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City and county officials held a ribbon-cutting on Monday for the first rental housing rehabilitation project funded by the 2022 Affordable Housing Bond to be completed.
Arbors at West Avenue Apartments, located in District 1, now features 150 rehabilitated units and 84 new units. The units are set aside for families between 30% and 70% of the area median income — for a family of three, roughly between $24,000 and $50,000 per year.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg said rehabilitation needs to be at the center of San Antonio’s affordable housing focus.
“We know that San Antonio is an old city, at least by American standards, and we've got a lot of older housing stock, so our pursuit of achieving our affordable housing goal starts first with preserving the affordable homes that we've got,” he said.
The apartment complex is one of six rental housing rehabilitation projects the city is working on as part of the 2022 bond, and it took approximately 20 months to complete. Residents who lived in now rehabilitated units were moved to other units on- and off-site while construction was ongoing.
Veronica Garcia, the city’s neighborhood and housing services director, described what the housing complex offers residents.
“This project has everything from one-bedroom up to four-bedroom sized units, which is really important,” Garcia said. “So it really has a lot of family size units, lots of amenities in the area, real community space, as well as support services for all of the individuals and families who live here.”
Those support services include an on-site food pantry.
Jessica Fulgencio, a resident, said the affordable housing complex was a lifeline for her and her daughter.
“My major is biology, pre-nursing,” Fulgencio said. “It has been a long time for me, but I am pleased to announce that I will graduate with an associate's degree in science next month, [and then,] God willing, pursue an associate's degree in nursing followed by a bachelor's degree of science in nursing. If I hadn't been granted the opportunity to stay here, I might have had to put my education on hold and work full time to provide a [roof] over our heads.”
Funding for the apartment complex came from the city bond, Bexar County, Wells Fargo, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas.
