It would be a stretch to call Tuesday night’s vote a confident one, but the Planning Commission nevertheless unanimously passed a motion to recommend the Austin Strategic Housing Plan to City Council at its meeting Tuesday night. The plan, if approved, will become an appendix of the Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan, providing an outline of […]
Housing
Posted inHousing
Council seeks more details from long-term housing plan
Some City Council members felt underwhelmed with the latest version of the city’s Strategic Housing Plan, one puzzle piece in an assortment of plans and codes city leaders are hoping will help solve Austin’s affordability and transportation woes over the next 10 years. Presented at Thursday’s Council meeting, the plan that was an update of […]
Posted inHousing
Affordable units to rely on third party agreements
City Council on Thursday approved on second reading zoning changes allowing the owners of two South Congress properties to build vertical mixed-use projects with deep affordability for some residents, but the developers will be looking for a private partner to enforce the affordability covenants. Alice Glasco, representing the developer of South Congress Residences at 4714 […]
Posted inCity Council
Council members slam Troxclair’s affordability plan
At City Council’s work session yesterday, several Council members hammered on District 8 Council Member Ellen Troxclair’s Austin Affordability Action Plan. The plan proposes that Council focus on affordability in the areas of housing, transportation, budgeting, cost of living and the economy. Troxclair pulled the item from the consent agenda to allow Council members to […]
Posted inHousing
Affordability plan before Council emphasizes housing needs
City Council members are hoping to make good on promises to create a more affordable Austin. Or, at the very least, ratify a plan to. Council members will vote on an “affordability action plan” at their regular meeting Thursday. The measure, spearheaded by Council Member Ellen Troxclair, proposes five areas in which the local government […]
Posted inHousing
When the loss of a historic home adds to much-needed housing stock
Reedy Spigner, 45, straddles a gray carpet strewn with empty glass bottles and pieces of tape – just some of the things left behind in a move. In front of him is an entire wall of windows. From there, he looks out onto E. 22nd Street and is transported some 35 years into the past. […]
Posted inHousing
Tax credits could provide big increase in affordable housing units on Goodrich Ave.
With the assistance of the state and federal government, Pathways at Goodrich Place, a public housing complex at 2126 Goodrich Ave., may soon have more than three times as many apartment units serving residents who otherwise couldn’t afford to live in the surrounding Zilker neighborhood. City Council voted Thursday to endorse an application by Pathways […]
Posted inZoning
Elysium Park gets initial Council approval, despite neighborhood opposition
For those wondering why building affordable housing in Austin is going so slowly, the Elysium Park development has been a case study of many of the tensions City Council is facing in its attempts to keep low-income people from fleeing the city. On Thursday, Council unanimously approved a rezoning for the hard-fought development on first […]
Posted inHousing
How do demolitions affect Austin’s affordable housing stock?
As Austin grapples with its affordability crisis, much of the focus has been on how city leaders can incentivize developers to build new housing that includes units reserved for residents at certain income levels. Some city leaders, however, suggest that the city may be neglecting, or even encouraging the destruction of, the largest existing source […]
Posted inHousing
TCAD trying to make appraisals more equitable
Many taxpayers have charged that the current property tax system is unfair because it penalizes longtime homeowners with a higher tax bill when their neighborhoods start to gentrify. One of those homeowners is City Council Member Ora Houston. During Council’s Dec. 6 work session, Houston said she lives in a house that is 50 years […]
Posted inHousing
Council OKs more funds for east side housing
Acting as the board of the Austin Housing Finance Corporation, City Council on Thursday approved an additional $992,000 to a loan for the Chestnut Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation to help the company build affordable housing at 1212, 1301 and 1309 Chicon St. The project, called the Chicon, will be redeveloped into a mixed-use, mixed-income development with […]
Posted inHousing
Council approves bid to buy AISD properties
City Council approved a measure Thursday to move forward with a joint effort between the city, Travis County and the Austin Independent School District to provide affordable housing on publicly owned land. The measure authorized city staff to submit a bid to purchase 10 properties currently owned by the school district for an amount not […]