In a city where 200,000 additional housing units will be needed over the next 30 years to meet the growing number of newcomers, having a plan to keep those units affordable is prudent. Accordingly, Jonathan Tomko, a senior planner with the city of Austin, presented a draft version of the Austin Strategic Housing Plan, the […]
Housing
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Austin teams up with Travis County and AISD on affordable housing
The city of Austin, Travis County and the Austin Independent School District are poised to enter a three-party partnership aimed at using publicly owned lands to address the shortage of affordable housing in the area. City Council did its part Thursday, when it approved a resolution (on its consent agenda) directing the city manager “to […]
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Council Member Renteria seeks amenities for mobile home parks
Mobile homes are often referred to as Austin’s most affordable housing. But mobile home parks don’t always offer amenities, such as green space, for residents. One City Council member is hoping to change that. When Council Member Pio Renteria visited some of his constituents at a mobile home park in Montopolis, he was shocked by […]
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Council looking at help for displaced tenants
City Council will consider an ordinance today affecting tenants who are forced to move out of properties slated for demolition or redevelopment. Under the proposed ordinance, an owner of a multifamily complex with five or more units would have to notify tenants at least 120 days before they were required to move, and the owner […]
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Residents uneasy about Housing Authority’s plans to renovate public housing
The Housing Authority of the City of Austin is moving forward with a plan to renovate its public housing complexes, but some residents are concerned about where they will live during construction. Julie Ahmadi has lived in the Housing Authority’s Lakeside Apartments for about six years. A couple of months ago, she got a letter […]
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Elysium Park angst: From City Hall to Israel
Last Thursday, many of those watching the City Council meeting were left befuddled by an exchange that took place late in the meeting over a proposed affordable housing project at 3300 Oak Creek Drive. Both the developer and the neighborhood supported the indefinite postponement ultimately approved by City Council. Such agreement is a rarity for […]
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Affordable housing development facing delays at City Hall
The Elysium Park apartment complex, a new affordable housing development planned for North Austin, is facing delays at City Hall. City Council has decided to postpone a zoning decision for the project. The proposed development would include about 90 units, a majority of which would be priced at below-market rates – in other words, affordable […]
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Austin’s first-ever housing plan hits City Hall
This week, city leaders released a draft of Austin’s first-ever strategic housing plan. Unlike broader visions for the city’s future, it focuses on how development will impact the housing supply. The plan is the direct result of a startling 2015 audit of the Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department. In that audit, the Office of […]
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Tenant relocation assistance program moves forward
In recognition of urgent community need, the Planning Commission’s Committee on Codes and Ordinances voted unanimously to push forward with a proposed tenant relocation assistance program, despite the lack of a draft ordinance at the meeting. As requested by City Council in April, the reworked ordinance adds mobile home residents to the list of tenants […]
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East Austin zoning mess fix moves forward, for now
A fix for a mistake made two years ago is headed to City Council, and nine east side properties once owned by the city hang in the balance, as does a deal struck for affordable housing as a condition of the 2014 sale of those properties. City of Austin Planning and Zoning Department Manager Jerry […]
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Committee considers expanding proposed tenant relocation policy
Though the city of Austin currently has no formal policy for helping displaced tenants, change is on the way. And, after a meeting of the Housing and Community Development Committee, it looks like that policy could be expanded to offer protections to mobile home residents as well. The committee heard an update on a proposed […]
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Council approves fee-in-lieu for more housing
Greg Anderson, director of operations for Austin Habitat for Humanity, pronounced his organization “happy, happy, happy” on Friday. The declaration came after City Council approved a deal that would allow Cielo Property Group to build a new mixed-use project with a slightly higher density than would be allowed without Council approval and to give Austin […]