Parker Lane Apartments began welcoming home residents in November of 2024, and on February 12, 2025, the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony took place in the community’s Learning Center. Many in attendance had played a role in helping make Parker Lane Apartments, a beautiful, newly-constructed apartment community, a reality. “I just want to say thank you for being here to help us celebrate,” said Foundation Communities Executive Director Walter Moreau. “It’s a lot of work to build affordable housing.” You can watch video of the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Parker Lane Apartments below.
The community features 135 1,2,and 3-bedroom apartments, all set aside for families and individuals making less than 60 percent of the area’s median family income (MFI). Twenty-four of the units will be deeply affordable for families at risk of becoming homeless. The community is located in a vibrant, diverse and transit-rich part of southeast Austin on land that was home to a United Methodist Church for more than 60 years before it closed in 2019. The construction was made possible through a land lease partnership between Foundation Communities and the United Methodist Church (UMC). A district lay leader for the church organization, Brooks Schuelke, spoke about how the partnership began. He said church leaders felt having affordable housing built on the property would honor the church’s legacy of community service, especially since FC has a housing plus services model.
“They’re not just about affordable housing,” said Schuelke.”They have a number of wraparound services. They’ve got the Learning Center, they’ve got the after-school programs, they’ve got the food pantry, they do job trainings, they do so much more. All of the stuff that we want our churches to do to serve their communities, Parker Lane and Foundation Communities continues to do that and serves this community.” Schuelke added that the church will maintain office space at Parker Lane Apartments for its immigration legal services, and church members can find volunteer opportunities and meeting spaces at Parker Lane Apartments to retain a connection with the neighborhood.
The ribbon cutting ceremony was a chance to celebrate and thank all the people who helped to make Parker Lane Apartments possible. Among the speakers were representatives of some of the project’s largest funding partners, including Wells Fargo Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas which delivered a large ceremonial check for a $3.1 million grant. The project also received approximately $9.7 million from the City of Austin – $4.1 million in funds from 2022 General Obligation (GO) Bonds and $5.6 million from Project Connect. Austin City Council Member José Velásquez extended congratulations to everyone who helped build Parker Lane Apartments and to the families who will find a home and success there. Development of Parker Lane Apartments was also made possible by $15 million in Low Income Housing Tax Credits from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA)
The Vice President of Community Investments for St David’s Foundation, Regan Gruber Moffitt, said,”We’ve learned just about everything we know about the connection between housing and health walking side-by-side with our partner Foundation Communities. You can see here that they know how to build beautiful spaces that are an asset to the neighborhoods and the city overall. But, it’s really about the communities that they form and the idea of neighbors knowing neighbors and after a long day having a place to exhale.”
Perhaps the most moving speech was from Paulette Fresch, a mother who is raising two sons by herself at another Foundation Communities property for families. Fresch described how affordable housing and support services took her family from the brink of homelessness to a place of hopefulness. Describing the day they moved into their new apartment, she said, “I remember seeing the bright sunlight shining through the windows. It just seemed like we had been in a dark place for years and to see the beautiful sunshine felt like the skies were the limit for us.”
Parker Lane Apartments was designed with features to help residents feel safe, including clearly-marked entrances, easy to understand signs, and ample lighting throughout. Those who visit Parker Lane Apartments will notice features that honor the legacy of Parker Lane United Methodist Church, including stained glass windows, majestic oak trees and wildflower gardens, something people in the neighborhood enjoyed about the property for many years. Those who attended the Ribbon Cutting got an opportunity to take a guided tour of the apartment community. You can watch video of the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Parker Lane Apartments below. Learn more about Parker Lane Apartments on its Foundation Communities webpage.
