CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — A KRIS 6 investigation into the Corpus Christi Housing Authority reveals how executives, consultants, and developers have financially benefited from programs designed to help residents find affordable housing.
The investigation examined the workforce housing initiative that attempted to remove $350 million in luxury apartments from tax rolls, the CEO’s compensation package, and the Thanksgiving Homes program where deed records show two-thirds of properties sold since 2018 lack homestead exemptions.
The $786,000 CEO
Housing Authority CEO Gary Allsup's compensation package totals nearly $800,000 annually — more than double what Houston's housing authority CEO makes, according to public records. Houston is the nation's fourth-largest city while Corpus Christi ranks 63rd.
A housing authority CEO's base governmental salary is capped by law at $195,200. Records show Allsup supplements his salary through non-profit entities under the housing authority umbrella, bringing his total compensation to $786,000 with bonuses.
The compensation was approved by board chairwoman Cathy Mehne, who was granted sole authority over Allsup's pay package by the board, according to meeting minutes.
In March 2024, former board member Dr. Brian Tietje and current board members Cathy Mehne and Richard Balli unanimously voted to give Mehne approval to negotiate, approve and execute a new contract for Allsup, meeting minutes show.
In May 2025, former commissioners Curtis Clark, Christine Belin, and Brian Tietje and current commissioners Cathy Mehne and Richard Balli unanimously gave Mehne authority to "negotiate, approve and execute Chief Executive Officer performance evaluation," according to meeting records.
This motion was not listed on the board agenda and was made during chair/board comments. The Texas Attorney General's office has previously ruled that such actions violate the Texas Open Meetings Act.
Allsup's contracts, obtained through a Texas Public Information Request, include provisions stating that if fired without cause, Allsup continues receiving pay through October 2029.
When asked to justify his compensation, Allsup cited a national salary study and pointed to programs like Thanksgiving Homes as examples of the value he brings. "I'm highly respected in the housing industry," he told KRIS 6 in a previous interview. "It's not because I sit there and do nothing."
The Thanksgiving Homes Flip
Deed records show the following sequence of events for a nearly 6-acre property at the intersection of Lamont Street and Del Paseo and H. Boyd Hall streets:
- April 2003: The Corpus Christi Independent School District deeded the land to the Corpus Christi Finance Corporation
- June 2003: The Corpus Christi Finance Corporation transferred the property to Thanksgiving Homes
- January 2004: The property was re-platted and became the Thanksgiving Homes Addition, consisting of H. Boyd Hall and Del Paseo streets
- February 2018: Thanksgiving Homes sold the undeveloped property to C&Z 168 LLC. Records show Thanksgiving Homes spent $768,458.26 on this property and C&Z 168 LLC paid Thanksgiving Homes $999,324.25. Thanksgiving Homes' profit was $230,865.99, according to the closing statement.
C&Z 168 LLC then built nearly 30 homes and sold those properties for over $7 million, with the most expensive selling for $436,830, according to deed records.
Via email, Allsup said that this property "was purchased during the administration of the prior CEO. As I understand, his plans were to develop a low-income neighborhood utilizing the Section 8 Homeownership Program. This approach did not match the new model of scatter-site homes and was sold in 2018. Proceeds from the sale of that property have been utilized in buying other properties and building homes."
Nueces County Appraisal District property reviews and reviews of deed records show that of 65 properties transferred from Thanksgiving Homes since 2018, only 22 had homestead exemptions.
Of these 65 properties sold, 29 lots went to C&Z 168 LLC, and 14 were sold to individuals who did not apply for homestead exemptions. Public records show the primary residences for some of these individuals are in Katy, Irving, and San Antonio. The remaining homes were sold to individuals who claimed homestead exemptions.
When asked about policies prohibiting investors from buying Thanksgiving Homes properties, Allsup responded via email: "In order to promote mixed-income neighborhoods, Thanksgiving Homes does not establish a maximum income for buyers or renters." He wrote that the housing authority will not "knowingly sell a home to an investor or to a buyer as a second home, but we do not require a buyer to certify their plans for the home."
