Waco Tribune-Herald

Rehab of 3 Waco VA buildings for veteran housing among local projects seeking funding   

(4 March, Rhiannon Saegert, Waco, TX)  

 A $5.6 million redevelopment project providing housing for homeless veterans in unused historical buildings at the Doris Miller Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center is among three development proposals in Waco seeking federal low-income housing tax credits.

The Waco City Council formally backed all three affordable housing projects this week, giving them a small boost on their applications for federal funding through the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. While the city broadly supports the addition of affordable housing, the project at the VA hospital campus appears to have a broad range of benefits, Waco City Manager Bradley Ford said.

 “Because it was for veterans it just stood out,” Ford said. “We know veteran homelessness is a real thing in our community and having these units would be really helpful to avoid veterans going into homelessness or moving veterans out of homelessness.”

 Developers proposing affordable apartments downtown and another project with affordable housing for seniors near downtown are also competing for the low-income housing tax credits available in the current round of funding for Central Texas, along with affordable housing complexes in Bryan and in Temple. Ford said he expects the state will have enough money available for at least one project and as many as three of the five applicants.

 Funding decisions typically are announced in July.

Solutions for Veterans, a nonprofit the VA selected to create housing for veterans, is proposing a $5.6 million project called Freedom’s Path that would involve redeveloping three existing buildings constructing one new one. It would create 34 housing units and a community center and is seeking $650,000 in low-income housing tax credits.

 The buildings date to the 1930s and housed employees living onsite until the 1980s, Doris Miller VA Assistant Director Amy Maynard said. They have been vacant since then and are considered “contributing structures” to the hospital campus’ national historical designation.

 Solutions for Veterans President Craig Taylor the structures’ state and federal historical designations open up additional tax credit programs the group will seek to use. A conditions report shows the buildings are in poor-to-fair condition, with water infiltration from roof damage and basement walls.

 Taylor said Solutions for Veterans was founded in 2010 specifically to bring in private sector companies to retrofit old buildings on VA campuses, including many that have historical designations. A private management company would operate the apartments proposed in Waco.

 The Waco project, if approved, would be Solutions for Veterans’ 11th conversion. In addition to the tax credits, charitable contributions to the nonprofit would make up a significant portion of the project funding, Taylor said.

In 2016, Solutions for Veterans developed three Freedom’s Path properties for homeless veterans at Veterans Affairs locations in Vancouver, Canada; Chillicothe, Ohio; and Kerrville. Taylor said many VAs have aging, unused structures like the ones in Waco, and they require significant spending on maintenance.

 “They’re problematic, frankly, for the VA,” Taylor said of the old buildings. “They’re spending dollars on that instead of spending dollars on patient care, programming and services for our vets.”

 Taylor said during the 2019 point-in-time homeless count Texas ranked third for most homeless veterans.