Marshall Apartments Austin Review: Tax Credit Housing in 78702 That Actually Delivers

Marshall Apartments keeps showing up in my client searches, and it’s always for the same reason: the math. A one bedroom in East Austin’s 78702 zip code for $1,674, all bills paid, with zero application fee and zero admin fee. As a licensed apartment locator (TX #679806) who tracks pricing across 1,000+ Austin communities, I can tell you that combination doesn’t exist anywhere else in this zip code. Not even close.

But here’s what the listing sites won’t tell you. Marshall is a tax credit property with income caps, a strict no-pet policy, and a waitlist. Every unit is currently occupied. So while the pricing looks like a typo compared to the $2,400 one bedrooms surrounding it, getting in requires qualifying under income limits, then waiting for a spot to open. That changes how you should evaluate this property, and it’s exactly why I wrote this review.

Quick Facts: Marshall Apartments

That 3.8 Google rating from just 21 reviews doesn’t paint the full picture. The ApartmentRatings 2.6 looks worse, but those 6 reviews are all from 2010 to 2014, under completely different management. A property where residents have lived for 20 and 30 years tells you more than any star rating can. More on that below.

Best For / Skip If

Marshall makes sense if:

Your household income falls within the tax credit range and you want to stay in 78702. Marshall’s income restrictions mean you need to earn under the HUD cap for your household size. For a single person, that’s $40,900 to $49,080/year depending on the unit. For a household of two, it’s $46,750 to $56,100. If you qualify, you’re looking at a one bedroom for $1,674 with every utility included. Market rate one bedrooms within half a mile of Marshall run $1,400 to $2,400, and that’s before you add $150 to $250 in monthly utility costs.

You need a larger unit and qualify under income limits. Marshall has two, three, and four bedroom floor plans. Finding a four bedroom apartment in East Austin at $2,755 with all utilities included is almost impossible at market rate. If you need space and your income qualifies, there’s no comparable option in this part of Austin.

You want a property where management is personally invested. The onsite manager, Shawanna, gets called out by name repeatedly in resident reviews. People who’ve lived here for decades talk about her specifically. That kind of continuity matters when you’re living somewhere long term.

You’re planning to stay put. Marshall’s 100% occupancy rate and decades-long tenants tell you something. People who get in tend to stay. If you’re looking for stability rather than a year-long pit stop, this property rewards that.

Skip Marshall if:

You have a pet. Full stop. Marshall does not allow pets. The only exceptions are service animals and emotional support animals with proper documentation under the Fair Housing Act. If you have a regular pet without an ESA or service animal designation, this property is not an option. I’d point you toward the East Austin apartments page to find pet friendly options in the same zip code.

Your income exceeds the tax credit limits. If you earn more than the AMI cap for your household size, you won’t qualify. Good credit, clean rental history, none of that matters here. The income ceiling is a hard line.

You need to move within the next few months. Every floor plan is listed as unavailable. The three bedroom waitlist is reportedly one to two years. You can get on the list now, but you should have a backup plan for housing in the meantime.

You can’t live without a car. While Marshall is walkable for some errands and the Plaza Saltillo MetroRail station is 0.8 miles away, you’ll still need a car for most things.

Wondering if Marshall Apartments fits your situation?

Fill out a quick form and I’ll reach out to go over your specifics: income, timeline, pet situation, and what you’re working with. If Marshall’s waitlist is too long, I know which East Austin properties have openings right now at similar price points. You’ll hear from a real person (me), not an automated system.

Location: What 1157 Salina Street Actually Means for Your Daily Life

What’s Actually Nearby

Marshall sits in East Austin’s Rosewood neighborhood, just east of I-35 and about 1.4 miles from downtown. The area around Salina Street is residential. You’re not walking out your front door to a coffee shop.

That said, the essentials are closer than you’d think. The Plaza Saltillo development at 5th and Comal (0.8 miles) has a growing cluster of restaurants and shops. H-E-B’s Hancock Center location is about 1.5 miles northwest. Fiesta Mart on East 7th is closer, about a mile east. For dining, East 6th Street’s restaurant and bar corridor is under a mile west, and the Manor Road food scene (Dai Due, Suerte, Sour Duck Market) is roughly a mile north.

Dell Seton Medical Center at UT is 1.2 miles away. Austin Community College’s Eastview Campus is 1.1 miles out.

The Commute Math

Route notes: I-35 is your main north/south artery, and it’s right there. That’s both a benefit and a curse. Access is easy. Traffic on I-35 during rush hour is not. For downtown commutes, surface streets (East 7th, East Cesar Chavez) are often faster than hopping on the highway for such a short distance. The Plaza Saltillo MetroRail station is 0.8 miles away and connects to the downtown station in about 5 minutes. If you work downtown or near the convention center, that’s a real car-free option.

