Project waiting on tax credits

A proposed low-income housing development will have to wait while San Marcos considers an ordinance providing no objection to the submission of an application for tax credits from the state.

At its meeting Tuesday night, the San Marcos City Council voted to postpone a vote on an ordinance giving the Riverstone multifamily development the green light to apply to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs for low-income housing tax credits. The decision followed a public hearing on the matter. 

The proposed development would provide 336 units, all of which would be affordable housing units, at 51-60 percent of area median income. No market-rate units are proposed for the Riverstone project, which will be located on Wonder World Drive near State Highway 123.

The project meets five of the city’s eight criteria for a staff recommendation of a resolution of support or of no objection to a tax credit application. The project is not seeking an exemption from local taxes; it addresses an identified housing need; it is located within a high- or medium-intensity zone on the city’s Preferred Scenario Map; and the project is located within half a mile of services such as groceries, medical facilities and schools, and within a quarter mile of a proposed or existing bus stop.

However, the project is located in a “Legacy District,” is not renovating an existing multifamily complex or under-performing development, and does not provide any market-rate units (the city prefers mixed income housing and requires at least 20 percent of the units to be market-rate).  

Jake Brown, the developer, assured the council that his company, LDG Development, has no intention of “flipping” the property or otherwise abandoning it after it is constructed.

“I want to re-emphasize again it will not become a student housing project,” he said. “We are not in the business of student housing. We don’t want to be. … Since 1994, we have constructed … 10,000 units. And not once have we sold one of those projects.”

During the public hearing, resident Roland Saucedo expressed concerns about one of the tenant requirements the developer has set.

“One of my main concerns is it’s incumbent on the tenant to provide three previous rental references,” he said. “... That’s really not making it affordable for someone who’s a single mother … and this is a perfect opportunity for her to get out of her mother’s house but she doesn’t have a rental history.”

Saucedo said he is “100 percent for any affordable housing in our community” but urged council to proceed cautiously. 

Betseygail Rand, who sits on the Planning and Zoning Commission, suggested that the developer offer free wi-fi to help close the digital divide and to include a well-maintained playground in the center of the development to allow children supervised recreation time and to let any college students who qualify to live in the development know that “this is a family environment.”

Resident Lisa Marie Coppoletta had concerns about the project being in a Legacy District and upending the city’s development code for the sake of affordable housing. She also said she felt that college students should not be locked out of consideration.

“The working class kids deserve somewhere to stay,” she said. 

Brown said that Saucedo “does make a great point” about the rental history requirement but that the developers are willing to be flexible on.

“We’re willing to waive that one,” he said. 

Council member Melissa Derrick made a motion to postpone and send the matter to the council’s affordable housing committee. City Manager Bert Lumbreras said he and city staff would compile the residents’ concerns, council members’ concerns and other information for the committee to consider. 

***UPDATE: A prior version of this story misidentified Planning and Zoning Commissioner Betseygail Rand as P&Z Commissioner Angie Ramirez. We regret the error and any confusion it may have caused.