2 Bedroom for $800: If You Qualify

The Austin Affordable Housing Corp., the city’s nonprofit subsidiary and the Community Development Trust, a national lender and investor in affordable housing, are teaming together to create long-term affordable housing in the city.

In what officials have stated is a first for Austin, the $21.4 million dollar initiative will be helpful for residents who have seen rent skyrocket over the past decade. For four decades, more than 300 apartments in Northeast Austin will have affordable rents for income-qualified tenants.

“These exceptional properties will immediately help address the 55,000-unit shortfall we have in affordable housing in our city,” said Michael Gerber, president and CEO of the Housing Authority of the City of Austin in a statement to MyStatesmen.com. “This will serve that missing middle who don’t have great housing choices and are often relegated to far-flung places.”

The two companies purchased Bridge at Center Ridge and The Bridge at Tech Ridge, apartment complexes with 642 units that are almost full and go for market rates, to house future residents. The units are currently between $799 and $1,175 and will stay that regardless of surrounding inflation. According to officials, half of the units will be for households making at or below 80 percent of the area’s median family income, which is $43,000 for an individual and $61,440 for a family of four. 

According to Gerber, no local, state or federal taxpayer dollars were involved in the deal. After the two companies invested the equity, Bellwether Enterprise created two 10-year Freddie Mac mortgages to finance the project. The partnership will split the net operating income from rental properties.

With the newest addition of the two complexes, the Austin Affordable Housing Corp. has nine affordable housing locations in Austin with over 1,500 units.