Neighborhood Reality

East Austin’s 78702 has changed more in the last decade than almost any part of the city. Within half a mile of Marshall you’ll find luxury apartments charging $1,800+ for studios. Marshall’s tax credit pricing is a snapshot of what this neighborhood used to cost, not what it costs now.

The immediate block around Salina Street is quieter and more residential than the East 6th corridor a few blocks south. Multiple reviews mention the quiet. The 2022 renovation updated the interiors, but the two-story garden-style layout remains. No elevator. No parking garage. This isn’t a luxury high-rise pretending to be affordable. It’s a renovated 1968 property charging tax credit rents in a zip code where everything around it has gotten more expensive.

Pricing & True Cost: What You’ll Actually Pay

Floor Plans

Note: Marshall uses Yieldstar computerized pricing, so these rents shift. The property reports average square footage, so the actual unit you move into might be slightly larger or smaller than what’s listed. Ask about the specific unit’s size when one opens up.

Net Effective Rent

Here’s where Marshall gets interesting compared to market rate. There are no move-in specials or concessions because there’s no reason to offer them. The property is 100% occupied. But the tax credit pricing is itself the concession.

Let me show you what I mean with the one bedroom:

Marshall 1BR: $1,674/month, all bills paid. True monthly cost: $1,674. That’s it.

Comparable market rate 1BR within 0.5 miles (Sentral East Austin, The Arnold, 7East): $1,375 to $2,400/month base rent, plus typical Austin utility costs: roughly $120 electric, $50 water/sewer, $30 gas, $25 valet trash, $15 pest control. True monthly cost: $1,615 to $2,640.

Even at the lowest end of market rate, once you add utilities and mandatory fees, you’re paying roughly the same as Marshall. At the mid-range, Marshall saves you $200 to $500/month. Over a 12-month lease, that’s $2,400 to $6,000. That math is why residents don’t leave. And with new construction across East Austin slowing down in 2026, the move-in specials at market rate properties won’t stay this generous forever.

All The Fees

Let that sink in. Zero application fee. Zero admin fee. All utilities paid by the property. At most Austin apartments, the application fee alone runs $50 to $75 per person, and admin fees add $150 to $300 on top. A couple applying at a typical East Austin property might spend $250+ before they even get approved. At Marshall, that number is zero.

True Monthly Cost: One Bedroom

No hidden fees. No surprise line items on your first statement. Your rent is your rent.

Want to know what similar options are available right now?

Marshall’s waitlist might be long, but I track East Austin apartment pricing weekly and know which properties near Marshall have openings with real specials. Fill out a quick form and I’ll send you a custom list within 24 hours.

Screening Criteria: Who Gets Approved at Marshall

Marshall’s screening works differently from market rate properties because it’s a tax credit property. Instead of just proving you make enough money, you also have to prove you don’t make too much.

Income Requirements: The Dual Threshold

Marshall runs under two overlapping programs, and that makes the income picture more complicated than a standard apartment:

LIHTC (Tax Credit) Units: Your income has to be at or below 50% or 60% of the Area Median Income for the Austin-Round Rock metro, based on household size. There’s no standard 2x or 3x rent multiplier here. The income CAP is what matters most.

Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) Units: Some units carry Section 8 PBRA contracts. For these units, your rent is capped at 30% of your adjusted gross income. Income has to be at or below 50% AMI to qualify. These units typically have longer waitlists.

Important: You cannot use a tenant-based Section 8 voucher at Marshall because the property already has project-based assistance.

Income Caps by Household Size

Source: HUD income limits for Austin-Round Rock metro. Caps adjust annually.

Here’s where people get confused: income caps are based on household size, not bedroom count. A single person in a one bedroom has a different cap than a household of three in a one bedroom. Contact the leasing office or check the City of Austin’s income and rent limits page for the most current thresholds.

Income Documentation

Tax credit verification is stricter than most market rate applications. Expect to provide paystubs (last 2 to 3 months), tax returns if you’re self-employed, Social Security or disability award letters if applicable, and bank statements. And you’ll do this again every year. Annual recertification is required.

Credit and Background Screening

Marshall’s Tenant Selection Plan is available as a PDF on their website, but the specific credit score minimum and background check lookback periods aren’t published in any listing data. This is normal for tax credit properties. The Tenant Selection Plan is the document you want to read before applying. It spells out the exact screening criteria, occupancy standards, and denial triggers.

Based on how tax credit properties in Austin generally work: screening tends to be moderate. Income is the main thing they check. Credit and background checks still happen, but the bar is usually lower than at Class A market rate properties because the applicant pool is different.

