City of Waco selling 4 acres in East Waco for affordable housing

Lots extending to the corner of Spring and Taylor streets, a block behind the East Waco Library, are part of a total of 4 acres the city of Waco is looking to sell for use in developing affordable housing.  Jerry Larson, Tribune-Herald

The city of Waco may get into the affordable housing business, at least indirectly, as it attempts to sell vacant lots in East Waco.

It is soliciting proposals to develop about 4 acres along Taylor Street, between Spring Street and Cherry Street, in what it calls “an existing historic neighborhood.” The city seeks a qualified person “to design and construct a development consisting primarily of a quality mixed-use project compatible with the Waco Comprehensive Plan 2040 for Housing.”

“We are looking for housing to be put there, possibly a combination of affordable and mixed-income,” city Housing Director Galen Price said. “We’re looking to have it developed using a holistic approach relative to housing needs and needs of the surrounding community.”

In September, the city’s Tax Increment Financing board approved $2.9 million for a new city program to subsidize construction of workforce housing, which is typically reserved for people who make between 80% and 120% of the area’s median income.

Noting public and private improvements along Elm Avenue a block away from the lots, and within East Waco in general, Price said he expects considerable interest in the vacant property. He said he would not be surprised if developers already engaged in projects in the area take a run at the 4-acre site.

“We have had developers reach out previously with potential development of that property,” Price said. “We have had conversations with them.”

He said he could see retail and personal service shops sharing the site with housing. The acreage lies in a predominantly residential area, though near the commercial presence along Elm Avenue, the East Waco Library and Waco Fire Station No. 1. Price said a zoning change might become necessary to package a mixed-use development within the acreage. He said there once were houses on the site, citing old slabs as evidence.

The site to be improved “is somewhat of a blank canvas,” Price said.

He did not know specifics about how long the city has owned the land, but said he understands its stay on the inventory list has not been long.

The city will accept sealed proposals at its operations center, 1415 N. Fourth St., until 2 p.m. March 30, according to the solicitation. A pre-submittal Zoom meeting is scheduled 10 a.m. Jan. 26. Anyone interested in attending should contact the city’s Paul Campos at 254-750-8062, or at pcampos@wacotx.gov.

Other recently unveiled projects also would address affordable housing possibilities in East Waco. North Carolina-based Blue Ridge Atlantic Development proposes building an 84-unit complex called Gholson Street Housing at Gholson Road and Herring Avenue. Boards of the Waco Housing Authority and Waco Public Facility Corp. voted in October to back the venture, which now awaits approval at the state and federal level.

Developer Brenner Campbell, who has spent about $42 million on housing-related projects in his adopted hometown of Waco, has announced he will make about 10 acres available to Blue Ridge Atlantic. The gesture leaves him with 26 acres suitable for improvement at that intersection.

The downtown Tax Increment Financing Zone board recently approved $350,000 to back an $8.2 million mixed-use project with a total of 47 apartments at Elm and Douglas C. Brown Street. Nine one-bedroom apartments with monthly rent between $700 and $800 would be reserved for renters 45 and older who make $26,000 a year or less.