County adds more “deeply affordable” housing units

Travis County has built about 12,000 affordable housing units and has more on the way, Travis County Corporations Managing Director Andrea Shields told the Commissioners Court last Tuesday.

“That number will need to be updated with what you may approve today, but I would say it’s around 12,000 units,” Shields said.

In a meeting of county commissioners in their role as the Travis County Housing Finance Corporation, commissioners issued bonds for construction of the Northwind Apartments and Manor Apartments and voted to participate in the development and operation of Augustine Apartments, Cantarra Apartments and Parmer North Apartments. 

Northwind on Cameron Road will have 240 units with one to four bedrooms each.

“How many four-bedroom units will there be?” Precinct 2 Commissioner Brigid Shea asked. “Not that many are being built, and we hear that low-income families need these units with more bedrooms.”

Shields said there will be three four-bedroom units priced as affordable to those at 30 percent of the area medium income, 22 four-bedroom units at 60 percent AMI and five at 70 percent AMI. 

“I think this is a really remarkable achievement that the county is producing significant numbers of deeply affordable units on the ground,” Shea said.

The Travis County Housing Finance Corporation was created in 1980 to meet the needs of low- and moderate-income families. It issues tax-exempt bonds to finance the construction or acquisition of apartments and helps first-time homebuyers who meet certain income requirements purchase single-family homes.

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