Since the pandemic began, most Austinites have felt the effects of increased rent, higher property taxes, or home prices growing increasingly out of reach. With rising costs forcing people out of their neighborhoods (or out of the city entirely), candidates hoping to become Austin’s next mayor in November agree that something has to be done […]
affordable housing
This general term refers to housing that is affordable to Austinites, with or without subsidy.
Posted inHousing
Development panelists share thoughts, and some silence, on Austin’s affordability issues
It took a question about the political pressures involved in the slow-moving, fractured process of updating the Land Development Code to bring an uncomfortable silence to a recent panel of real estate leaders discussing housing affordability issues in Austin. During last week’s Urban Land Institute Austin breakfast panel talk about affordability, moderator Theresa Alvarez, CEO […]
Posted inPlanning
Council extends HealthSouth redevelopment negotiations
After a series of delays, the proposed redevelopment of two city-owned downtown parcels inched a step forward Thursday when City Council extended negotiations with developer Aspen Heights Partners. Aspen Heights plans to build 921 residential units, some affordable, in two towers on the former HealthSouth tract, which sits next to Waterloo Park at 1215 Red […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
City Council votes to put $350 million affordable housing bond on November ballot
As Austinites see a sharp rise in the cost of living, voters will have a chance to approve a $350 million bond for affordable housing this November. City Council members approved a measure Thursday to put the proposition – the largest in Austin’s history – on the ballot. If the measure passes, the bond money will go […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
Advocates, Council members rally behind affordable housing bond
Support for a potential $300 million affordable housing bond is growing. On Thursday, housing advocates and politicians launched a campaign to support the bond, which they say is needed to address Austin’s housing crisis. “If we’re going to protect what is special and magical about this city, we have to protect and preserve the people […]
Posted inHousing
Mobile home park residents challenge developer after receiving 60-day notice to vacate
Dewain Willmore calls his home in the Congress Mobile Home and RV Park a “sanctuary.” “Once you get off the street in here,” said Willmore, who has lived in the park for 21 years, “everything just slows down.” Over the past two decades, Willmore has become a leader in this close-knit community on South Congress […]
Posted inPlanning
Community Development Commission pushes for affordability at Statesman project site
The Community Development Commission has asked City Council to require significant affordable housing be located on-site for the planned unit development for the former Austin American-Statesman property that is being led by Endeavor Real Estate Group. The commission voted unanimously last week to resend its December 2021 resolution to Council, which called for 20 percent […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
Potential Austin ISD bond proposal could include funding to help teachers with housing
The Austin ISD Board of Trustees will decide later this summer whether to include a bond package on the ballot in November. A bond allows the school district to borrow money to cover the cost of capital expenditures, such as updating facilities, improving technology and buying new buses. The 2022 bond program may also address […]
Posted inHousing
Council OKs first use of Project Connect money for housing
With little fanfare Thursday, City Council, acting as the board of the Austin Housing Finance Corporation, approved using Project Connect anti-displacement dollars for the first time to purchase apartment complexes for low-income residents. The two complexes AHFC will acquire are at 615 W. St. Johns Ave. and 2000 Woodward St. In order to purchase the […]
Posted inHousing
Travis County opens applications to very low-income residents for housing voucher waitlist
Next month, on the first of July at 8 a.m., a relatively small number of low-income residents will get the opportunity to settle or continue to stay in Travis County. That’s because the Housing Authority of Travis County is opening up its waitlist for Section 8 housing choice voucher applications to 500 people. Eligible applicants […]
Posted inHousing
Land trust program targets applicants impacted by displacement
Residents in City Council districts 1 and 6 will have the first chance to purchase one of a cluster of single-family homes the city is making available at affordable prices through the Austin Community Land Trust. In a memo released last week, Housing and Planning Director Rosie Truelove detailed the timing and methodology for the […]
Posted inAustin
Alamo Drafthouse owners bought an old school and promised affordable housing. Years later, there is none.
For a moment, the possibilities for a former school building in one of Austin’s most coveted neighborhoods seemed endless. A contemporary arts center with space for restaurants. What about a community theater? The 4-acre spot in Hyde Park, several groups suggested, could be used to build homes public school teachers could afford. Even in 2017, […]