A team seeking to renovate unused Veterans Affairs buildings into housing for homeless veterans in Waco broke ground on the $14 million project Friday, years after it was originally proposed. At a ceremony at the Doris Miller Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center , officials with the Freedom’s Path Waco development team said the project will add 34 housing units and a community center. The project has been in the works since 2019 and gathered necessary funds after hiccups during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Craig Taylor, CEO and president of Solutions for Veterans , a nonprofit corporation involved in the effort.
Taylor said developers will renovate buildings 19, 20 and 21 on the federal campus of the VA center at 4800 Memorial Drive, a complex that was built as a hospital in 1932. All three buildings will include a set amount of studio units, each between 300 and 400 square feet, and furnished with a private bath and kitchen, Taylor said. Work continues for a community center as well as new housing adjacent to several building on the Doris Miller VA campus that will be used for housing homeless veterans.
Taylor said renovations to the buildings are expected to be completed by Oct. 1, 2025, with potential for an accelerated timeline. Preliminary construction began June 3.
“Building 19 is a smaller house, it was a single-family residence, and it’s going to be divided into six units (that are) slightly larger than a typical motel room,” Taylor said. “And then t.