City Council passes resolution prioritizing co-op housing for older people and people with disabilities

City Council passed a resolution Thursday directing the city manager to prioritize city-owned land for the development of income-restricted, shared-equity housing for older residents and people with disabilities, including options like cooperative housing and community land trusts. The resolution also called for prioritizing sites located near public transit corridors, particularly within equitable transit-oriented developments (ETODs).

“We are part of a growing contingent interested in innovative housing models that bridge the gap between the option of aging alone or paying for services,” said Carol Lilly, the founder of Boomers Collaborative Foundation. “These are elder co-housing, senior cooperative housing and home-sharing models where seniors can age in place together through mutual support and healthy interdependence.” 

The resolution’s exhibits highlighted that in the Austin-Round Rock area, 38 percent of residents aged 65 and older are housing cost burdened, meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, and 85 percent cannot afford assisted living. Additionally, it noted that over 20 percent of Americans aged 65 and older are at risk of becoming “elder orphans,” lacking family support as they age.

“In many places, older adults on fixed incomes are the fastest-growing demographic of homeless people,” said Felicity Maxwell, a board member of AURA: An Austin for Everyone, speaking in support of the resolution. “This effort allows us to expand housing choice for older adults and broadens options, particularly for lower-fixed-income individuals.” 

As recent years have brought a sharp increase in the cost of living for Austin residents, older people and people with disabilities faced more challenges accessing housing and services. 

“Austin, known for its rising housing costs, is already a difficult place to afford for seniors. The average rent in the city has surged by over 40 percent in just the last five years,” said Chad Wallace, vice president of the Boomers Collaborative Foundation. “For seniors relying on Social Security or modest pensions, this is simply unsustainable.” 

In recommending that housing developments focus on walkable, mixed-use ETODs, the resolution also tackles mobility challenges, seeking to improve access to community resources, businesses and services for older residents and people with disabilities.

“As we lose the ability to drive and must somehow survive on modest, fixed incomes in increasingly unaffordable urban areas – primarily because we need to be near health care facilities – we need affordable housing in vital economic settings where everyday goods and services are within easy walking distance and dependable public transportation is only footsteps away,” Lilly said. 

James May with the Housing Department explained that the resolution directs the city to prioritize cooperative housing in land dispositions, sales and developments, particularly in ETOD areas.

“This resolution will give us direction to prioritize co-ops for our dispositions, when we sell land, when we develop land or look for other developers,” May said. “We do have several other properties that are in ETOD areas and we do expect to prioritize this through that disposition.” 

Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison, chair of the Housing and Planning Committee, emphasized that this item marked the inaugural use of a newly implemented process in which the Housing and Planning Committee directly receives and acts on recommendations from the Planning Commission. 

“The Housing and Planning Committee has begun accepting recommendations from the Planning Commission for consideration by the full Council, and this item promoting senior co-ops is the first item of its type,” Harper-Madison said. “I appreciate that that process allows us to take into consideration public impact and staff consideration prior to bringing the items forward for the full body to consider.”

The resolution passed unanimously. 

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