What Gets You Denied

Based on standard tax credit property screening and the data I track across Austin:

• Household income above the AMI cap for your household size (50% AMI for PBRA units, 50% or 60% AMI for LIHTC units)
• Household income below any minimum threshold set in the Tenant Selection Plan
• Outstanding property debt on your rental history (this is an automatic decline at virtually every property in Austin, tax credit or otherwise). If you’re dealing with property debt or other screening challenges, the second chance apartments page breaks down your actual options.
• Certain felony convictions within the lookback period (varies by property)
• Failing income recertification at renewal

The Application Process

1. Contact the leasing office at (512) 472-6935 to confirm waitlist status
2. Submit an application (no application fee)
3. Income verification and screening review
4. If approved and a unit is available, lease signing (12-month minimum)

A note on the waitlist: One reviewer reported being told the three bedroom waitlist is one to two years. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Closed weekends. Getting on the waitlist early matters.

What a locator can do here: I can’t jump the waitlist for you. But I can tell you whether your income qualifies before you spend time applying. And if Marshall’s timeline doesn’t work, I know which income restricted and tax credit properties in East Austin have shorter waits or current openings. I track screening criteria across 1,000+ Austin communities, including ones that don’t show up on listing sites.

Resident Reviews Decoded

I went through all 21 Google reviews, the 6 ApartmentRatings reviews, and the RentCafe portfolio data for Envolve LLC. The total review count is low (27 across platforms), but the story is clear once you separate the timelines.

Review Pattern Analysis

What Residents Consistently Praise

The onsite manager, Shawanna, shows up by name in multiple Google reviews. The praise is specific. One resident wrote that her “willingness to solve issues in a timely manner and fantastic communication skills” made their leasing period easy. Another resident who has lived at Marshall since 1995 (over 30 years) said they get along with the manager, staff, and maintenance crew. A third resident with 20+ years at the property said management “gets things done and fixed when needed.”

And then there’s this from another Google reviewer: “I love it here, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, the management is really sweet and understanding, the units are nice and the neighbors are easy to get along with.”

A recent review also mentioned “Manager Luz” positively, which could mean there’s another manager on staff or someone new working with Shawanna. That kind of tenure and team depth isn’t random. When people stay somewhere for decades, it’s because the basics work: maintenance happens, management communicates, and the place is livable. Several reviews mention how quiet the property is, and that makes sense given the Rosewood location and the low-rise layout.

The ApartmentRatings Problem (And Why It’s Misleading)

Here’s something no other listing site will tell you. Marshall’s ApartmentRatings page shows a 2.6 out of 5 from 6 reviews. That looks bad. But every single one of those reviews was written between 2010 and 2014, under a completely different manager named Cynthia Ellis Brown, and before the 2022 renovation. The complaints reference a person who no longer runs this property and conditions that no longer exist in the renovated units. One ApartmentRatings reviewer from that era actually defended the property, noting: “Where are you going to find an apartment that’s based on your income, all bills paid, and a transportation friendly environment?”

So if you’re comparing Marshall to other properties and see that 2.6, now you know the context. The current Google reviews (2025-2026) under Shawanna tell a different story: 3.8 out of 5, and the most detailed reviews praise management responsiveness and upkeep.

What Current Residents Criticize

The negative Google reviews from the current era are few but specific. One prospective renter said they were told the three bedroom waitlist wasn’t very long, applied, then learned it was actually one to two years. Management responded that they couldn’t find the applicant in their system. A visitor complained about not being allowed to park on the property. These are isolated incidents, not patterns. But the waitlist miscommunication points to a real issue: get accurate wait time information before investing your time.

How Management Responds

Management responds to both positive and negative Google reviews. The positive responses lean on template language (“Thanks for the review!”). The negative responses show more effort: apologizing, trying to find the reviewer in their system, asking them to call the office. Not perfect, but they’re paying attention. The RentCafe portfolio rating for Envolve LLC across all their properties is 4.0 out of 5 from 540 reviews, with staff and maintenance both scoring 4.0. That tells me Marshall’s current team is roughly in line with how Envolve runs across the board.

What Envolve’s Portfolio Tells You

Envolve LLC manages over 41,000 units nationally, mostly affordable and tax credit housing. They’ve got standardized systems for compliance, maintenance, and income recertification. Marshall also has amenities that don’t show up on listing sites: a Caritas of Austin satellite office onsite (social services access), Spanish-speaking staff, weekly resident activities, courtesy patrol after hours, and 24-hour emergency maintenance. For a tax credit property, that’s a stronger support structure than most.

The Uncomfortable Truth

No listing site will write this section. I’m not trying to talk you out of Marshall. I want you to know what you’re signing up for.

You’ll Probably Wait Months (or Longer) to Get In

Marshall is at 100% occupancy. Every floor plan shows unavailable. The waitlist for three bedrooms is reportedly one to two years. Even one bedrooms and two bedrooms aren’t turning over regularly because residents stay for years, sometimes decades. This isn’t a property you can tour on Thursday and move into next month. If you want to live here, plan ahead. Get on the waitlist now and have alternative housing in the meantime.

