HUD Secretary tours Rosewood Courts redevelopment project

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The U.S. Department Housing and Urban Development's acting secretary, Adrianne Todman, visited the build site of an Austin affordable housing project Wednesday morning.

The Prospect Heights project is a redevelopment of the former Rosewood Courts, one of the nation's oldest public housing sites. The development is under the direction of the Housing Authority of the City of Austin (HACA) and the Austin Habitat for Humanity.

Todman's remarks honored the legacy of former President Jimmy Carter.

"When people talk about housing, it's sometimes this very abstract thing," she said. "But what [Carter] did...for decades, he was out there with a hammer and a toolkit, pounding nails, making sure that people saw him as a former president, lifting up something that's so important to all of us, and that is access to partnership and access to housing."

Following the speeches, Todman, Watson and Travis County Judge Andy Brown participated in the raising of wall frame sections.

"Austin is one of the rare, rare cities across the country that have built so much houses that we've been able to see rents just modulate and go down. That's tremendous," Todman said. "A lot of other places that are trying to do that have not done it, but Austin is a shining light of an example of what can be done."

The project will only create 12 units of townhome-style housing. It is next to the Pathways at Rosewood Courts project, which will bring 184 rental units. The original Rosewood Courts project had only 124 units of housing, according to HACA.

HACA said that it expects the homes to be finished by early 2026. The project is located in the 1100 block of Poquito Street in Austin.