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Museum Reach Lofts, rare affordable housing near San Antonio’s Pearl district, welcomes first residents

December 12, 2020 By Ben Olivo 8 Comments

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The Museum Reach Lofts, 1500 N. St. Mary’s St., began receiving its first residents this week. Photo by Ben Olivo | Heron

For the first time in recent memory, low-income renters began moving into newly-built apartments in downtown San Antonio.

The $17.5 million Museum Reach Lofts is an affordable housing development on North St. Mary’s Street and West Jones Avenue near the Pearl by local nonprofit developer Alamo Community Group that’s nearing completion.

Unlike the 20 or so apartment buildings that have been constructed using city tax breaks and other subsidies since San Antonio began prioritizing downtown housing, the Museum Reach Lofts offers rents most people would consider truly affordable to the average San Antonian.

For example, rents for households making up to 30% of the area median income (AMI), or $21,600 for a family of four, start at $290 for an efficiency, $308 for a one-bedroom, and $365 for a two-bedroom.

[ For an explanation of area median income, and why it’s so controversial, read, “The San Antonio-New Braunfels median income rises to $72,000. Here’s why it matters.” ]

Most of the Museum Reach Lofts’ 94 units are priced for people earning 60% AMI or less. Only nine are market-rate-priced. So far, the property is 35% leased.

COURTESY ALAMO COMMUNITY GROUP

[ Scroll down for a chart showing AMI levels. ]

Michael Shackelford (left) and Fernando Herrera of Alamo Community Group inspect a window blind in one of the apartments inside the Museum Reach Lofts. Also pictured here is Jose Gonzalez, a tax credit consult for the nonprofit developer. Photo by Ben Olivo | Heron

Since the downtown area began its housing boom 10 years ago, the vast majority of the apartments created have been either market rate or priced for people earning up to 80% AMI, which housing advocates argue is still beyond reach for most San Antonians.

The Museum Reach Lofts’ lower rents are the first of its kind for downtown San Antonio in terms of new construction, especially when you consider its location in the Pearl area, where rents are the highest than in other regions in San Antonio, according to surveys by housing research firms in recent years. The area, known as Midtown, is one of 13 regional centers outlined in the SA Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan, which calls for a mix of housing options.

An efficiency apartment at the Museum Reach Lofts. Photo by Ben Olivo | Heron

The five-story building is located at 1500 N. St. Mary’s St., down the street from the San Antonio Museum of Art. Alamo Community Group envisions the average worker at the museum, and office jobs opening up from the new construction on Broadway, renting at the lofts. They also envision downtown hospitality workers living there, too.

So far, the demand has been huge.

“Right now, we have 40 applicants pending. We only have 94 units,” said Michael Shackelford, Alamo Community Group’s director of policy. “You can imagine these will go quickly. Especially with Covid right now, everybody’s trying to get into something affordable or they’re being forced (to) because their wages are being cut.”

The kitchen inside one of the apartments at the Museum Reach Lofts. Photo by by Ben Olivo | Heron

This week, the lofts received its first certificate of occupancy for the second floor, which allowed residents to start moving in. Certificates of occupancy are still required for the other floors. Alamo Community Group expects the entire project to be completed by mid-January.

The Museum Reach Lofts offers two computer labs for residents, and a rooftop terrace with views of the Tower of the Americas and the Tower Life building, among other amenities.

Michael Shackelford of Alamo Community Group opens a window blind inside a bedroom at the Museum Reach Lofts. Photo by Ben Olivo | Heron

Alamo Community Group, which also owns the Calcasieu Apartments on Broadway, is planning to build another affordable development in west downtown near the University of Texas at San Antonio’s campus.

“As we wrap up the construction, we will immediately focus on the pre-development of Cattleman Square Lofts, which is located in the heart of the West Side and provides truly affordable units in that area,” Jennifer Gonzales, Alamo Community Group’s executive director, said in a statement.

The Museum Reach Lofts has received an incentive package that includes a $2.8 million reimbursement grant from the Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ), and 9% low-income housing tax credits from the federal government worth an estimated $10 million. It’s also receiving a 75% rebate on city property taxes over 10 years; the other 25% will feed into the city’s affordable housing fund.”

