SAN ANTONIO — There was a homecoming celebration of sorts in southwest San Antonio on Friday.
City, county and federal leaders toured a brand new affordable neighborhood organized by Habitat for Humanity, where the homes are being sold for less than $150,000 dollars. Rancho Carlota is a few miles south of Loop 410 and Interstate 35.
"We're not far from Toyota," said Stephanie Wiese, vice president of Habitat for Humanity. "It's a great area of town where there's a lot of employers. There's a lot of new development and there's a huge need for affordable home ownership."
Wiese said in an area more accustomed to rental units, this new resource, featuring almost 300 single-family homes, will be a welcome addition.
"We see a lot of apartments going up. We see a lot of multi-family, but we have a lot of families working in this area and need an affordable home," Wiese said.
Housing and Urban Development Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman is visiting the city to tour a number of different housing ventures.
"I remember when San Antonio's plan was first revealed to the world and I was very impressed," Todman said. "I was impressed with how thoughtful it was. I was impressed with the process and what's great about being here is now seeing the outcome of that great thoughtfulness and planning."
Todman congratulated the mayor and City Council for a job well done.
"It's great to see the work done between the city and the county to source sites like this. It does take everybody all coming together to make sites like this work."
Across the country, Todman said, people need more options.
"We need home ownership units as much as we need rental," she said. "What we've seen across the country is about 1 million rental units come online, but we're not seeing as many single family home ownership units come online. We need to have more starter home solutions."
Rancho Carlota is in the heart of City Council District 4. Dr. Adriana Rocha Garcia represents the area. She said she hopes the collaborative effort here will be replicated elsewhere.
"We get to showcase our model and then we get to help people across the United States when we know that housing is a crisis everywhere."
Seeing families achieve the dream of home ownership is particularly important to the people she represents.
"The need is great all over the city, but specifically in District 4 and the southern part of San Antonio," Rocha Garcia said. "We have been left behind for so long that it is about time that there is investment."
Rocha Garcia said she's proud San Antonians came together and approved an affordable housing bond, adding she hopes there will be a second phase to conduct even more beneficial work.
"The entire City of San Antonio deserves credit, because although we are building homes in certain areas right now because there is land availability, we know that it is going to be impactful on the future of San Antonio because these are kids and families that are going to be going to schools and learning," she said. "They are our future workforce, so we are together investing in the future of San Antonio."
County Judge Peter Sakai said he is proud Bexar County was able to help the project along by providing much-needed drainage improvements.
"The strength of this project with Habitat for Humanity is the true collaboration of the city and county," he said. "The city obviously has larger buckets of money, but the infrastructure is what made this development happen and it has been a great development to the whole community."
"We weren't going to be able to build homes on here unless we did the infrastructure that was needed so I am proud that Bexar County stepped up in order to fix the infrastructure issues such as drainage," Sakai said, adding: "This development here is an example of just working hard every day and making a difference and I think our community benefits from that type of strategy."
Michael Taylor, with Habitat, said this project can change lives.
"Studies have shown that their kids will be more successful in school," he said. "They will have better health outcomes, better job outcomes. What we do is provide them with an opportunity to purchase a home and build a stable foundation that will really help them achieve more in life."
"That's the reason I do the job I do," Sakai added. "I love seeing children and families have permanent homes, and that they can have a future and use home ownership to deal with the issue of generational poverty."
Because the area is new, officials have recommended using the address of 13801 Watson Road to navigate to the neighborhood with GPS. To learn more about the application process for new homeowners, click here.
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