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Bexar County commissioners on Tuesday voted to move forward on a five-year plan to bring more affordable housing to San Antonio's urban core.
Commissioners heard about the plan to develop or preserve 1,250 affordable housing units downtown. Those units are part of an agreement the county reached with San Antonio ISD as part of the development of a new Missions baseball stadium downtown.
The plan will be centered around bringing affordable housing into a 36-square mile area with San Fernando Cathedral at its center. It will involve the Public Facility Corporation and Housing Finance Corporation and Public Housing Authorities. The removal of some development restrictions, tax abatements, and vouchers is also part of the mix.
County Judge Peter Sakai has led the way on the plan.
"Bexar County is committed to the SAISD to develop a housing framework that helps generate affordable housing for the benefits of their workforce and the growth of their student population," the judge said.
Some inner-city school districts, like SAISD, have lost student population due in part to a lack of affordable housing.
Precinct 4 County Commissioner Tommy Calvert—a longtime affordable housing advocate—praised Sakai's leadership on the issue. He said the city's reputation as an affordable place to live does not ring true for the city's working class, such as those in the downtown leisure and hospitality industries.
"Today, the court has signaled that they understand that San Antonio and Bexar County has become too expensive for the average person living here," Calvert said.
Republican Precinct 3 County Commissioner Grant Moody said the county cannot subsidize its way out of the affordability issue downtown and was the sole no vote moving forward with the plan.
"I think that ultimately there's going to have to be other ways that we solve this problem, when it comes to getting out of the way of private investment and letting the market work," he said.
In other action, commissioners approved a resolution to support construction of a State Veterans Home in the county. The nearest home to San Antonio is now in Floresville, and yet there are more than 173,000 veterans in the Alamo City area. County officials said many of them are aging into nursing homes at the rate of 400 a month.
Commissioners also declared Oct. 13 as Indigenous People's Day.
