Strong partnerships have made the First Creek at Austin a #KnoxvilleJobwellDone.
Listening to neighbors
Before shovels broke any ground, an extensive planning process for the new Austin Homes began with a series of public meetings. Feedback from these meetings informed the
Redevelopment Plan to guide the four phases of the project.
At public open houses held starting in February 2019, Gensler, a global architecture firm based in San Francisco, and Knoxville-based Johnson Architecture introduced the planning process and outlined initial input gathered from Austin Homes residents and community stakeholders.
Bonus: All residents living at the site when the original buildings were demolished were given the option to move to other KCDC properties in the meantime and also had the right to return to First Creek at Austin if they chose to.
Funding
Federal, state and local funding -- public and private -- all come together to make affordable housing possible. KCDC CEO Ben Bentley calls that multi-layered financial situation the “capital stack” (which always makes me think of pancakes).
For the third phase of First Creek at Austin, those layers (pancakes!) are:
- Regions Bank, equity partner
- Chase Community Development Banking, lender
- HUD, grantor of a $7.5 million grant for the supportive senior housing
- Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA), grantor of a $900,000 grant to help build the family housing units
- City of Knoxville, provider of $3.8 million from the Affordable Housing Fund
Planning, designing and building
These partners worked in tandem to make the homes beautiful and livable and safe:
- Southeast Venture
- Johnson Architecture
- Jenkins & Stiles, general contractor
- Partners Development, owner representative
Variety and amenities
What makes a neighborhood feel like a neighborhood is variety -- of housing styles, family types, ages of residents, transportation infrastructure options and nearby amenities. First Creek at Austin is a mix of large buildings and townhomes with one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom options. Plus, it has a fitness center, laundry room, outdoor green space and indoor community spaces.
This video made by Communications' videographer Shawn Davis shows the amazing transformation of the site. Congratulations to everyone who made it happen!