San Antonio councilwoman's housing proposals get backing from local, federal leaders

District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo on Wednesday highlighted a pair of proposals she introduced to expedite the construction of more affordable housing in San Antonio.

Under those measures, which Castillo filed last month, vacant city-owned land would be put to use for more affordable housing units and the city would be able to offer incentives to nonprofit developers who build housing in densely populated neighborhoods.

"When implemented, these policies will help San Antonio build and rehabilitate more deeply affordable units and realize our city's housing affordability goals sooner, while helping more families accomplish their dream of owning a home that they can comfortably afford," Castillo said at a news conference outside City Hall.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg and U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, a Democrat whose district includes Central San Antonio, also attended the event and voiced support for Castillo's proposals. She filed them as Council Consideration Requests, or CCRs, an initial step needed to get them in front of council for a vote.

Although neither measure is likely to be considered on the dais until after council approves a city budget for the upcoming fiscal year, Wednesday's presser sent a strong message to Castillo's council colleagues that local and federal leaders have got her back.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the waiting list at Opportunity Home — San Antonio's public housing organization — has skyrocketed from to more than 100,000 from 35,000, according to the San Antonio Report . San Antonio has also grappled with rising home prices and rising homelessness during that time frame.

Castillo's first policy proposal would allocate unused city-owned land to community land trusts for development of affordable housing. A community land trust is an ownership vehicle in which a private citizen owns the building but the land is owned by a public trust, the Express-News reports .

Meanwhile, Castillo's second proposal would incentivize nonprofit developers such as Habitat for Humanity to build more affordable housing by offering bonuses and waivers to current city codes on a project-by-project basis.

During the presser, socialist organizer Robert Hernandez said he and other working-class people would benefit if council adopts Castillo's CCRs. Wealthy outsiders are snapping up properties in San Antonio, forcing out longtime residents, he added.

"The truth of the matter is that public housing and deeply affordable housing are under attack ... as our land sold off to corporations," Hernandez said. "[W]e also see the growing corporatization of public entities dedicated to serving our people, like Opportunity Home."

Even though San Antonio is consistently ranked among the nation's most-affordable housing markets, the city continues to grow at a brisk pace, welcoming 22,000 new residents last year.

Citing that growth, Castillo, Nirenberg and Casar emphasized the need to address San Antonio's housing affordability issues before they become the full-blown disasters experienced by other Sunbelt cities.

"That's not the position you want to be in, San Antonio," Casar said. "Before people get pushed out, it'd be so much better to just keep people here. So let's learn from the mistakes in San Francisco and in Austin. Let's do it right first here in San Antonio — to say that when you have a growing population, you need more housing, but you need more housing at every level of affordability — for everyone — to keep everyone here."

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