Editorial Editorial (September 24, 2004)

Studio housing succeeds at last

In a world where the ranks of low-wage earners are growing more rapidly than the high-paying sectors of the local economy, the city took a firm step to make housing more affordable when officials broke ground Sept. 8 for 120 units of efficiency studio apartments in the San Antonio Road Circle.

The $21.8-million complex will be built near the recently completed Community School of Music and Arts building in the area beneath the San Antonio Road overpass and Central Expressway. It is the city's first studio efficiency project, which will include 325 square foot units with a complete kitchen that will rent from $252 to $700 a month, depending on a person's income.

Such low rents are almost unheard of in the city's housing market, where a one-bedroom apartment can cost $900 a month or more. The studios will be the city's 10th subsidized affordable housing complex.

The idea to build the small and affordable units at San Antonio on donated city land has been percolating for more than 10 years, and was made possible by a complex financing package that includes a start of $5.3 million from the city. Other monies include $7.5 million in tax credits, $4.9 million from the state, $2 million in county funds and a $691,000 loan from Wells Fargo Bank.

The city and all its partners should be applauded for their persistence in bringing this project to the ground-breaking stage. It hardly answers the desperate need for more affordable housing, but it will demonstrate there is concern about housing for those holding low-income jobs, who are a critical part of our economy.

Approval of the studio project units is just the first in what will be a series of important housing decisions in the near future, including the okay of a final plan for the Mayfield Mall property recently vacated by HP. Toll Brothers, the likely buyer of the 27-acre property, has proposed building 600 to 800 high-density housing units on the site.

But neighbors in the Monta Loma area are stridently opposed to such a high-density development, and said so at a city-sponsored meeting this week. The city is expected to decide the issue soon, and while there may be valid questions about how the project will fit into the neighborhood, the city should stay the course and continue to support responsible development of at least modestly dense housing at Mayfield, and at other potential sites where there is an opportunity to convert former commercial and industrial sites to housing.

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