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Waco, Grassroots outline 25-home 'Renaissance at Sanger Heights' with $3M federal grant for affordability
Summary
City staff and Grassroots briefed council on a 25-home pocket neighborhood on the former Sanger Elementary site that will include 14 affordable units supported by a $3,000,000 community project funding grant and ARPA infrastructure dollars; staff expects infrastructure to start Feb. 2026 and home construction to begin Nov. 2026.
City and nonprofit partners on Oct. 7 presented the Renaissance at Sanger Heights, a collaborative redevelopment of the former Sanger Avenue Elementary site that will deliver 25 single-family homes—14 designated affordable and 11 market-rate—on a roughly 3-acre site in North Waco.
Galen Price, director of housing and community development, said the project’s financing is layered: the city will use ARPA funds for initial infrastructure work and a federal community project funding (CPF) grant of $3,000,000 secured through Congressman Pete Sessions will subsidize affordability for 14 units. Mike Stone, executive director of Grassroots, said the CPF award is the largest grant Grassroots has received and allows the project to increase the number of affordable homes from an earlier plan of six to 14.
Stone described the pocket neighborhood concept as dense single-family housing with shared green spaces, sidewalks and a homeowners association to maintain common areas. Design features will range from about 1,200 to 2,100 square feet per home; 500 bricks salvaged from the old school will be reused on each house’s first step.
City staff asked council to approve an agreement with Grassroots for the $3,000,000 CPF funding and to amend and restate an ARPA-based development agreement to align timelines. If approved, staff said the infrastructure contract would be awarded to start on-site work in February 2026, with housing construction phases beginning in November 2026 and a potential ceremonial groundbreaking in January.
Council members praised the mixed-income approach, asked about private investment and down-payment assistance, and were told most private dollars are expected to be construction loans rather than equity investment. Staff said down-payment assistance applications tied to the development have already been reviewed and community outreach is planned for Sanger Heights and neighboring Brook Oaks.
Next steps: council will consider the funding and conveyance items on the evening agenda; if approved the city and Grassroots will execute agreements and begin infrastructure procurement.
