Effective immediately, City Council has voted to waive permit fees, fines and other charges for charitable feeding organizations like food banks and soup kitchens that distribute food to vulnerable populations and increase access to healthy foods in the community. The waiver also applies to operational requirements and grease traps for food establishments. “This would ensure […]
Foundation Communities
Austin-based nonprofit focused on affordable housing issues and construction.
Posted inHousing
Council approves rezoning for Foundation Communities project, quashing valid petition
A 100 percent affordable apartment project is coming soon to Southeast Austin. City Council has approved a rezoning for the Parker Apartments, a project by affordable housing developer Foundation Communities with 135 income-restricted units catering to families. Council members voted 10-0 on Thursday, with Mayor Pro Tem Natasha Harper-Madison off the dais, to grant Multifamily-Medium […]
Posted inHousing
Foundation Communities gets $1.5M, seeks more to fund affordable housing projects
A pair of affordable housing apartment complexes from Foundation Communities have received $1.5 million in subsidies to help pay for their construction costs and cover part of a remaining fundraising gap. Wells Fargo and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas have given two $750,000 Affordable Housing Program subsidies to the under-construction Zilker Studios on […]
Posted inPlanning
Planning Commission recommends newest Foundation Communities project
The Planning Commission has backed the latest project by local affordable housing developer Foundation Communities, recommending Multifamily-Moderate Density (MF-4) zoning for an 8-acre, church-owned property at 2105 Parker Lane in Southeast Austin. The Parker Apartments will offer 135 units affordable to households at or below 60 percent area median income, in addition to a learning […]
Posted inHousing
East Austin community looks to AISD for affordable housing
At a September meeting of the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees, almost half of the public comments weren’t about academic issues. Instead, they were about housing. Students, parents, teachers and other community members were asking the board to create affordable housing at the former Allan Elementary School on the east side. It wasn’t […]
Posted inTravis County
Dukes dunks county’s North Campus plans
State Rep. Dawnna Dukes’ surprise support for a competing project hobbled Travis County’s quest for tax credits for an innovative mixed-use development on Airport Boulevard. “We’re not thrilled,” Economic & Strategic Planning Director Mark Gilbert told the Austin Monitor on Friday. Gilbert explained that Dukes wrote a letter endorsing a Foundation Communities affordable housing project […]
Posted inCity Council
Who’s building Austin? As city grows, construction workers are getting left behind
At the end of the workday in downtown Austin, streams of construction workers start pouring out of the city. They spend their days building the condos and office buildings that will make up the new Austin, but they go home to surrounding suburbs and cities where they can afford to live. Much has been made […]
Posted inCourts
Court denies injunction against Foundation Communities
How much havoc can one neighbor wreak on a $20 million affordable housing project backed by federal, state and local governments and nonprofits? Potentially, quite a bit. On Tuesday, Foundation Communities avoided potential disaster for its Bluebonnet Studios on South Lamar when Judge Rhonda Hurley denied an injunction that would have stopped construction on the […]
Posted inHousing
RECA report on affordability blames city, neighbors
As the city struggles to provide development review services needed to ensure that its many regulations are being followed, the Real Estate Council of Austin reports that “Austin is steadily losing ground in its efforts to become a ‘beacon of sustainability, social equity, and economic opportunity’ as Imagine Austin envisioned. The necessities of life, especially […]
Posted inDevelopment
Foundation Communities project back on track after BoA delay
An attempt to thwart construction of Foundation Communities’ Bluebonnet Studios fell flat at the Board of Adjustment on Monday night. Michael Sullivan, who owns the property adjacent to the Bluebonnet Studios site, asked the board to reconsider two city staff code interpretations. The first classified the Bluebonnet Studios at 2301 South Lamar as “congregate living.” […]
Posted inCity Council, Housing
Zimmerman struggles to stop subsidized housing
There are only two subsidized housing developments in City Council Member Don Zimmerman’s District 6, as compared to 47 in Council Member Ora Houston’s District 1 and 46 in Council Member Pio Renteria’s District 3, according to data compiled by the group Housing Works Austin. But Zimmerman would like to make sure there is not […]
Posted inDevelopment, Transportation
Capital Metro hears proposals to redevelop Plaza Saltillo area
It’s a familiar headline at this point, but more change is coming to East Austin. After years of planning and discussion, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority is on the verge of selecting a development plan for the Plaza Saltillo area. Currently, the land is mostly vacant, but that’s set to change as soon as the […]