New Plano rental community will offer artist lofts

A new Plano housing community will be constructing in a few months near North Central Expressway. The housing community will offer both apartments and artist lofts. There will be 224 units built on the vacant block to provide affordable housing in the rapidly growing community of Plano.

According to Plano Housing Corp. the 5.6-acre project will mostly be a community of mixed-income individuals; although, over half of the units will be within the budget of a resident based on their monthly income. Also, the development is transit-oriented because the housing community is just less than half a mile from the 15th Street DART station.

Half a dozen apartment buildings will be constructed at the project’s location at G Avenue and 14th Street east of Central. The apartment building will be surrounded by an open space along with public art plazas. A community center and swimming pool will also be constructed along with the apartment buildings. Artist lofts will be located downstairs of the units. Developers plan to install roll-up doors along the street front of the buildings to better accommodate art shows.

The starting rent for the smallest unit (about 800 square feet) in the rental community is less than $500 a month. The rate was set in a manner that the unit will be affordable for working families. Housing intended for working families is a bit scarce not only in Plano but the whole of North Texas in general. With this need, Plano Housing Corp. is simultaneously working on their second development near City Hall.

True to its commitment to expanding affordable housing in the community Plano Housing Corp. will start building 21 townhouses which will be up for sale with seven units for low and moderate income residents. Though the company admits this isn’t much, but seven units is a big achievement towards their goal of expanding housing options for low and middle income working families in Plano and Collin County.