Staff brief council on three 9% tax-credit housing applications; all require zoning changes and scored similarly by TDHCA

Mindy Cochran, Executive Director of Housing, told the council that Arlington received three 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) applications for the 2026 cycle and that staff had reviewed the projects and taken them to the Community & Neighborhood Development (CND) Committee.

"In Arlington, we have 3 applications that you're gonna see today," Cochran said. She explained the state process (TDHCA's Qualified Allocation Plan and competitive scoring), and said that all three Arlington applications scored 170 points on TDHCA scoring, meaning the final awards are likely to come down to tiebreakers.

Becky Slandy, operations manager in Housing, summarized the projects and developer representatives:

- Knox Senior Living: proposed 69-unit senior development, located adjacent to a previously approved project; site in a census tract with a 20.4% poverty rate; currently zoned CC and not consistent with the comprehensive plan. - Campbell Place: proposed 90 family units (1-3 bedrooms) with a 22,500,000 development cost, a planned pre-K space and demolition of two existing vacant homes; not consistent with the comprehensive plan and will require a zoning change. - Heritage at Sublette: senior development proposed by Elizabeth Property Group (EPG), represented by Chris Upton; plan was reduced from an earlier 71 units to a smaller configuration and was described as consistent with the comprehensive plan in its current form.

Slandy told council that applicants have met with neighborhood stakeholders and that staff would continue to track zoning and community concerns. She reiterated that the three resolutions of support appear on the evening consent agenda and that council members could pull items if they wanted separate votes.

Council asked specific questions about accessibility and universal-design features. Jake Mooney of JCM Ventures said typical fair-housing practice is to make roughly 5% of units ADA-compliant and to include additional features in senior buildings with elevators that effectively make more units accessible because residents can reach upper floors.

"Usually, it's 5% are true true ADA," Jake Mooney said. "For a development that has an elevator, yes ... all the doors every unit then becomes an accessible unit because you are providing that accessibility by providing an elevator." He added that true ADA-design features (lower counters, maneuvering clearances) generally remain limited to the formally designated accessible units required by code.

There was no council vote on the applications during the work session; staff encouraged members to review the materials and noted that final TDHCA awards are announced in July. Staff said it would provide clarifying responses to questions about universal-design elements and final budget details.

The items remain on the evening consent agenda as resolutions of support; council may pull and vote on any application separately during the evening meeting.