AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Prosperity Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) awarded a $750,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) subsidy to build an affordable apartment complex for people living with HIV in Austin, Texas.
Scurry Miller, executive director of Project Transitions Inc., said stable housing is essential for people living with HIV due to the complex treatment regimen required.
“In Austin, the rent for a one-bedroom apartment is 75 percent greater than an entire Supplemental Security Income payment,” he said. “This unaffordable rent level combined with the health issues typical of unmanaged HIV is a sentence to homelessness. Project Transitions is thankful for funding that will provide affordable housing options for people living with HIV.”
The $16.4 million Burnet Place Apartments, designed by the Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, will be built in North Austin. True Casa Consulting LLC — an affordable housing development and financing consulting firm dedicated to supportive housing – has assisted Project Transitions with helping them get commitments for 75 percent of the funding needed with remaining sources identified and pending, Mr. Miller said.
The three-story complex will have 61 units of affordable housing with intensely supportive services with all units reserved for people living with HIV.
Rudy Reyes, Prosperity Bank vice president and Community Reinvestment Act Compliance Officer, said affordability has been a challenge as Austin grows in popularity nationally as a great place to live.
“We are acutely aware of the skyrocketing costs of housing in Austin and for people with HIV, the crisis is particularly acute,” he said. “We are impressed with Project Transitions’ commitment to provide stable and supportive housing for people living with HIV.”
Justin Westmoreland, regional president of the Central Texas area for Prosperity Bank, has worked closely with Project Transitions on the AHP funding request.
“Project Transitions has been working to provide affordable housing to people with AIDS since the late 1980s when it opened its first hospice care center,” Mr. Westmoreland said. “Its programs and solutions have expanded since and touched many lives in Central Texas. We are proud to be a part of their latest endeavor.”
AHP funds are intended to assist FHLB Dallas members in financing the purchase, construction and/or rehabilitation of owner-occupied, rental or transitional housing, and housing for homeless individuals. The funds must be used to benefit households with incomes at or below 80 percent of the median income for the area.
In 2021, FHLB Dallas awarded $18.5 million in subsidies to 26 affordable housing projects. The subsidies will help create 2,113 new or rehabilitated housing units, including $7.5 million for 986 units in Texas.
Between 1990 and 2021, FHLB Dallas awarded $344.6 million in AHP and Homeownership Set-Aside Programs and assisted nearly 60,000 households.
“We are excited to partner with Prosperity Bank on this high-quality and deeply affordable housing complex and look forward to seeing the finished product,” said Greg Hettrick, first vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas.
For more information about the AHP, visit fhlb.com/ahp.
About Prosperity Bank
Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. is a $38.271 billion Houston, Texas based regional financial holding company providing personal banking services and investments to consumers and businesses throughout Texas and Oklahoma. Founded in 1983, Prosperity believes in a community banking philosophy, taking care of customers, businesses and communities in the areas it serves by providing financial solutions to simplify everyday financial needs. In addition to offering traditional deposit and loan products, Prosperity offers digital banking solutions, credit and debit cards, mortgage services, retail brokerage services, trust and wealth management, and treasury management. Prosperity currently operates 272 full-service banking locations in Texas and Oklahoma.
About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $62.6 billion as of March 31, 2022, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced loans and other credit products to approximately 800 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. For more information, visit our website at fhlb.com.
