding for permanent supportive housing projects for chronically homeless individuals announced in the fall.