The Housing Authority of the City of Austin has shifted 300 of its housing vouchers to be more available to those experiencing homelessness, in a move aimed at helping the city reduce the number of people in chronic need of housing. Last week, HACA announced the change to convert the 20-year vouchers, which equate to […]
Housing Authority of the City of Austin
Austin’s Housing Authority works to provide affordable housing to low-income families. The public agency also is tasked with assisting residents to become economically self-sufficient.
Posted inHousing
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 […]
Posted inDevelopment
Residents helping to shape final details of Home Depot redevelopment
With the city still working to finalize a master development agreement for the redevelopment of the former Home Depot property in the St. Johns neighborhood, residents will have more opportunities beginning this week to weigh in on the final plans for the tract. A series of community discussions are on tap for those interested in […]
Posted inHousing
South Austin tenants aren’t getting evicted but still want answers
Tenants of the Rosemont at Oak Valley apartment complex, who had previously been given abrupt (though now rescinded) notices of their imminent evictions, still have unanswered questions for the Housing Authority of Travis County. Though the Housing Authority has since pledged to assist in smooth transitions for the residents affected by structural damage from the […]
Posted inDevelopment
Greystar/HACA proposal recommended for redevelopment of Home Depot site
City staffers have recommended moving forward with a proposal from Greystar Development and the Housing Authority of the City of Austin for the redevelopment of the 19-acre East Austin site best known as the home of a long-closed and decaying Home Depot store. In a memo circulated this week, Sylnovia Holt-Rabb, acting director of the […]
Posted inHousing
City launches revamped version of rental assistance program
Today the Housing and Planning Department, in partnership with the city housing authority, will launch a revamped version of RENT, the Relief of Emergency Needs for Tenants Assistance Program. Nefertitti Jackmon, the city’s housing and policy planning manager, presented to City Council’s Housing and Planning Committee on March 11, giving performance overviews of the older […]
Posted inPlanning
Planning Commission recommends making Chalmers Avenue block car-free
The Planning Commission said at its Feb. 9 meeting that the city should allow Chalmers Avenue between East Third and East Fourth streets to become a car-free zone, with pedestrian and bike paths and green space replacing the asphalt. The proposed “urban park of sorts” is part of the Pathways at Chalmers Court public housing […]
Posted inPublic Health
Council committee hears update on effort to ensure menstrual equity
Members of the City Council Health and Human Services Committee considered an update on a Menstrual Equity Initiative, and how to fund it, at their most recent meeting. Meg Moore, community associate for the District 1 office, brought an update about the initiative, which has been underway for the past six weeks and currently consists […]
Posted inHousing
Austin created a program to pay struggling tenants’ rent. Some say it added to stress.
Petra Antonio and her husband, Domingo Quiroz, got Covid-19 in September. Antonio said she felt OK, but Quiroz had a fever and a cough that kept him awake at night. He wanted to avoid going to the hospital, because he believed from news reports that if you’re sick enough with the coronavirus to need hospitalization, […]
Posted inHousing
City prepares to launch second round of rental assistance in August
City Council’s Housing and Planning Committee heard an update Tuesday on the city’s next round of Covid-19 rental assistance, known as the RENT program. The Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department hopes to help even more households and cover a bigger proportion of back rent than in the program’s first go-around. The $17.7 million commitment […]
Posted inCity Council
City announces lottery rental assistance program
Last week, City Council and the Housing Authority of the City of Austin announced the Relief of Emergency Needs for Tenants (RENT) program, a lottery program that will help Austinites at risk of losing their rental housing due to the pandemic. “In the wake of this terrible virus are anxious families without money for rent […]
Posted inHousing
Families with noncitizens could lose federal housing benefits if HUD proposal moves forward
Tuesday is the last day for public comment on a proposal that could evict or even separate thousands of families with mixed-citizenship status who receive housing assistance in Texas. Since 1980, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has allowed households that include noncitizens to receive benefits for public or subsidized housing. The proposed […]