AUSTIN, Texas — The City of Austin's Housing Department has announced new affordable rental housing is coming to East Austin.
According to the department, Seabrook Square I is a 204-unit multi-family development that will be located at 3511 and 3515 Manor Road, now addressed as 2210 Pershing Drive.
It will include a 5-story and a 4-story building that will offer a diversity of affordable housing options. All 204 units in the first phase will be affordable for households earning at or below 60% Median Family Income (MFI) and will include 10 "live-work-residence-studios" dedicated to East Austin artists.
"Generate interest from people who may have been displaced from the East side in the past. So we call this a 'right to return,'" said James May, Housing and Community Development Officer with the City. "Looking to individuals, maybe they lived on the East side for generations and, because of unaffordability in the city of Austin, had move to Hutto or Kyle."
In addition, the community will include an arts hub centered on Black-led nonprofits and small businesses. Among those are the artist incubator Raasin in the Sun, Six Square and Origin Studio House, a Black-owned café and community space.
"Seabrook Square I is a unique opportunity where we can ensure economic diversity of residents in an affordable, creative development providing over 200 new construction apartments,” said Rosie Truelove, director of the Housing Department. “We are excited to see a full community vision that includes gathering spaces, resilience hub, public plaza, support for cultural arts organizations.”
Seabrook Square will be located in the J.J. Seabrook neighborhood, named after Dr. John Jarvis Seabrook, a Black educator, pastor and community leader. According to the City, the Seabrook community was "envisioned to be inclusive and harmonize with the current resources and cultural history."
"Connecting the J.J. Seabrook neighborhood with the Mueller Neighborhood, not only excited to see it come online, but really see what this can do for the entire East side," May said.
Seabrook Square is broken into two phases of development. Seabrook Square I consists of 204 affordable units, and Seabrook Square II consists of 60 units of permanent supportive housing. According to the City, both phases of development have a long-term ground lease with the Austin Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) through which the land will continue to be publicly owned.
Construction for Phase I of Seabrook Square I is set to start this month, with Phase II set to start in 2024. Both phases will be completed in 2026.
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