(AUSTIN) — The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) and State Senator Troy Fraser today announced a significant funding award to a nonprofit housing developer constructing a new affordable rental property that will help expand housing choices for area tenants while providing a shot in the arm to the local economy.

TDHCA will provide a $2 million loan to the Texas Housing Foundation to help finance the 20-unit Creek View Apartments II which will offer quality rental housing at an affordable rent. The award was made through the Department’s HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program rental housing development fund and will be immediately adjacent to the first phase Creek View Apartments I.

“I am pleased to learn that TDHCA recognized Johnson City’s need for quality, affordable rental housing and made this award,” said Senator Fraser. “The state plays an important role in expanding housing options for all residents, and I encourage TDHCA to continue providing quality, attractive housing that fits the budgets of many of my most vulnerable constituents.”

“Many Texans find their housing choices are severely limited, particularly in smaller communities,” said TDHCA Executive Director Tim Irvine. “This award will provide tenants the long-term benefits of a stable, secure home life, while creating additional construction jobs and the payroll, taxes, and fees that help provide essential services at the local level.”

TDHCA awards loans through the Department’s HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program, which helps finance the development of multifamily rental housing specifically designed to serve low income tenants.

Qualifying applicants include rural cities and counties, public housing authorities, Community Housing Development Organizations and other nonprofit housing groups, and certain for-profit organizations which develop the rental property to serve tenants at the local level.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is the funding source for the HOME Program. The program serves households earning no more than 80 percent of the area median family income, which for a family for four in Johnson City equals an annual income of $51,100.