CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — In just a few months, construction will begin on an affordable housing subdivision on the grounds where the former Lozano Elementary used to be.
This is the first subdivision venture for Thanksgiving Homes, a non-profit organization affiliate under the Corpus Christi Housing Authority. According to county records, the property was appraised for nearly $325,000 and was purchased earlier this year.
"We started off building one home in an area and then building another one. We continued to do that. We continued with the info model because we believe that rebuilding neighborhoods is an important part of what we do," CEO Corpus Christi Housing Authority & Thanksgiving Homes Gary Allsup said.
With hopes to expand the way people live in Corpus Christi, the new subdivision will be home to more than three dozen families with a mix of one-story and two-story homes. Some of them will be rented to families while others will have private owners.
Allsup said that the organization is trying to be efficient with the way they do business for the community so the homes they provide can help new homeowners save money.
The home won't be for a particular group of people. Allsup said that anyone can purchase if they're interested and approved.
"We don't want to encourage areas of low income all living together," Allsup said. "We think that having neighborhoods that include bankers, lawyers and doctors, and perhaps first time home buyers creates the perfect match."
So far, Thanksgiving Homes has developed more than 100 homes across the Corpus Christi area. Next year, they're hoping begin expanding their yearly developments from 40 homes to more than 60 by the end of the year.
The organization said they're excited to help families not only find their forever home, but to be also be able to afford it.
"We've not really gone into the business of building a mini subdivision," Allsup said. "The folks that we're selling the houses to are sometimes the forgotten middle and sometimes nobody is really looking out for them and we're doing that with these houses."
The Corpus Christi Housing Authority and Thanksgiving Homes requested to rezone the property by the Planning and Zoning Commission. It was approved last week and now they're waiting for the final green light from Corpus Christi City Council to move forward with the beginning of construction.
If interested in renting or purchasing one of the homes, reach out to Corpus Christi Housing Authority or Thanksgiving Homes for more information.
For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
