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| Recommended Affordable housing planned on Galveston's West End
06:18 PM CDT on Monday, September 24, 2007
GALVESTON — The West End is known for pricey beach-front property. Few people who work on the island can afford to buy homes there these days.But city officials and one area developer are hoping to make West End living affordable for at least 23 new homebuyers.
Bruce and Debbie Reinhart, whose company, Kahala Development, is also responsible for Beachside Village, are working with national builder David Weekly Homes to finish developing one of the area’s oldest subdivisions.
Bruce Reinhart said the Palm Beach neighborhood was platted in the late 1940s. The beach-front lots were developed, but nothing was built on the land north of FM 3005. The property is southwest of Galveston Island Country Club, between Pirates’ Beach and Pirates’ Beach West.
The Reinharts recently purchased the property and decided to use it to help meet one of the city’s biggest needs — affordable housing, especially for city and school district employees.
“How that happens is still up in the air, but everyone’s kicking in incentives to make these available,” said Bruce Reinhart.
For years, the residents of Palm Beach have asked the city to extend sewer service to their area. The houses now use septic systems, which pose a threat to the environment as they age.
The city council approved the Palm Beach sewer line project as part of the 2007-08 budget, making it possible for Reinhart to complete the remaining infrastructure in the undeveloped section of the neighborhood. The city also agreed to rebuild the subdivision’s one street, El Lago.
Reinhart plans to ask the city council to approve a public improvement district for the lots. The district will levy an additional property tax on the new houses, and the funds will be used to pay Reinhart for the property during the next 20 years.
A homebuyer would only have to get a mortgage for the cost of the house, which Reinhart said should be between $150,000 and $175,000.
Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas, who earlier this year said she was interested in developing tax credits to help city and school district employees purchase homes on the island, described Reinhart’s plans as a positive step.
District 6 Councilwoman Dianna Puccetti, who represents the West End, said it was good for the area to have more full-time residents.
“We certainly value all our homeowners, but it helps everyone to have more full-time residents,” she said. “Subdivisions that have full-time residents have fewer issues with things like vandalism or crime because more people are around on a consistent basis.”
Reinhart agreed and acknowledged having a concentration of public safety first responders was something of a self-serving goal for him.
“We need more police officers and firefighters out there, and we know we won’t get a substation out there any time soon,” he said. “But if you load the subdivision up with police, fire and first responders, it will help.”
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This story is available through KHOU, Ch. 11's partnership with The Galveston County Daily News. |
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