Affordable housing in Port Aransas has been a concern for years, but city officials and businesses believe they may have a solution to the housing shortage.
Port Aransas could be getting $8 million in help from the state that would go toward building a new housing complex. Because grant money would be used, just over half of the homes would be for families with low-to-moderate income. The facility would look somewhat like an apartment complex, with 60 to 140 units.
This would help many Port Aransas businesses like Deep Sea Headquarters or The Brewery. 70% to 90% of those business’ employees live outside of Port A.
“We hire people from Aransas Pass and Rockport, and that’s an issue especially in the summer time,” Jerry Montalbo said, a manager at Deep Sea Headquarters. “[Because] the ferry line is two hours long, and they’re stuck in the ferry,” he added.
The location of the complex would be just off of Highway 361. That’s close enough to many Port A businesses looking to keep their hardworking employees throughout the year.
“I think we’d have a lot more of our staff here,” Trevor Pancoast said, an assistant manager at The Brewery. “And we wouldn’t have any problems with people trying to find a ride or people having car problems,” he added.
The city of Port Aransas will find out in just over a week if they’ll be awarded that grant. If they get it, it could take another year and a half before work begins on the complex.
