Rosie Dawson believes if you save one house, you can save an entire block.
After a ribbon-cutting Monday for the affordable housing community The Avenue Apartments, at 5246 W. Chicago Ave., Dawson believes Chicago Avenue is one step closer on its path to renewal.
“We’re trying to build this community up in the best way that we can, by bringing community back in,” said Dawson, director of property for Westside Health Authority. “We’re back. It’s coming back. People say, ‘Everybody’s moving; everybody’s moving.’ I can’t tell by the way my phone’s ringing.”
Westside Health Authority held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for The Avenue, alongside state and city officials, including Mayor Brandon Johnson. The nonprofit will oversee the 20-unit property, which will be move-in ready by Nov. 15. The nonprofit has served Austin and the greater West Side since 1988.
Dawson worked on The Avenue’s transformation for nine years. The nonprofit acquired the building, formerly known as The Carter, for $550,000 in 2016 to transform it into affordable housing. Monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,400 and $1,600 for a two-bedroom unit.
The project cost about $2.5 million, which includes grant money from the Community Investment Corp. and $174,000 from the city’s Small Business Improvement Fund.
Kareem Broughton, president of Black Contractors United and general contractor for the project, described the building as “depressing” when he first walked through it in 2017.
“It was just another building that was just not cared for and overlooked by so many different people,” Broughton said. “As we started moving along and started getting everything gutted and just started seeing the potential here, you started seeing the vision. You started seeing the community really trying to get involved, being inquisitive about what’s happening here and just motivated to see a product that we see today.”
The Avenue is targeting median-income residents, Dawson said. Units come with central air, dishwashers, in-unit laundry and microwaves. There are plans to pave a parking lot for residents on land adjacent to the building.
So far, “demand is crazy,” Dawson said. Westside Health Authority is waiting on its certificate of occupancy from the city, which is required for residential buildings with more than four units and confirms a building is up to city code. The nonprofit is still taking applications from potential tenants in person at the Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation or by phone at (312) 224-4672.
Dawson said housing in Austin is “a hard thing to come by.” The nonprofit’s goal for The Avenue was to create long-term, moderate-income housing for Austin residents, rather than tear down the existing structure.
“We saved this building for the community,” Dawson said. “We need to understand that vacant lots are nothing but eyesores. … It’s an eyesore to a family that needed it, that needs a house, that needs a space to live.”
The Avenue is one project that Dawson and other local advocates see transforming Austin.
The former Emmet Elementary — one of the 50 public schools shut down in 2013 by Mayor Rahm Emanuel — recently opened as a workforce development center and community space, known as the Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation, at 5500 W. Madison St. Forty Acres Fresh Market also recently opened. Oak Park Regional Housing is also leading plans to open 78 apartments near The Avenue.
“I just get excited to see change,” 37th Ward Ald. Emma Mitts said during the ribbon-cutting. “I get excited to take out old things and put in new stuff.”