PROJECT OF THE YEAR: AFFORDABLE
Oak Valley Apartments
Everyone knows affordable apartment projects are difficult to piece together with their intricate layers of financing. So when a developer can put together an appealing, lower-density affordable project, it’s quite an accomplishment. And that’s just what Southwest Housing Development in Dallas did when it created the Oak Valley Apartments in Austin, Texas.
Developing the 41-acre site in the Texas hill country with Craftsman-style bungalows helped Southwest Housing Development secure bonds issued from the Austin Housing Finance Corporation. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs also provided tax credits for the projects. This allowed the developer to create 180 duplexes that have more of a single-family feel, plus 100 apartments. “It really gives you a sense of single-family living instead of multifamily living,” says Erik Earnshaw, project manager for Beeler, Guest, Owens Architects LP. “We give everyone their own front yard and back yard. They have individuality.”
When it comes to densities, Brian Potashnik, president of Southwest Housing Development, says lower is better. “When you are doing affordable housing, it helps to lower densities,” he says. “Historically there are problems in affordable housing when families are too close together. We’ve always tried to get lower density buildings that are townhouse-style done when we can.”
Not only did Southwest Housing Development develop an attractive, low-density project with Oak Valley, it also developed one that didn’t even feel affordable. “It’s a family project,” Earnshaw says. “It was affordable development that was designed so the residents wouldn’t feel like they lived in an affordable development.”
–L. Shaver
Oak Valley Apartments
Location: Austin, Texas; Developer: Southwest Housing Development; Architect: Beeler Guest Owens Architects LP; Opened: December 2004; Units: 280; Rent: $699 to $913; Unit Mix: Two-, three-, and four-bedrooms; Cool Stuff: Recreation center with computer labs and classroom space