Pharr Housing Authority History
On November 14, 1949, the City of Pharr Board of Commissioners, Mayor J. R. Card, Commissioner Ward Walters, Commissioner Joe M. Rendon, and City Attorney L.J. Polk, met at 8:00pm at City Hall and voted unanimously to establish the Pharr Housing Authority. Be it resolved by the Board of Commissioners of the City of Pharr hereby determined, found and declared in pursuance of the Housing Authorities Law of the State of Texas that insanitary and unsafe inhabited dwelling accommodations existed in the City and there was a shortage of safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations available to families of low income at rentals they can afford and in a need for the Housing Authority of the City of Pharr to function.
In 1952, the Pharr Housing Authority built 75 Low Rent Public Housing Units at 104 W. Polk, which is the current site of the PHA Administration Building and the development, was named Villa De La Esperanza. It served the housing residents until it was demolished in 1996 and were later replaced with tax credit developments; Las Canteras (2007), Mesquite Terrace (2008), Sunset Village (2009), and Parkview Village (2011). The Pharr Housing Authority today continues to meet the mission and vision our founding board had when creating the Housing Authority. It has grown from 75 units to a total number of 1,063 units, of which 247 units are Public Housing and 828 units are Section 8. On August of 2016, Sunset Senior Village, a 3 story 80 unit development for seniors 62 and over has been completed and is available for qualifying families.
The Pharr Housing Authority Board and administrative leaders continue to explore ways to add additional housing to meet the needs this City, the Rio Grande Valley and the Nation are experiencing as a whole today.