CORPUS CHRISTI, TX — Shovels are officially in the ground as construction for a new housing development at the former Lozano Elementary School is set to start. On Wednesday, the Corpus Christi Housing Authority (CCHA) broke ground on its newest property at the former school site.
CEO and President of CCHA Gary Alsup said this project is over two years in the making after they officially purchased the property last year.
“We’re really excited to get these houses up and to put 40 new homes in this," Alsup said. "It’s going to be big for this community. It’s going to be big for Corpus Christi and it is big for Thanksgiving Homes.”
Like Alsup mentioned, there will be at least 40 homes on the property, ranging between single-family and two-story homes. The entity, Thanksgiving Homes, which is under CCHA, is spearheading this project.
Alsup emphasized that their main goal is to further develop better neighborhoods across the city.
“It’s not the American dream to live in a three-bedroom apartment someplace, on the fourth floor of an apartment building," Alsup said. "The dream is still, in today’s world, a three-bedroom house, with a picket fence and 2 1/2 kids and a dog. That’s the vision here. We wanted to make and build housing that would be a neighborhood.”
During Wednesday’s event, the Corpus Christi Housing Authority also recognized one of their long-time employees, who has dedicated more than 35 years to the company.
They celebrated Robert Anderson by naming one of the future streets on the property after him.
“It was a glorious surprise and then it’s turned into a wonderful feeling of pride and honor that they would do this," Anderson said.
KRIS 6 Newsinitially reported that the homes on the former school site would be categorized as affordable housing, but that has since changed.
Alsup added that the project will not receive government funding and will be approximately $200,000, which is slightly below the average for a single-family home in Corpus Christi.
The development will be fully completed in a couple of years, but the Corpus Christi Housing Authority hopes to start selling these homes to buyers by the end of this year.
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