San Antonio City Council unanimously approved a historic investment Thursday of more than $31 million for three single-site permanent supportive housing projects.
It’s the most money city government has ever spent on housing for chronically homeless individuals that does not come with preconditions, such as sobriety, and is paired with support services such as mental and physical health care, food and case management.
“This is what the infrastructure of a city looks like when it’s built on the principle of compassion,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said before the council approved the funding without discussion.
Combined, the projects approved Thursday will provide 288 units of housing for people who are homeless. The funding comes through a combination of 2022 municipal bond and federal funding from the City of San Antonio and Bexar County.
After reviewing five applications, a scoring committee comprised of city, county and other agency stakeholders recommended three projects receive funding.
The remaining $11 million of this funding will be allocated through another competitive bidding process later this year, bringing the total spend to nearly $43 million.
Housing First Community Coalition is slated to receive $12 million for the second phase of its Towne Twin Village campus on the East Side, which is San Antonio’s first single-site permanent supportive housing project.
SAMMinistries would receive $4.25 million to renovate The Hudson Apartments on the North Side in the Shearer Hills/Ridgeview neighborhood and $15 million for The Commons at Acequia Trails on the Southeast side near Hot Wells.The Hudson and Commons at Acequia will also be single-site permanent supportive housing, meaning services are co-located with housing.
SAMMinistries has operated scattered-site permanent supportive housing for more than a decade and has about 185 units in its inventory.
And there’s likely more to come.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development selected San Antonio and Bexar County to receive an additional $14.5 million for services and housing for unsheltered residents.
A study performed by the San Antonio chapter of Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC), a housing funder that consults for the city, demonstrated the need for 1,000 more units of this type. The city has incorporated that number in its 10-year affordable housing plan.
In December, council approved its first batch of affordable housing projects that will be funded by the $150 million affordable housing portion of the voter-approved 2022 municipal bond. By including funding from federal housing programs, the city allocated $44 million to fund 14 projects across the city that will build or rehabilitate an estimated 2,532 housing units over the next five years.
Another round of affordable housing bond funding is expected later this year.
