This week, the Community Development Commission learned more about how the city ensures the reduced-rent housing units created through its density bonus programs go to people who meet the income eligibility requirements. At the commission’s Jan. 10 meeting, Commissioner Karen Paup said she asked staff from the Housing and Planning Department to help them better […]
Housing
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After years of negotiation, renovations begin on Austin’s oldest publicly owned homes
Alexis Henderson stands in the kitchen of her former home at Rosewood Courts in East Austin. The place is abandoned now, save for a couple of items. A rag on the stairwell. A video game decal on the bedroom wall. Henderson points up at a thick pipe in the wall, above where a stove used […]
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Council responds to report finding ‘affordable’ condos aren’t always affordable
City Council approved a resolution on Dec. 8 addressing barriers to affordable condo ownership, acting on findings from a report by the University of Texas School of Law that expensive condo fees and improper property tax assessments can push below-market units beyond the reach of those who qualify. “There are some things we really need […]
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Austin deals with growing pains of being rare real estate ‘supernova’
If the last decade of booming real estate growth has earned Austin the designation of being one of four “supernova” markets, according to the national Urban Land Institute (Nashville, Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte being the others), then the onset of an expected slowdown will likely come with an increase in growing pains related to affordability, infrastructure […]
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Council relaxes compatibility requirements along selected corridors
City Council has approved changes to building compatibility standards that will allow for some increases in housing density along a handful of transit corridors. The ordinance amending City Code Title 25 was approved Friday, modifying parking requirements and allowing for increased building heights closer to single-family homes located on the targeted corridors, with some entitlements […]
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Austin’s program to sell homes to people affected by gentrification off to slow start
The city of Austin has not yet sold one of the two dozen homes it began marketing six months ago to low-income families affected by displacement and the influx of wealth into neighborhoods. This is the city’s first attempt at using its long-touted “preference policy,” approved by City Council members in 2018. Policies like these – […]
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ECHO offers lease incentives to real estate agents for placing homeless tenants
Real estate agents in Austin have an incentive to find market-rate homes for those experiencing homelessness, and help one of the city’s main homeless services nonprofits lower the number of people facing housing instability. Austin’s Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, known as ECHO, has launched its new Realtor Incentive Program, which offers a sliding scale of […]
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Eviction rates are skyrocketing in Travis County, says HHS
Eviction rates have shot up more than 250 percent of the average in the Austin area, according to Travis County Health and Human Services. “We have been absolutely inundated with crisis applications,” Kirsten Siegfried, HHS chief deputy, told the Travis County Commissioners Court. Siegfried said it took HHS six months to get through applications received in […]
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Builder: Without new affordability bonds, projects would be ‘few and far between’
The new round of bonds providing $350 million to fund affordable projects couldn’t have come at a better time for developers of affordable housing in Austin. The combination of fierce land costs locally, inflation increasing construction costs on all housing projects by around 14 percent and interest rate increases making borrowing more expensive has made […]
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Homes in Austin’s white neighborhoods are valued much higher than ones in communities of color
People of color in Austin can expect their homes to be worth nearly three times less than homes owned by white residents, according to a new report. Researchers with Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Illinois-Chicago found that, while the average appraised value of a home in a white neighborhood in Austin is $873,758, […]
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ASPIRE project to bring affordable housing, business training to North Austin
BiGAUSTIN, the Black-led nonprofit group that has provided microlending, business training and workforce assistance for nearly 30 years, has announced plans to construct a massive new community resource center and affordable housing community in a partnership with Banc of America Community Development Company. Those two $65 million projects, located in Northeast Austin on East Braker […]
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Council approves ordinances to strengthen renters’ rights
City Council approved two ordinances Thursday enshrining the right of tenants to organize and to remedy lease violations prior to eviction. As rents in Austin continue to rise, tenant advocates say the ordinances are increasingly necessary to help prevent eviction and to allow tenants to collectively demand better living conditions and fair treatment from landlords. […]