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 the next two buildings, buildings 20 and 21, they were larger, they were duplexes, and we’re dividing them up into 10 units each. And it’ll be the same kind of concept, studio units.
“These are all being done historically, so we have to maintain the historic character of the buildings, even while we’re doing the renovations.” The project’s price tag was $10.4 million as of August 2023 , but Taylor said construction cost alone is over $10 million, and that inflation in Texas for construction was “meteoric.
” That brings the current total to “about $14 million,” which Taylor said also includes a new 3,000-square-foot community center that will host eight additional units. “(Those units will be) slightly larger but still studio units,” Taylor said. “Our goal in doing this was to, within reason, create as many units as we could.
” The community center will serve as a public space for both the 34 veterans and service-providing staff, Taylor said. The hub will feature amenities such as a technology center, fitness center, catering kitchen and meeting rooms, Taylor said. Waco City Council Member Josh Borderud said Friday’s groundbreaking ceremony “highlighted the widespread community support for our veterans.
” “Especially housing for our homeless veterans and housing insecure veterans,” said Borderud, who has been on the council since November 2020. “And so, I think this project is a cool one because it houses veterans in need of housing, it rehabilitates our beautiful Doris Miller VA campus, and on the behalf of the city, it demonstrates our commitment to be partners with the VA for the long term.” Borderud and the rest of the council approved a $550,000 forgivable loan in 2023 to help fund the Freedom’s Path Waco’s renovation project.
According to a press release, financing also included Historic Tax Credits, 9 percent Low Income Housing Tax Credits, a $2.85 million VA Capital Contribution funded from the PACT Act, Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas AHP funding through Texas Capital Bank, a loan from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and a grant from the Home Depot Foundation. Congressman Pete Sessions, R-Waco, right, presents a flag to Stan Parker, left, who was honored for his effort with the renovations of several buildings at Doris Miller VA Medical Center to convert them into rooms/apartments to house unsheltered veterans.
Borderud said approving the city's part of the financing was a no-brainer, as supporting veterans is one of his top priorities. A former assistant district attorney in Milam County and now an official at Baylor Law School, Borderud said supporting veterans has long been a part of his career. Borderud’s parents also met while stationed in Iceland, so a project such as this hits home, he said.
Overall, the Freedom’s Path Waco renovation project is a step to help veterans who struggle with isolation, Taylor said. That is why bringing homeless veterans to these establishments will provide a comfortable community, he added. “(Veterans) have psychological wounds as well as physical wounds,” Taylor said.
“And so, the benefit of doing this kind of congregate community, if you will, is that you have veterans with other veterans,” Taylor said. “And they reach out and work with one another to provide a lot of support. They understand what the other veterans are going through, and that can be a lot of empathy.
They know what it means to serve.” Local, state and national dignitaries along with VA staff and others pose for a groundbreaking ceremony the Freedom’s Path project. Plus, Taylor said he wants veterans to feel valued for their service.
Taylor said filling the 34 units is “a complicated process,” but that it is primarily through referrals that come from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs through its Healthcare for Homeless Veterans program .
“We’ll also get referrals from the Heart of Texas Veterans One Stop program,” Taylor said. “We will also get individual referrals ..
. say if a faith-based group or nonprofit comes across a vet who is homeless or disabled ..
. and they will refer them to us. “And then we will have to go through the fairly complicated government bureaucracy that you can’t avoid.
But if they’re a veteran and they meet the criteria of (being) homeless that has been established and they fall within the low-income guidelines, then we’re going to house them.” Taylor said the homeless veterans do not have to be “clean and sober when they come in,” and that they will not be turned away because of a criminal record. “We expect that some will come out of the criminal justice system,” Taylor said.
“And we’re trying to keep them out of the jails, out of the detox centers, out of the medical emergency rooms and everything and put them in this housing. "So, we already have a process for doing that, it’s a year away, but we won’t have any trouble finding 34 veterans. That’s both a positive and a negative.
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