Guaranty Bancshares Inc., the parent company of Mount Pleasant-based Guaranty Bank & Trust, announced a $1 million equity investment in the Austin Housing Conservancy Fund (AHC) to support workforce affordable rental housing in Central Texas. AHC is a private equity fund focused on purchasing multi-family properties and preserving them as affordable housing for front-line personnel, creatives, teachers and nurses and more in the greater Austin area. The nonprofit organization Affordable Central Texas created and managed this inventive fund structure. Launched in 2018, the 10-year goal of the fund is to preserve over 10,000 rental units for 15,000 Austin residents.
“Our bank recognized the opportunity to invest in this fund as a way to participate in providing affordable housing that meets unaddressed moderate-to-middle-income needs,” says Ty Abston, CEO at Guaranty Bank & Trust. “The fund has a direct social impact being directly deployed in Central Texas and Guaranty is proud to be a part of this opportunity that addresses community reinvestment solutions.”
Housing affordability is one of Austin’s critical issues. Currently, the fund owns seven multi-family rental properties, managing 1,740 units throughout the Austin area that keeps rents affordable for residents primarily earning below 80 percent of the local median family income.
“AHC presented a unique opportunity for our bank to invest in affordable housing and families in our community that need it the most, that is a huge win for the bank,” says Ryan Coaxum, vice president and community development officer.
“Austin has enjoyed great growth and success as a city and region,” says David Steinwedell, president and CEO of Affordable Central Texas. “This growth has come with the increasing need to provide housing that is affordable to moderate-income Austinites who are the backbone of our great city—the teachers, medical workers, bank tellers and creatives who make Austin the place we love to live.”
Established in 1913, Guaranty Bank & Trust NA operates 32 banking locations across 26 Texas communities located within the East Texas, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and Central Texas regions of the state.
