ALAZAN COURTS MASTER PLAN
In 2022, Opportunity Home committed to revitalizing the 501 units of public housing at the historic Alazan Courts. With the support of Able City and Alamo Architects, the process started with the Reimagine Alazan Master Plan, a community engagement and design effort to develop a vision to rehabilitate and develop the Alazan Courts complex to ensure that it can continue to serve Westside residents for generations to come.
Opportunity Home began the process with core commitments:
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Maintain Alazan Courts as public housing
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Retain at least 501 units
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No displacement from the neighborhood
The community identified their most important priorities:
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Improve streetscape and green spaces
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Preserve look and feel of the neighborhood
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Build more public housing
The design identified regulatory requirements and constraints:
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Upgrade To Modern Building Standards
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Improve Handicap Accessibility
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Increase Unit Sizes
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Respond To Shifting Floodplain
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Changing City-Wide And Neighborhood Housing Needs
Core Master Plan Design Principles:
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Remove buildings in the floodplain, develop green space and a new park along the creek.
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Increase percentage of one, three and four bedroom units, to respond to community housing needs. Decrease percentage of two bedroom units.
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Preserve and rehabilitate all of the street-facing existing buildings. Reconfigure buildings to accommodate larger unit dimensions.
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Replace existing buildings in the interior of the courts with new three story buildings, to add additional units while preserving green space.
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Create new green spaces with amenities for all ages within each block.
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Increase ADA accessible units and improve accessibility throughout the site.
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Reuse existing buildings along Brazos St. to create a new community center.
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Alazan Courts Site Plan
Balancing all of these priorities and constraints, Opportunity Home, residents, community members and the design team developed a Master Plan that had the following design principles:
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Remove buildings in the floodplain, develop new amenities, green space, and a new park along the creek.
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Increase percentage of one, three, and four bedroom units, to respond to community housing needs. Decrease percentage of two bedroom units.
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Preserve and rehabilitate all of the street-facing existing buildings. Reconfigure buildings, to add additional units while preserving green space.
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Create new green spaces with amenities for all ages within each block.
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Increase ADA accessible units and improve accessibility throughout the site.
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Reuse existing buildings along Brazos St. to create a new community center.
Alazan Apache Expansion Site Plan
During the masterplan process, it was identified that new units would need to be constructed. It was decided that those new units would be constructed on the baseball field behind the Alazan Courts Community Center and the open green space on the block to the West. During the summer of 2022, Opportunity Home had the opportunity to apply for funding to build this first phase of the design. Design is currently underway and construction is expected to break around in early 2024.
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Streetscape
Streetscape - View of San Fernando St.
The front doors facing the street, porches, and front yards are some of the most well-loved features of Alazan Courts today. The master plan design aims to preserve and enhance what is there today. Residents and community members wanted to prioritize preserving the look and feel of the neighborhood. It became clear through the design iterations that it was important to preserve the historic buildings along the streets wherever possible.
Courtyards
Courtyard - Violeta Place
Courtyard Aerial - Violeta Place
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In order to maintain the number of units and improve the green space, the courtyards were organized to have new, three-story buildings in the interior of the blocks and larger green space areas that have recreational amenities for all ages.
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Historic Preservation
Since the existing Alazan Court buildings were initially built, there have been many modifications that have deteriorated their historic integrity. The design team has identified two approaches to rehabilitating the existing structures to remain.
Option 1: Restore original architectural features: This option proposes to restore existing buildings to the original 1939 design. The biggest change would be to restore the original flat roof design.
Option 1 - View of San Fernando St.
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Option 1 - View of San Luis St. and S Smith St.
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Option 1 - View of San Luis St. and S Smith St.
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Option 2 - View of San Luis St. and Colorado St.
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Option 2: Rehabilitate what exists today: This option proposes to maintain any building features that still has a useful life, even if they are not part of the original design, such as the pitched metal roofs.
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Option 2 - View of San Luis St. and Colorado St.
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More study of the existing buildings and project budgets is needed before setting a direction for what type of historic preservation is possible at Alazan Courts.
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