No Pets Means No Pets

This isn’t a property where you can negotiate for a regular pet. Service animals and emotional support animals (ESAs) with documentation from a licensed mental health professional are the exceptions under the Fair Housing Act. Marshall cannot charge pet fees for legitimate ESAs. If your pet doesn’t qualify for an ESA accommodation, I can help you find pet friendly options in East Austin at similar price points.

The Building Is 58 Years Old

Yes, the 2022 renovation gave the units a facelift. That matters. But the bones of this property are 1968 construction. Wood frame, two stories. No elevator. The original pipes are still in the walls, even if the fixtures are new. Thinner walls than newer construction, less energy efficient windows, and maintenance issues that come with an old building, not from anyone dropping the ball. The fact that all bills are paid insulates you from utility cost surprises, which is a real benefit with a building this age.

Income Recertification Can Complicate Your Life

Tax credit properties require annual income recertification. If your income rises above the limit after you move in, you could lose eligibility at renewal. Some properties grandfather you in; others don’t. Ask the leasing office: “What happens if my income exceeds the cap at recertification?”

Ready to explore your options, or want to get on Marshall’s waitlist?

You’ve seen the full picture now. If Marshall fits your situation, contact their office directly at (512) 472-6935. If the waitlist is too long or you need pet friendly options at similar price points, fill out a quick form and I’ll text you within a few hours with alternatives.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Marshall Apartments income restricted?

Yes. Marshall is a LIHTC property that also has Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance on some units. Applicants must earn under the income cap for their household size. For a single person, the maximum ranges from $40,900 to $49,080/year depending on the unit. Limits adjust annually.

Are utilities included at Marshall Apartments?

Yes, all utilities are included: gas, electric, water, and trash. Your monthly rent is your total monthly housing cost with no separate utility bills.

Does Marshall Apartments allow pets?

No. Marshall has a strict no-pet policy. Service animals and emotional support animals (ESAs) with documentation from a licensed mental health professional are the exceptions, as required by the Fair Housing Act. They can’t charge you pet fees or deposits for legitimate assistance animals.

How much is the application fee at Marshall?

Zero. No application fee, no admin fee. That’s rare for any Austin apartment. You’re not risking $50 to $75 just to find out if you qualify.

Is there a waitlist at Marshall Apartments?

Yes. The property is at 100% occupancy with an active waitlist. Three bedroom units reportedly have a one to two year wait. Contact the leasing office at (512) 472-6935 to get on the list and ask about current wait times for the size you need.

What school district serves Marshall Apartments?

Marshall is zoned to Austin ISD: Blackshear Elementary, Kealing Middle School, and Johnston High School. Confirm current zoning with AISD before making any decisions based on schools.

How do I qualify for a tax credit apartment like Marshall?

Your household income needs to be at or below 50% or 60% of the Area Median Income, depending on the unit type. For a single person, that cap is $40,900 to $49,080/year. See the income table in the Screening section above for the full breakdown by household size. Annual recertification is required.

The Bottom Line: Is Marshall Apartments Worth It?

Marshall offers something genuinely rare. All utilities included. Income restricted pricing in one of Austin’s most sought-after zip codes. Zero application and admin fees. A management team that residents praise by name. The 2022 renovation brought the interiors up to date. The $1,674 one bedroom with utilities included competes with market rate options that run $2,000+ once you add in electric, water, gas, and fees. Over a year, Marshall could save you $3,000 to $6,000 compared to surrounding market rate apartments.

The trade-off is access. This property is full. Getting in means qualifying under income limits, getting on the waitlist, and waiting for a unit to turn over. That’s not a fast process.

This property makes sense if you qualify under the income caps, you’re willing to wait for a unit, you don’t have pets, and you value long-term stability in East Austin over immediate availability.

This property doesn’t make sense if you need to move in the next 30 to 60 days, you have a pet, your income exceeds the tax credit limits, or you need more than 959 square feet. If you’re priced out of 78702 at market rate, South Austin and Central Austin both have more immediate options in a similar rent range.

My honest take: if you qualify, get on the waitlist now. Marshall is the kind of property where people move in and don’t move out. That tells you everything about the value. In the meantime, the East Austin market has real options with specials that can bring market rate rents closer to what Marshall charges. Reach out and I’ll show you what’s available today.

Need Help?

You’ve got everything you need to evaluate Marshall Apartments on your own. But if you want help:

Fill out the form  and I’ll text you to discuss your income situation, check whether you’ll likely qualify, and walk through the waitlist process. If Marshall isn’t the right fit or the timing doesn’t work, I know which East Austin properties have openings right now. You’ll talk to me directly, not an AI phone system.

Going solo? Just tell them “Ross Quade from Austin Apartment Team” referred you on your tour and application. Text me at 512-360-0852 when you apply so I can make sure everything’s on track.