Edinburg opens first public housing development in 4 decades

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EDINBURG — The first public housing project to be constructed here in more than four decades is finally open and will soon be home to its first residents.

Officials with the Edinburg Housing Authority, along with many local dignitaries, celebrated the opening of La Posada II with a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house on Thursday morning.

The opening of the new development marks the first new public housing that the city of Edinburg — via its housing authority — has created in approximately 43 years.

The three-story apartment building, which contains 36 residences, was built on the corner of Sugar Road and Sprague Street on the same site as some of Edinburg’s existing public housing.

As Marissa Garza, the housing authority’s recently hired executive director, explained, the development will mostly house single individuals and seniors.

“This is a significant step forward,” Garza said.

“La Posada II apartments is … made up of 18 studios/efficiencies and 18 one bedroom, one bath (apartments) and … a total of four units that are ADA compliant,” she said.

The project, which broke ground on April 13, 2023, cost $5 million, which will be “fully subsidized” by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, Garza said.

Formerly the director of Hidalgo County’s Urban County Program, Garza has significant experience dealing with federal funding, including HUD funding.

She said this new housing will go a long way toward providing stability to some of Edinburg’s most vulnerable residents.

“By giving them housing and providing them that stability, then they’re able to focus on real life and getting themselves successful and getting themselves self-sufficient and transitioning them into the world,” Garza said.

The three-story building occupies the eastern portion of land at the La Posada complex.

Residents’ front doors will face the rising sun, while to the north, the sounds of school children from Edinburg CISD’s Robert E. Lee Elementary and South Texas ISD’s Preparatory Academy will fill the air.

Zuleika Morales Romero, the field office director for HUD’s San Antonio Field Office, said the three-dozen units will go toward helping two populations whose rates of homeless have been on the increase.

“The homeless numbers have increased, and the biggest numbers are elderly and very young adults … the kids that have just left foster care and they’re between 18 and 22 years old,” Morales Romero said.

La Posada II’s units are purpose-built to meet that need.

“It’s gonna help our elderly that don’t have family help, and it’s going to help our young adults that are trying to start off in life. And it’s giving them a bit of a boost,” Morales Romero said.

Place 1 Edinburg Councilman Dan Diaz echoed that sentiment, saying that addressing housing needs is one of Edinburg’s top priorities.

“I want to thank everyone that made this reality today that we see behind us, for making dreams come true for people who need a little step up in life, need a little helping hand,” Diaz said.

“The city is here to do anything we can to service the needs, especially when it comes to housing, basic necessities,” he added later.

Though small, the housing units are tidy and well thought out, with every corner of space maximized for best use.

The efficiency units feature a single multi-use room that combines the kitchen and living space.

Just inside the front door, future residents of such a unit will be met with an open floor plan and a long kitchen counter that extends across one wall, ending with a refrigerator/freezer combo.

An electric stove and oven combo, along with more counter space and ample cabinets, line the front wall of the units.

Along the back wall, a single window faces to the west and will provide ample natural light in the space where a comfortable bed will fit.

A small closet and a restroom with an upright shower are the only two portions of the efficiency units that are set off behind closed doors.

The rest of the space in the efficiency units is large enough to accommodate a bistro table and a small sofa.

Meanwhile, in the one bed/one bath units, the front halves are occupied by similar kitchens, but with additional open floor space large enough to accommodate a small dining table, sofa and coffee table.

In the rear sits a bedroom featuring a cheery accent wall painted in avocado green, as well as a built-in shelf for books or trinkets.

A private bathroom lies just off the bedroom, featuring more built-in shelving, and a low-clearance shower stall that can accommodate residents with mobility issues.

Garza, who took over as the housing authority’s executive director just a month-and-a-half ago, beamed at the future lives residents will enjoy here.

“This moment represents much more than an opening of an apartment development, but it also represents our commitment to the community, ensuring our community has access to affordable, safe and decent housing,” she said.

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