Shackelford looks at downtown from the building’s fifth-floor terrace. Photo by Ben Olivo | Heron

…

2020 Area Median Income

Here are the latest area median income (AMI) levels for the San Antonio-New Braunfels region (Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe and Wilson counties). Want to know more about how AMI works? Click here.
1 person2 person3 person4 person5 person6 person
120%$59,640$68,160$76,680$86,400$93,360$100,320
AMI$49,700$56,800$63,900$72,000$77,800$83,600
80%$40,310$46,100$51,850$57,600$62,250$66,850
70%$34,790$39,760$44,730$50,400$54,460$58,520
60%$30,240$34,560$38,880$43,200$46,680$50,160
50%$25,200$28,800$32,400$36,000$38,900$41,800
40%$19,880$22,720$25,560$28,800$31,120$33,440
30%$15,120$17,280$19,440$21,600$23,340$25,080
Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Previously published
» Latest Museum Reach Lofts design approved
» Museum Reach Lofts redesign approval sought
» Museum Reach Lofts design gets initial thumbs up
» City Council approves $3M incentives for rare affordable downtown apartments
» Affordable Museum Reach Lofts receive $2.8M incentive

Heron Editor Ben Olivo can be reached at 210-421-3932 | ben@saheron.com | @rbolivo on Twitter

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Filed Under: Center City Housing Incentive Policy, City of San Antonio, Development, Housing, Midtown & Pearl, Museum Reach, River North Tagged With: Alamo Community Group, Broadway, Calcasieu Apartments, Cattleman Square Lofts, Jennifer Gonzale, Michael Shackelford, Midtown, Midtown TIRZ, Museum Reach Lofts, North St. Mary's Street, Pearl, SA Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan, San Antonio Museum of Art, Tower Life building, Tower of the Americas, West Jones Avenue

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dionysus Don says

    December 13, 2020 at 5:39 pm

    The Museum Reach Lofts received an incentive package that includes a $2.8 million reimbursement grant from the Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone and tax credits from the federal government worth an estimated $10 million. It’s also receiving a 75% rebate on city property taxes. Please do not try to tell me this is all to benefit the low-income renter. Hundreds of houses, from San Pedro to Alamo Street have been demolished over the years; practically all of it suited for low-income renters.

    Reply
  2. Kiana says

    December 13, 2020 at 11:19 pm

    Looking for a place to rent

    Reply
  3. DEBRA BAKER says

    August 1, 2021 at 9:10 pm

    I am looking for an apartment I can afford I am on Social Security disability and I am not having any luck finding a place to live I have been homeless since December of last year living with whoever will let me I need a place of my own but I need to be able to afford it could you please tell me how I can get an application in

    Reply
  4. Alexia Castillo says

    February 23, 2022 at 2:44 pm

    I currently live at the sister building, Calcasieu. My lease is up in May and I am wanting to move to this new location. Do I need to go in person to apply?

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Top downtown San Antonio stories of 2020 - San Antonio Heron says:
    January 1, 2021 at 12:24 pm

    […] Read more » “Museum Reach Lofts, rare affordable housing near San Antonio’s Pearl district, welcomes fir… […]

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  2. Top downtown San Antonio stories of 2020 - SAHeron says:
    January 8, 2021 at 3:35 pm

    […] Read more » Museum Reach Lofts, rare affordable housing near San Antonio’s Pearl district, welcomes first resi… […]

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  3. Tax subsidy sometimes used for affordable housing redirected to Broadway corridor attractions north of downtown San Antonio - San Antonio Heron says:
    February 23, 2022 at 12:32 pm

    […] of the most celebrated of the Midtown TIRZ projects has been the 94-unit Museum Reach Lofts, which opened in late 2020 at North St. Mary’s Street and West Jones Avenue just down the road […]

    Reply
  4. Houston developer Urban Genesis buys more land on North St. Mary's in San Antonio - San Antonio Heron says:
    March 25, 2022 at 12:20 pm

    […] recent purchase is across the street from the Museum Reach Lofts, an affordable housing complex completed in 2020 by the nonprofit Alamo Community Group. It is only a block from the Museum Reach stretch of the […]

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