AUSTIN, Texas – Austin Community Foundation announced today the Housing Accelerator Loan Fund has invested $2 million towards two affordable housing developments: Sunset Ridge, a multi-family residential property in Southwest Austin, and Cameron Senior Housing, a service-enriched rental development for independent seniors.
The Housing Accelerator Loan Fund is a $15 million fund aimed at accelerating the pace of affordable housing development in Central Texas. The Fund offers low-cost, concessionary financing to affordable housing developers for short-term pre-development, land acquisition, and bridge financing.
The new investments include:
Sunset Ridge / Manifold Development – A $1 million loan for pre-development at a 3% rate with a 1-year term. The development, located on Southwest Parkway, will provide a total of 438 rental units, with 220 units for households earning between 50-80% of the area median income (AMI). Sunset Ridge will be the only rent-restricted housing in the City of Austin’s District 8, nearly doubling the number of affordable units in the area.
Cameron Senior Housing / National Church Residences – A $1 million loan for land acquisition at a 2.5% rate with a 2-year term. The proposed project, located on Cameron Road, will provide 74 one-bedroom apartments and include services that enable aging residents to live independently for as long as possible. National Church Residences is one of the largest senior affordable nonprofit developers in the country and has 40 properties in Texas, including several in the Austin area.
“This financing provided by the Housing Accelerator Loan Fund gets us one step closer to securing the land for development. We are hopeful our funding application to HUD will be successful to give us a clear path to building this critically needed senior affordable housing in Austin,” said Tracey Fine, Senior Director for National Church Residences’ Texas Office.
The Housing Accelerator Loan Fund has provided four loans to date, totaling over $6 million in support of about 900 new housing units in the Austin area. Another five projects are in the pipeline and would generate more than 400 additional units.
Key partners in the Housing Accelerator Loan Fund include the City of Austin, NI, Shield-Ayres Family Foundation, St. David’s Foundation, and Tito’s Handmade Vodka. Austin Community Foundation is seeking additional philanthropic support for the Fund to meet the high demand for fast, flexible capital to accelerate affordable housing projects.
The Fund is managed by Austin Community Foundation and led by a volunteer committee of leaders and experts in the housing industry. To learn more, visit austincf.org/HousingAccelerator.