Introduction
Welcome to the Chestnut Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation blog! While we're no strangers to the Chestnut community (we've been around for over 20 years) we are excited to launch our community blog. Today we'll provide a history of our organization, a brief summary of our current projects and a community spotlight on our very own board member Willis G. Hunt II. In the future, we'll use our blog to keep followers up to date on our upcoming affordable housing projects and community efforts.
History and Review
Chestnut Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation (CNRC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization community development corporation based in Austin, Texas. Established in 2000, CNRC aims to address affordable housing in the Austin area.
In our history, we've undertaken two major affordable housing projects: Franklin Gardens and the Chicon. Franklin Gardens opened in 2011 in Austin, Texas and is a 22 unit senior housing community with an affordability level of 50% median family income or less. The Chicon is our largest project to date and is currently moving into its second phase. With the help of the City of Austin (and the housing bond funds administered through the Austin Housing Finance Authority), CNRC developed a mixed-use and mixed-income community in Central East Austin near the corner of 12th and Chicon. After the third building is complete, it will have 43+ residential units.
The CNRC is an open group of diverse Austinites with the common goal to give back to our community and drive positive change in the Chestnut Neighborhood and greater Austin area.
Current Events & Projects
In the past year, while Covid has kept us apart physically, the CNRC team has stayed busy and kept up its momentum on the Chicon project, recently kicking off The Chicon Phase II with a $300,000 grant from the Austin Housing Finance Corporation and $100,000 from the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation (TSAHC)! Preliminary engineering, due diligence and project permitting and construction planning are already underway. Stay tuned for more updates.
Community Spotlight · Willis G. Hunt II
Each month we'll turn a spotlight on a member of the Chestnut community whose efforts deserve our recognition, today we start with our very own board member Willis G. Hunt II.
Willis G. Hunt II is the son of Ida M. Hunt and the late W. G. Hunt, both of whom worked in real estate. Mr. Hunt attended HBCU Dillard University and Oral Roberts University where he studied banking and finance. Willis is a licensed real estate broker and has served in many other roles such as, Financial Systems Manager, Chief Accountant and State Auditor. Mr. Hunt is deeply involved with his community including (among many other activities) serving on the board of the Chestnut Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation and the Chestnut Addition Neighborhood Association. We are grateful to Willis for his service!