Shovels hit the dirt Friday at the former Anita Ferrales Coy school campus in East Austin, as Austin ISD and developer The NRP Group kicked off construction on a mixed-income apartment community tailored to educators and school staff. Phase 1 is slated to bring 341 apartments in two multi-story buildings to the roughly 18-acre site, with about half the homes reserved as rent- and income-restricted units. District and developer leaders say the project is designed to prioritize teachers, bus drivers, and other essential employees while keeping public green space and heritage trees in place.
According to KEYE/CBS Austin, the groundbreaking happened at 4812 Gonzales Street, where the unit mix will reserve roughly 10 percent of apartments for households earning up to 60 percent of the Area Median Income and 40 percent for those at or below 80 percent AMI, with the rest offered at market rate. Speakers at the event included City Council Member José Velásquez, AISD Superintendent Matías Segura, and representatives from project financiers Goldman Sachs and Clarion Partners. The station also reported that the property sits in a federally designated Opportunity Zone created under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
What the Development Will Include
Developer materials outline amenities that would look at home in a high-end complex: a resort-style pool, a 24-hour fitness center, and a co-working lounge, along with one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans intended to serve families and district staff. The NRP Group lists Anita Coy East as a 341-unit community under construction, highlighting an emphasis on family-sized layouts and accessible design features. Plans also call for publicly accessible green space, walking paths, preserved heritage trees, and art installations by local artists that developers say are meant to connect the new buildings to the surrounding neighborhood.
Who Gets Priority
Austin ISD says the apartments will be open to anyone who qualifies, but district employees will go to the front of the line for leasing, a strategy officials describe as a way to recruit and keep staff in a housing market that has pushed many out. As detailed by Austin ISD, at least half of all units at the site will be income-restricted, and the district has stressed the inclusion of larger, family-oriented floor plans. Hoodline previously covered the school board’s initial sign-off on roughly 500 staff-focused homes; see 500 Teacher Housing Units.
Timing, Partners and Financing
NRP and trade reporting put the full Anita Coy campus at about 674 apartments across two phases, with the east phase accounting for 341 units and a total development cost in the low hundreds of millions of dollars. Coverage by The Real Deal and developer documents show the project will roll out in phases and has already drawn institutional investors. Local reporting and project updates note that demolition and abatement work started in 2025 and that developers expect the first apartments to be ready around 2028; see Community Impact and the project site at Anita Coy Austin for more details.
Why It Matters for Austin Schools
The housing push comes as Austin educators wrestle with eye-watering rents and home prices. A 2024 survey cited by Axios Austin found roughly 70 percent of Austin ISD employees were spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing, a threshold often used to define cost burden. District leaders argue that turning underused school properties into housing can help employees live closer to their campuses while also generating revenue for other district needs. Austin ISD notes it will keep ownership of the land and use a long-term ground lease structure so that the private partner finances, builds, and operates the apartments.
Development milestones, leasing information, and community updates are being posted on the project website, and residents can sign up for alerts at Anita Coy Austin. Detailed leasing timelines and application instructions will be released by the developer and district as construction progresses and units move closer to opening.
