SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio City Council is slated to vote Thursday on a planning and zoning request for a unique affordable housing complex on the northeast side.
“This is a very innovative project. There is a group of partners that came together that not only knew that we needed housing in general in San Antonio but also that the educational services are also needed for a lot of our residents,” said District 4 City Councilwoman Adriana Rocha-Garcia, who is also board president of the San Antonio Housing Trust.
The proposed Vista Park apartments involves a partnership between OCI Development, Atlantic Pacific Companies, San Antonio Housing Trust and Essence Public School.
Tenants of the 85-unit apartment complex would have the opportunity to enroll their children in a pre-kindergarten program through Essence Public School at no cost. The complex would be established in the 14000 block of Nacogdoches Road.
“The fact we were able to bring in a partnership with Essence was great, because there’s essentially gonna be a pre-K built into these units," Rocha-Garcia said. "(That's) very innovative, very different, the first of its kind in San Antonio.”
The project amounts to a total of $25.8 million, of which $20 million has been awarded in 9% low income housing tax credits from the State of Texas.
The remaining amount is covered by a mix of funding sources, including private investment and through the San Antonio Housing Trust.
Rocha-Garcia, who announced plans to run for mayor in 2025, stressed Vista Park is just another example of the city’s mission of addressing housing and homelessness.
“It’s no longer just singles that are homeless, it’s families. So units like this give opportunities for families to be successful,” Rocha-Garcia said.
District 10 City Councilman Marc Whyte expressed support for the Vista Park project and the need for more affordable housing. But he shared concerns from constituents about the potential impacts.
“We have to value our neighborhoods’ day-to-day quality of life,” Whyte said.
One of the primary concerns has to do with traffic along a stretch of road that’s already heavily traveled.
“This is already a very dense area with many apartment complexes within just a couple-mile radius, the traffic that that creates leaving for work every day, coming home in the evening, the public safety risks that are involved,” Whyte said.
Whyte recommends keeping Vista Parks apartments in District 10, just not in the proposed area.
“I’ve actually talked with the Housing Trust about that. This morning, I had a meeting with Opportunity Home as well. One of the sites that I’ve mentioned to both of the groups is up near Rolling Oaks Mall. That’s an area in District 10 that could certainly be a good fit for something like this.”
Katie Wilson, executive director of Close to Home, said almost 200,000 residents in San Antonio are considered cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing. She said almost 100,000 are severely cost-burdened, equating to those who spend more than 50% of income on housing.
She noted one in four residents in District 10 are severely cost-burdened.
Wilson is hopeful City Council will achieve a super majority to green-light the development of Vista Park apartments.
“We’d love to see that the City Council approves the development of these housing units for our families and our seniors and that we continue to see more developments like this take care of people’s needs like pre-K, childcare because we know that’s expensive as well,” Wilson said. “Our message to residents is you’re either for housing or you’re for homelessness.”