The San Antonio Housing Trust Public Facility Corp. (PFC) board on Wednesday agreed to enter a memorandum of understanding with nonprofit developer Alamo Community Group on the construction of the 140-unit Cattleman Square Lofts in west downtown.
The apartment development is considered one of the rare affordable housing projects downtown, which will eventually offer rents to household making as low as 30% of the area median income (AMI) or less, which is $21,600 for a family of four in the San Antonio-New Braunfels region. Only two units will be priced at market-rate.
Much of the new downtown housing being built is unaffordable to the workers who comprise the downtown hospitality industry. The Cattleman Square Lofts would help fill that need.
Council members Roberto Treviño (District 1), Rebecca Viagran (D3), Dr. Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4), Shirley Gonzales (D5) and John Courage (D10) are the five Housing Trust board members.
The $26.4 million project is located at 811 W. Houston St., across from the VIA Metropolitan Transit’s Centro Plaza hub on Frio Street, and is therefore considered a transit-oriented development.
To make housing this affordable, the project will require nearly every public incentive available.
Alamo Community Group (ACG) can take advantage of public incentives made possible by the partnership with the San Antonio Housing Trust PFC, most notably a full property tax exemption. The Housing Trust Finance Corporation will also issue up to $15 million in tax-exempt multifamily revenue bonds to help pay construction costs.
The PFC and Finance Corporation are both entities of the San Antonio Housing Trust.
Last month, the City Council issued a letter of no objection toward ACG’s pursuit of 4% low-income housing tax credits, which is expected to yield $7.1 million.
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This article appears in Oct 21 – Nov 3, 2020.