$6 million in housing funds in jeopardy

Questions about Victoria Courts design, construction snagged

Ron Wilson

CNP-News San Antonio Bureau

With $6 million at stake, and the clock ticking, the San Antonio Housing Authority and the LaVaca Neighborhood Association met Monday to air differences over the design and construction of the next phase of Victoria Commons, the 35-acre downtown development across from HemisFair Park.

If LaVaca decides to oppose the project in Austin, the state could delay it long enough for SAHA to lose the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding. All the money must be spent by Sept. 30, the end of the 52-month period set by HUD.

If that money were lost, all construction would stop and the area would revert to a huge green space, SAHA CEO Henry Alvarez said.

The primary issue is that SAHA can’t afford all the things the neighborhood wants. It is about $6 million short.

“We don’t have the money,” said Ramiro Cavazos, new chairman of the SAHA board.

Monday’s meeting, which was supported by District 1 Councilwoman Mary Alice Cisneros, was another step toward reaching a compromise. But the level of distrust LaVaca has for SAHA prevents that for now, although a second meeting is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 19.

An example of LaVaca's frustration came up during the meeting over whether local architects Lake Flato were "still involved" in the project.

Alvarez said they were, but LaVaca activist Michael Barrier swore they weren't.

Finally a SAHA staff member said the contract with Lake Flato had expired, but their work product was still incorporated in the design.

That led to a demand that Lake Flato attend the next meeting.

Barrier said most LaVaca residents supported a design by the Lake Flato group that incorporated a masonry façade, wide balconies appropriate for small gatherings of family or friends, and other features.

Those changes were not incorporated in the current design, he said.

SAHA’s Alvarez, however, said about 90 percent of the Lake Flato design was used.

Other LaVaca residents described the difficulty they have had in getting information from SAHA about past decisions, minutes of previous meetings, comparisons of designs, cost comparisons between the Lake Flato design and the one provided by the Dallas developer, and more.

Alvarez said all the information – or links to it – would be provided on SAHA’s Web site before the Feb. 19 meeting.

The residents also insisted they supported the project overall, and were for the inclusion of affordable, or subsidized rent, housing.

Despite the looming deadline, and the lengthy process involved in getting HUD to release funds, SAHA’s Cavazos was optimistic.

“We’re close,” Cavazos said. All parties want to guarantee quality, and buildings that exist on site now attest to that quality, he added.

Sehan Lobb, president of the LaVaca Neighborhood Association, who had posed several pointed questions, said in the end that the meeting was “progressive.”

What LaVaca wants, he said, are all the written stipulations about when the final deadline for spending the money is, a written explanation of what “spend” means in the current context, a summary of the differences between SAHA’s and Lake Flato’s designs, and answers to similar questions posed by U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez.

Cavazos and Alvarez agreed that information would be forthcoming.

“Now it’s a matter of comfort level for all stakeholders,” Cavazaos said, adding he thought a resolution might be possible at the Feb. 19 meeting.

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