Gardopia Gardens, a San Antonio nonprofit, is planning to build affordable housing for its urban farm workers. The organization recently purchased two properties to construct permanent facilities.
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If you value trustworthy, high-quality reporting like this story, please consider Since 2015, Gardopia Gardens has been propagating community gardens and learning programs across San Antonio from its home base — an urban farm complete with crops, chickens and a greenhouse — on a high-crime corridor in the East Side. Now, the local nonprofit’s founder and CEO Stephen Lucke wants to foster even more life on the farm: human tenants. The garden’s master plan includes building three small, affordable on-site apartments and a four-bedroom house on a nearby vacant lot that was recently donated to the nonprofit.“There was always a plan to at least have one person live here as the farmer,” Lucke said while he sat at a bright green picnic table inside Gardopia Gardens. In addition to a steward, he also envisions low-income or justice-involved residents staying and working there. At least one unit could be open to short-term visitors who want to learn more about urban farming, he said. But because Gardopia didn’t own the land, Lucke said he couldn’t invest in permanent infrastructure like plumbing, electrical and structural foundations. Shipping containers and small temporary structures dot the roughly 0.3-acre lot. On Dec. 20, Gardopia finalized its purchase of two properties, at 615 and 619 N. New Braunfels Ave. to build its permanent headquarters and farm facilities. Next year, Gardopia plans to launch a roughly $2 million capital campaign to fund the construction.Gardopia purchased the property for $450,000, Lucke said, thanks to a $300,000 forgivable loan from the City of San Antonio’s“The neighborhood that we’re in, there is a lot of houselessness,” he said. “Some of them do want to work, and they’ve asked me to wor
AFFORDABLE HOUSING URBAN FARMING COMMUNITY GARDENS SOCIAL IMPACT SAN ANTONIO
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