As supporters of HFHWC’s mission to provide affordable housing here in Williamson County, we know many of you are eagerly awaiting the most recent update on our home build projects. Read below to learn all about what has been happening with our organization!
Our Progress to Date
In the past year, HFHWC has continued to work with key volunteers, civil engineering, and the City of Georgetown Planning Department in support of both the Shepherd’s Village and Leander Street developments, accomplishing the following:
– Installed water and wastewater lines at Shepherd’s Village in Fall 2023
– Replaced engineering firm in Fall 2023 and moving forward with City development applications & TCEQ water retention requirements
– Obtained Williamson County CDBG funds in amount of $334,000 to cover land development costs (work done before the homes are built) for Shepherd’s Village and other HFHWC properties
HFHWC also partnered with Wells Fargo (September 2023), Embree Group (April 2024), and Regions Bank (April 2024) employees to complete the construction of the exterior walls for the first home on Leander St.
And between May 2024 and June 2024, our organization worked with Ultra Energy employees and the Williamson County Association of Realtors to assemble the framing for the windows and doors for Shepherd’s Village.
The Challenges We Face
While our organization continues to strive towards our mission through our Shepherd’s Village and Leander Street developments, we have unfortunately been met with repeated delays by the City of Georgetown’s development process for both projects.
The Shepherd’s Village project development process has become more expensive and multi-stepped as the City of Georgetown adopted numerous changes in the last several years. HFHWC purchased the land in 2020 with the expectation that this process would take 18 months to complete. However, 3 ½ years later, the development process is still not complete.
While waiting on these delays, HFHWC began the Leander Street Cottages project in fall 2023 to provide other homeownership opportunities. However, our organization has experienced similar hurdles with the City of Georgetown for this 2-home development and HFHWC has been forced to repeatedly revise its timeline of when home construction will begin.
Relatedly, HFHWC also began the development process for its remaining two properties in Georgetown.
Our Future Habitat Homeowners
The first two of our future Habitat Homeowners for Shepherd’s Village have been receiving homeowner education classes and are continuing to work towards their 300 sweat equity hours through their volunteer work at the ReStore, HFHWC build events, and educational classes.
In October 2023, the HFHWC Board of Directors originally approved two future Habitat Homeowners for the Leander Street Cottages: a single mother & her 17-year-old son for a 2-bedroom home, as well as a single, adult female for a 1-bedroom home.
The future Habitat homeowner for the 2-bedroom home has also been receiving homeowner education classes and is working towards their 300 sweat equity hours through their volunteer work at the ReStore, HFHWC build events, and educational classes.
However, the single adult for the 1-bedroom withdrew from the program in November 2023 and HFHWC has chosen to delay the selection of a new homeowner until a firm construction timeline for both the Shepherd’s Village and Leander Street build projects is confirmed.
Moving Forward
In spite of the challenges we face, HFHWC will continue to work towards its goal of providing affordable housing in Williamson County. We are truly grateful for the continual support of our donors, volunteers, and local partners and look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together.
If you would like to learn more about our organization and its program, please read more on our website: https://williamsonhabitat.org/
