San Antonio mayor lauds opening of mostly market-rate public housing complex downtown

Termed-out Mayor Ron Nirenberg took a victory lap Wednesday, celebrating the opening of Opportunity Home’s latest downtown development, the 100 Labor Downtown Apartments.

“100 Labor Downtown Apartments are another step in this community’s ongoing work to provide an adequate number of affordable units in our city,” Nirenberg tweeted about the housing authority’s new project. “Kudos to Opportunity Home and Franklin Apartment Management for their productive partnership that made this mixed-income facility a reality.”

Despite the project being marketed as low-income housing, only slightly more than 20% of its 213 units are subsidized at 30% of an eligible tenant’s income.

Indeed, 187 units are being offered at market rate, while the remaining 26 are reserved for traveling businesses and medical professionals who move to San Antonio and seek permanent housing. Opportunity Home said in a press release that it hopes those 26 units help spark economic growth.

Opportunity Home opted to spend money to build the mostly private 100 Labor development because it wants revenue from the apartments to fund public housing projects elsewhere in the city. The complex was developed on prime real estate and is located near public transit.

“100 Labor represents future affordable housing possibilities Opportunity Home looks to develop and deliver to the residents we serve in our city,” Chairman Gabriel Lopez said in a statement. “This community is the type of development our residents who live and work in the urban core need. In the spirit of our mission, we want to ensure that households from all socioeconomic levels will be able to live in this high-demand area of the city.”

However, one group that won’t be living at 100 Labor is low-income, public transit-dependent residents of the Soap Factory Apartments. That complex is scheduled for demolition to make way for the San Antonio Missions’ new ballpark and surrounding development.

Assistant City Manager Lori Houston told City Council during a Sept. 12 vote that low-income Soap Factory tenants could relocate to subsidized units at 100 Labor. Opportunity Home later walked back that promise, telling the Current last month that only units outside of downtown would be subsidized for Soap Factory tenants.

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This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2024.