February 17, 2025

Housing Finance Development

It's Your Housing Finance Development

Financing for new east Austin affordable housing development secured

Financing for new east Austin affordable housing development secured

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Millions of dollars of construction financing was secured for a new affordable housing development on land in east Austin currently owned by the Austin Housing Finance Corporation.

The City of Austin Housing Department said it closed $58 million in construction financing for the development, which is being called Norman Commons.

Norman Commons will be a 156-unit multifamily development located at 3811 Tannehill Lane (currently addressed as 5712 Jackie Robinson Street). The land is adjacent to Norman Sims Elementary.

The family-friendly community will feature 156 rental units and 32 for-sale units to be built by Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corporation through its community land trust program, according to a release from the city.

Seventy-five of the units at Norman Commons are multi-bedroom. According to the release, all units will serve families at or below 60% of the median family income (MFI).

Norman Commons will also work to serve unhoused neighbors, with sixteen units having a preference for families at risk of homelessness via Foundation Communities’ Children’s HOME Initiative (CHI) Program, according to the city. These households will have access to a full‐time, on‐site case manager and a wide range of additional support services.

The community will also feature an on-site Learning Center with a multitude of free services for both residents and neighbors alike, including free youth afterschool and summer programs to complement existing programs at Norman-Sims Elementary, a healthy food pantry, plus educational, financial, and health‐oriented classes for adults.

“We are thrilled to help build an amenity- and services-rich, family-friendly community adjacent to Norman Sims Elementary to continue our goal of affordable housing in Austin,” said Mandy DeMayo, Interim Director for the City of Austin’s Housing Department. “These investments ensure affordable units in areas vulnerable to displacement. Located within one mile of Project Connect corridors, Norman Commons is near the route of the future Green Line rail service that will serve neighbors in the area.”

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