The $4.3 Million Consultant
Impact Housing Advisors, a California-based consulting firm, collected $4.3 million for structuring the workforce housing transactions — a fee that housing experts said is approximately 10 times the industry standard for such work.
The firm, which shares the same California address as Ascenda Capital (the company that prepared financial projections for the Azure Apartments), defended its fees in an email to KRIS 6 and declined an on-camera interview, stating they "are consistent with industry standards" and are "paid by private affordable housing developers – not by the housing authorities, nor by taxpayers."
Housing advocate Ben Martin, Research Director for Texas Housers, questioned these deals. "I don't really like the term workforce housing," Martin said. "Typically, workforce housing implies housing for middle-income people or moderate-income households. And the problem is, is that if you look at who needs help affording their housing, it's usually people with the lowest incomes."
After reviewing documents showing that most "affordable" units would rent for more than current market rates, Martin said: "This is an example of a bad deal to me."
The Azure Apartments document obtained by 6 Investigates shows that at 80% area median income, "affordable" one-bedroom apartments could rent for as much as $1,264 per month, while current in-place rates are listed at $1,190. An "affordable" two-bedroom apartment could rent for as much as $1,422, while the current in-place rent is $1,291.
"For the majority of the affordable units at the property, they're not actually affordable because they're no different from what the market is already producing," Martin said. "We should just be letting the market take its course and produce this housing."
Martin emphasized the importance of measuring concrete benefits: "The proposition here is that we're providing this generous property tax exemption in exchange for something. And we need to be able to measure what that something is."
Direct vs. Indirect Benefits
Martin distinguished between types of public benefits these deals might provide. "I think it's really helpful to differentiate between direct benefits and indirect benefits," he said. "A direct benefit would be, this property is providing housing that's affordable to low-income people now in a way that the market can't."
He contrasted this with indirect benefits: "An indirect benefit would be roll the dice on us sometime in the future. This might provide affordable housing that's needed, depending on if things go a certain way that we think that they might."
Martin expressed skepticism about secondary benefit arguments: "I'm very skeptical. All of these secondary benefits, they're difficult to control. There aren't a lot of guardrails on them."
A Statewide Pattern
Martin placed these deals in a broader context of tax exemption use across Texas. "The Public Housing Authority tax exemption that's allowed in statute is very similar to other tax exemptions," he said. "It's the same real estate development players that are operating in all of these fields."
He described the current situation: "We are very much still in the game of whack-a-mole right now. The Public Facility Corporation tool has been reformed. The Housing Finance Corporation tool has been reformed. So until the legislature reforms the Housing Authority tool, we're going to see a lot of pressure."
Martin said comprehensive reform is needed: "We need to have a clear policy vision for all of them about what we want these tools to do in terms of producing a meaningful level of affordability for the households that live there."
Martin said the housing crisis affects different populations than these programs serve. "If you look at a given area like Corpus Christi, the people with the lowest incomes making like 30% of area median income or 50% of area median income, they're going to need a lot of help affording housing," he said.
He noted that middle-income households typically face different challenges: "Often the housing market, especially if it's functioning well, just the free market should be able to produce housing that's affordable at those levels. It's really when you get down into the housing needs of the poor, when the market has a really hard time providing housing that's affordable to those families."
Fallout from Workforce Housing Deals
The Texas Municipal League Intergovernmental Risk Pool notified the housing authority it would not renew insurance coverage, citing in its letter the "significant complexities" and liability issues created by public-private partnerships. The Corpus Christi City Council unanimously declared the deals "apparently illegal," alleging violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act.
After opposition from the city, Del Mar College, and Nueces County — all of which cited lost tax revenue — the housing authority board voted in May to pause approximately $435 million in additional transactions.
With the appraisal district's denial of tax exemptions, questions remain about the deals' future. Those complexes were notified of this decision in July, at its last board meeting the housing authority hired outside legal counsel to review the workforce housing program. The authority has collected $1.6 million in land lease fees from the workforce housing properties to date.
"It is important that we have tools like this tax exemption in the state of Texas to produce affordable housing, but we need to make sure that they're actually producing affordable housing," Martin said.
