Travis County embraces proposed Burleson Studios project

On the heels of a difficult vote on an increasingly controversial initiative for a survey on homelessness, housing once again topped the agenda at the Travis County Commissioners Court on Feb. 6. The court considered two motions on Burleson Studios, a transitional housing initiative that’s a collaborative effort between Foundation Communities and the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation to provide at least 100 units to single adults experiencing homelessness by 2026. 

Travis County Supportive Housing Division Director Monique Coleman and planning manager Somchan Vuthipadadon asked the court for a regulatory sign-off that would allow the project’s developers to apply for state low-income housing tax credits and bolster their application for more competitive rates. 

Having already dedicated $15 million to the venture in 2021 as part of a $110 million initiative drawn from American Rescue Plan Act funds, the court unanimously voted in support of both resolutions. 

Foundation Communities has released few details of the Burleson Studios project to the public at any point in its apparent development from capital campaign to site plan. At the meeting, the project representatives – slide deck in hand – danced between the dry recital of data tables and a realty pitch fit for a boardroom. 

Burleson Studios will be a modern, multistory apartment complex flush with contemporary amenities. Vuthipadadon detailed the building’s features: Residents should expect “A large interior courtyard and food pantry, picnic tables, surface parking, electric vehicle charging stations and laundry facilities, fitness rooms, committee rooms, on-site property management and broadband internet.”

These provisions will be scaffolded by additional supportive service programs, including “a healthy food pantry, offering fresh produce, dairy, eggs, meats and shelf-stable foods; case management sessions and warm connections to mental health resources through partnerships with other nonprofits and contracted therapists; connecting residents to other nonprofits and resources for additional services; health fairs and events with opportunities for health screenings, immunizations; eviction prevention and housing retention education.” 

The apartments will be just one of the many eclectic housing configurations available in the Burleson Road expansion of Mobile Loaves and Fishes’ Community First! Village project. 

Community First! Village, a 51-acre plot in Northeast Travis County, is currently home to over 350 formerly homeless residents occupying an airy community of tiny (or “micro”) homes and RVs. The nonprofit has broken ground on one expansion abutting its current site; the Burleson Road expansion will be located on a 76-acre plot in Southeast Austin between U.S. Highway 183 and McKinney Falls Parkway. 

The Community First! Village projects have been roundly hailed as an innovative solution to the homelessness crisis and have attracted prolific funding from backers ranging from the Dell Foundation to Tito’s Vodka to massive infusions from local government. 

Burleson Studios residents will have full access to the robust planned benefits and services of the villages, including work opportunities and health clinics. 

Developers hope the commissioners’ support will buttress their chances of securing the financing available to build Burleson Studios to its fullest potential. 

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs offers developers tax incentives (low-income housing tax credits) for developing or maintaining affordable housing at two rates: 9 percent, which requires a highly competitive application, and 4 percent, which does not. 

The department requires that developers seeking a LIHTC in census tracts with a high concentration of existing LIHTC units – the Burleson Road expansion occupies such a tract – seek a resolution of no objection from their municipal or county government to be eligible for any tax credit. 

Resolutions of support – as obtained by Foundation Communities – bolster competitors’ applications for the 9 percent rate.

Developers and collaborators were anxious to secure both resolutions, especially as an award of the 9 percent rate would allow Foundation Communities to construct four additional single-occupancy units and offer more units at lower – or zero – cost. The court’s resolution of support for development will bolster Foundation Communities’ application for the 9 percent credit rate. 

Commissioner Ann Howard voiced strong support, stating, “The court is very excited to have this joint development,” and offered a word on the issue of transit. Considering the distance of the site from the nearest Capital Metro bus stop (0.4 miles), the commissioner said, “I think that’s a lot of people who are going to be walking in the neighborhood during the day. … So we need to make sure not only that they’re safe but also how the neighborhood is going to handle that.”

Commissioner Brigid Shea was effusive in her endorsement of the project. “I’m hugely supportive,” she said. “This is, I’ll say, an international example of how to take people who have been chronically homeless and knit them back into community and help them get back on their feet.”

“If people haven’t … haven’t read about Community First! Village,” the commissioner said, “they should look it up.”

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