{"id":377377,"date":"2026-07-17T23:24:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T23:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/377377\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T23:24:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T23:24:20","slug":"204-unit-affordable-housing-community-opens-in-east-austin-east-austin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/377377\/","title":{"rendered":"204-unit affordable housing community opens in East Austin | East Austin"},"content":{"rendered":"

City officials, developers and neighborhood residents gathered July 17 to cut the ribbon on Seabrook Square I<\/a>, a 204-unit income-restricted apartment community at 3515 Manor Road in East Austin’s J.J. Seabrook neighborhood.\"\"\/East Austin affordable-housing complex Seabrook Square I had 21 families moved in by its ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 17, according to city officials. (Jessica McLaren\/Community Impact)The overview<\/p>\n

The community\u2014named for Dr. John Jarvis “J.J.” Seabrook, a Black educator, pastor and longtime Austin community leader\u2014offers studio through four-bedroom homes for households earning between 30% and 60% of the median family income, according to a news release from the Austin Housing Department<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Spread across five-story and four-story buildings, Seabrook Square I includes 95 one-bedroom, 57 two-bedroom, 21 three-bedroom and three four-bedroom apartments, along with 28 studios. The complex is almost at capacity for those who fall into the 30% category, property staff said during a tour following the ceremony.\"\"\/One of the furnished one-bedroom apartments at Seabrook Square I. The complex has 204 units in total. (Jessica McLaren\/Community Impact)Residents began moving in earlier this month, and 21 households were already living in the community as of the ribbon-cutting, said John Welsh, senior vice president of development for the project\u2019s nonprofit developer, The NHP Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Austin continues to grow, but that growth … [makes] it harder for residents to stay in the city that they love. Seabrook Square offers an antidote,” he said at the ceremony.\"\"\/Seabrook Square I, located at 3515 Manor Road, was designed to provide affordable housing while encouraging creativity and community, according to speakers at the July 17 ribbon-cutting. (Jessica McLaren\/Community Impact)Diving in deeper<\/p>\n

Ten of the units are live-work residence studios dedicated to East Austin artists, per the release. The units feature first-floor entries and studio space lined with glass display windows, and applicants must be approved by a review board in addition to meeting income requirements, property staff said.\"\"\/One of the 10 live-work studio units at Seabrook Square I reserved for East Austin artists, featuring first-floor entry and glass display windows. (Jessica McLaren\/Community Impact)The property also includes a structured parking garage and bicycle parking, an art plaza, a clothes care center, a courtyard, a community hall, a fitness center and 2,000 square feet of commercial space.\"\"\/Laundry facilities at the Seabrook Square I affordable housing development in East Austin. Each unit also has washer and dryer hookups. (Jessica McLaren\/Community Impact)A cafe from Origin Studio House<\/a> is expected to open in January, Capital A Housing Principal Conor Kenny said at the ceremony.<\/p>\n

“I know for a fact that some of the people who are moving in today, this very day, have already been displaced from their homes in East Austin,” he said.<\/p>\n

Prices for the affordable housing complex range from $658 to $2,079, according to the website as of press time. Units come with stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and some have balconies, as stated on the website.<\/p>\n

Funding the project<\/p>\n

The Austin Housing Finance Corporation<\/a> purchased the roughly 3-acre site at 3515 Manor Road in 2021-22 using 2018 voter-approved general obligation bond funds, per the release. Following community engagement, AHFC awarded the development opportunity in July 2022 to NHPF, Capital A Housing<\/a> and Integral Care<\/a>, the local mental health authority for Travis County.<\/p>\n

NHPF, Capital A and AHFC developed, own and operate the first phase, while Integral Care’s role centers on the development’s second building.\"\"\/Speakers during the ribbon-cutting ceremony referenced photos of the site before the project began, noting trash and graffiti. (Jessica McLaren\/Community Impact)During construction, the project drew over $40 million in tax-exempt bonds issued by the AHFC, $3.2 million in 4% low-income housing tax credit equity syndicated by Boston Financial, about $13.5 million in 2022 GO Bond funding from AHFC through the Rental Housing Development Assistance Program<\/a>, and a $3.4 million Citibank construction bridge loan, per the release.<\/p>\n

Once construction wrapped, that financing was converted into a permanent capital stack totaling $73.6 million, or $360,855 per unit, according to NHPF.<\/p>\n

\"chart<\/p>\n

Quote of note<\/p>\n

The property will also feature a mural honoring Roger Taylor Sr., who founded the J.J. Seabrook Neighborhood Association in 1983 and led it for two decades, per remarks from his children at the ceremony.<\/p>\n

Austin-based arts nonprofit and artist incubator Raasin in the Sun<\/a>, which will now be headquartered at Seabrook Square I, is leading the community-centered mural process, according to the nonprofit’s website.\"\"\/Roger Taylor Jr. and Rosalind Taylor Dillard\u2014children of the J.J. Seabrook Neighborhood Association founder Roger Taylor Sr.\u2014spoke about their father\u2019s passion for affordable housing during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. (Jessica McLaren\/Community Impact)”Seeing his name connected to something that will be a part of this community for years to come [is] incredibly meaningful to us,” Taylor’s daughter, Rosalind Taylor Dillard, said at the event.<\/p>\n

Taylor’s son, Roger Taylor Jr., who later led the association himself, said affordability was a cause his father championed, and he hopes new residents get involved with the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

“My dad was my favorite, and he was my hero,” he said.<\/p>\n

What’s next<\/p>\n

The development’s second phase, Seabrook Square II<\/a>, is connected to the first and will offer 60 fully furnished, single-occupancy efficiency apartments upon its opening in August. The facility will provide permanent supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness, paired with voluntary wraparound services, according to the release.\"\"\/Seabrook Square II, which opens in August, will offer permanent housing to those experiencing homelessness as well as mental health and wellbeing services for Seabrook Square I residents. (Jessica McLaren\/Community Impact)Developed by Capital A Housing, the community will be owned and operated by Integral Care, with 24-hour on-site staffing, a food pantry and community room, and a clinic<\/a> offering primary care, mental health care and substance use support sits just a mile down Airport Boulevard.<\/p>\n

“Housing is healthcare … When it’s present, people’s overall wellness and health improves,” Integral Care CEO Jeff Richardson said at the ceremony. \u201cWhen it isn\u2019t, we see the result.\u201d<\/p>\n

The building received $7.9 million in 2022 bond funding through the RHDAP,<\/a> over $10.68 million from Travis County and $850,000 from member-owned cooperative FHLB Dallas<\/a>, with all 60 units dedicated to the Austin and Travis County Homelessness Response System<\/a> through city housing vouchers, per the release.<\/p>\n

Seabrook Square II will hold its ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 28.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"City officials, developers and neighborhood residents gathered July 17 to cut the ribbon on Seabrook Square I, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[133472,133468,133469,132,134,88352,133466,133,133465,133473,133470,133467,133471,133464,133474],"class_list":["post-377377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-affordable-apartments-east-austin-manor-road","tag-affordable-housing-austin-2026","tag-artist-live-work-housing-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-housing-finance-corporation","tag-austin-income-restricted-apartments","tag-austin-news","tag-east-austin-affordable-housing","tag-income-based-housing-austin-texas","tag-integral-care-housing","tag-j-j-seabrook-neighborhood","tag-nhp-foundation-austin","tag-seabrook-square-austin","tag-seabrook-square-ribbon-cutting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}