City Council approves $44M in housing bond funds for 14 developments

"That will enable us to reduce rents, because we no longer need to pay off any debts," said Ed Hinojosa Jr.

San Antonio City Council approved $44 million in funding for 14 affordable housing projects.
GABE HERNANDEZ | SAB
 

San Antonio City Council approved $44 million in funding to help preserve and produce just over 2,500 affordable housing units around the city. 

The source of the funding will be the 2022-2027 housing bond, as well as various federal grants and programs, secured in an ordinance passed during the council’s Dec. 15 meeting. 

The $44 million will be distributed among 14 different developments for the production of 71 new single-family homes, 686 new rental units and the preservation and rehabilitation of 1,775 existing rental units. 

Applicants for the housing bond funds were required to complete a displacement impact assessment to help the city ascertain that residents in the areas would not be involuntarily displaced due to the developments. The assessment, which was revealed this past summer, is being piloted for housing bond projects before potentially being employed by other programs as part of the regulatory requirements for requesting public funds.

834 of the units are reserved for households whose income is below 50% of the area median income (AMI) for rental and below 80% AMI for homeownership. 552 units will be public housing. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the current area median income in San Antonio is $83,500 for a four-person household.

$17.4 million, the lion’s share of the funding, will go to Opportunity Home San Antonio developments. The organization was formerly known as the San Antonio Housing Authority, and provides housing services using public programs and funds.

"Our waitlist has grown to 70,000 families," said Ed Hinojosa Jr., CEO and president of Opportunity Home. He told the Business Journal part of the allocated funds would allow the organization to pay off the debts owned for its Woodhill apartment community.

"That will enable us to reduce rents because we no longer need to pay off any debts," he said.

Los Angeles-based Pico Union Housing Corporation and Cleveland’s NRP Group are also slated to receive $9 million and $6.5 million in funding, respectively. 

A full breakdown of the funds, funding sources and how they will be distributed can be found on the city website.