![]() Now, SAHA is revving up development in the area once again, hoping to bring this master development to a close in the coming years. But plans for more townhomes, more housing, were halted by the Great Recession, which left fields platted for dozens of skinny townhomes vacant for years, utility lines sprouting from the ground unfinished. The redevelopment was spearheaded by a second Hope VI grant, worth $18.7 million. The completion of Refugio Place followed in 2004, then the Artisan Park townhomes in 2007, and the Hemisview Village apartments in 2010-a community of more than 500 units, apartments mostly, for diverse income levels that’s hard to miss from Interstate 37 as drivers enter or leave downtown over East César E. In subsequent years, demolition began on the 660 public housing units that comprised the circa-1940 Victoria Courts south of what was then Durango Boulevard, across from the Institute of Texan Cultures. Department of Housing and Urban Development at the time. San Antonio’s own Henry Cisneros served as secretary of the U.S. In 1998, the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) received a Hope VI grant, a program designed to replace concentrations of public housing with newly-built mixed-income communities. The transformation has been ongoing since the Clinton administration. For the past 20 years, this community, which includes townhomes and houses, has taken shape on 36 acres that’s technically part of the Lavaca neighborhood, where the Victoria Courts once stood. Refugio is the name of these apartments and this street, but the larger development is called Victoria Commons, a collection of predominately market-priced apartments interspersed with subsidized units and public housing. ![]() It’s pretty easy, it’s simple,” said Oyervides, 38, who’s lived here in a public housing apartment for four years. Whenever they want to play, I sit out here and keep an eye on them. Over on the diamond, a daughter took softball pitches from her old man. A couple of high school-aged runners made laps around the grounds. The day was winding down and people of all socio-economic backgrounds were getting in their daily rituals before dark. The apartments also face the park’s basketball court, which attracts seemingly every kid in the Lavaca neighborhood. Photo by Stephanie Marquez | Heron contributorīefore temperatures dropped, Delilah Oyervides sat on her stoop at the Refugio Place apartments south of downtown and watched her three kids play on the Labor Street Park playground across the street. Kids play basketball at Labor Street Park last weekend.
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