Gulfton development providing affordable housing, micro retail, commercial space
It's been decades since new development in the area. A new space is creating homes and opportunities to people who live there.
Author: Katiera Winfrey
Published: 5:52 PM CDT May 15, 2025
Updated: 5:52 PM CDT May 15, 2025
HOUSTON — Hurricane Harvey disaster relief has finally arrived in the Gulfton and Sharpstown area through new housing. It’s been 40 years since new development.
The Connect Highstar apartment complex brings together families of varied income levels, along with commercial and retail space.
The wait makes this moment worth it. The Connect Highstar apartments are filled to capacity, set to help shift the way housing and opportunity can come together.
“This is the result of public-private partnerships. This is a result of well-used public money. This is the result of teamwork,” said Mike Nichols, director of the city of Houston Housing and Community Development Department.
The city of Houston, the nonprofit Connect Community, and Brinshore Development collaborated to bring this space to life. Inside are units at multiple price points, with 77 of those units allocated to families at or below 80 percent of the area median income.
“The whole idea is to create a community that is diverse on so many different levels, but income is one of them,” said Richard Sciortino, principal of Brinshore Development.
The hope is that this place — with its micro-retail kiosk space for local entrepreneurs and commercial space — becomes a catalyst to encourage more community investment.
Housed in this building is the Fabric Forge. Many of the women who live in this building also work in this space, and the hope is that the skills they learn here put them on a path to financial growth and independence.
Robaba Husseini moved to Houston in 2019 from Afghanistan and now works as a translator and sewing instructor to the women here, creating a welcoming environment for other newcomers.
“This is also a good and safe place for all of those ladies that really want to have work and want to earn money to support their families here and back home,” she said.
They’re taking sewing skills many already have and honing them to gain certification — possibly leading to more job opportunities and entrepreneurship.
This is a piece of a larger effort to continue advocating for new, refurbished and existing affordable housing in the city.
