Officials celebrate groundbreaking of housing for homeless youths

The groundbreaking for The Works III at Tillery community in East Austin took place on Friday. The 120-unit housing project for homeless youths is expected to open in winter 2027.

Community leaders gathered Friday to break ground on a new, 120-unit community in East Austin for youths exiting homelessness, including young parents and those aging out of foster care.

The site, at 3201 Lyons Road, will be owned and operated by the LifeWorks nonprofit and developed by Capital A Housing. It will be near public transit, grocery stores and Austin Community College Eastview, and will include studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments, all within affordable median family income ranges, LifeWorks officials said.

The community, The Works III at Tillery, is scheduled to be completed in winter 2027. The majority of new residents will come from the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition nonprofit. Future residents also will receive mental health, education and job training services from LifeWorks, which has a site less than a half-mile from the complex.

"The really great part about this is, of course, the housing, but a big part of it is the support services that will wrap around that housing, embrace that housing," Mayor Kirk Watson said at the groundbreaking.

The project was funded by an $8 million loan from Austin’s Rental Housing Development Assistance program, $12.99 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding from the Travis County Supportive Housing Collaborative, $5.5 million from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and a $6.1 million donation for the land.

State Rep. Lulu Flores, D-Austin, praised the project as a strong example of public-private collaboration but said the state’s efforts remain insufficient.

"Instead of legislators working with cities like Austin to address the problem, too often they impose limitations on local control that limit municipality abilities to respond in the way that they see fit," she said. "Too often, the Legislature seeks to criminalize homelessness or view the person experiencing it as the problem, but homeless people are not a problem. The lack of affordable housing and necessary services is the problem."

District 3 Council Member José Velásquez also spoke at the ceremony, commending the city’s work on homelessness.

"This is a community-driven investment," he said. "It will add safe and stable homes close to schools, jobs and transit. It will provide a number of essential wraparound services like peer support, case management, employment services, and providing a space for true community."