San Antonio Opens its Newest Affordable Housing Community

In the midst of the daily hustle and bustle occurring in the second largest city in Texas, some soft billowy clouds opened up over a veritable oasis appearing on the growingly energized 'south side' of San Antonio. With views that would rival its north side, San Antonio celebrated the Grand Opening of its new Rancho Sierra housing community.

In the Grand Opening comments that followed, Aubra Franklin, owner of this new Ranch Sierra housing community, explained that this project has been approximately 10 years in the planning and developing stages. But it has now come to fruition.

This unique Rancho Sierra Community now offers many amenities and services most residents of similar type locations would most likely be paying for, such as the complete outside day care, the adult education classes, access to the world wide web, assistance with resume preparation, on-site job fairs, etc. Franklin also pointed out that Rancho Sierra is a very security-conscious housing community, being recognized by the United Apartment Group for its successful participation in the recent "Night Out" against crime.

State Representative Ron Segovia also took part in the dedication ceremonies, lauding the insight which brought such an endeavor to the newly energized south side of San Antonio. It was further pointed out that this Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) property will allow many more San Antonians to reside and raise families in a much more positive environment.

Rancho Sierra will also have a positive impact on San Antonio's south side, the area of town experiencing the largest growth and development of any section of town seen in years. Since Rancho Sierra is such an active partner on the south side, it was only appropriate that the property owners presented a check for $1,400 to Margie Medina, President of the Little Cowboys Pop Warner Football League, for the purchase of jerseys and pants for the South Side's Mighty Mites football team comprised of 7 and 8 year olds.

There was a tremendous flowing of positive energy throughout the day beginning with the Grand Opening celebration. Rancho Sierra is currently over 70% occupied, and there were five (5) more units rented out during the grand opening ceremonies. Talk about positive energy in this little oasis. What a positive impact for years to come.

The list of VIPs participating in the celebration was lengthy and included folks such as Luz Day, the HUD San Antonio Field Office Director; Elva Castillo, the HUD Multifamily Program Center Director; San Antonio's District 3 State Representative, Ron Segovia; Tim Settles, President of the United Apartment Group, Inc.; Margie Medina, President of the South Side Little Cowboys Pop Warner Football League; Gretchen Parra, Supervisory Project Manager in the San Antonio Multifamily Program Center; and Aubra Franklin, Owner of Rancho Sierra.

Learn more on how HUD supports the development, rehabilitation, maintenance and management of multiple-unit affordable housing by visiting our local Multifamily Housing page.