The message to local developers and real estate professionals on Wednesday was clear: Austin is in the mix for tens of billions of dollars in federal money that will continue to transform the area and attract newcomers for decades. Panelists for the Urban Land Institute Austin discussion on federal funding up for grabs for Central […]
Urban Land Institute
Posted inPlanning
Developers, planners explore racial equity goals for building Austin
Members of Austin’s real estate and development community considered plenty of questions and ideas Wednesday concerning how to improve and prioritize racial equity in building projects throughout fast-growing Austin. No all-encompassing answers or silver-bullet tactics were revealed by the panel assembled for Urban Land Institute Austin’s monthly member breakfast, but speakers such as Maggie Parker, […]
Posted inHousing
Affordability calculator helps to demystify financing realities for low-income units
The complicated math involved in planning and financing affordable housing projects in Austin has become a little easier, thanks to a first-ever affordability calculator intended to help political leaders and housing advocates better research how developments are assembled. The calculator, which is free and available here, was created in a partnership between education nonprofit HousingWorks […]
Posted inPreservation
Report: ADU expansion, tax relief among city’s options to promote preservation
Preservation advocates want the city to simplify the process for building accessory dwelling units, and use an ombudsman position to help navigate city processes as some of the steps needed to save existing housing stock while helping to address affordability. Those were some of the conclusions in a recent paper from Urban Land Institute Austin […]
Posted inDevelopment
Development leaders see public-private partnerships as cure for ‘lazy’ public dirt
State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt created a new branding term for proponents of public-private partnerships at Urban Land Institute Austin’s monthly breakfast panel last week. “Something I’ve discovered after 20 years in local government is governments have a tendency to have very lazy dirt and own a lot of dirt that’s not being maximized because there’s […]
Posted inHousing
Austin deals with growing pains of being rare real estate ‘supernova’
If the last decade of booming real estate growth has earned Austin the designation of being one of four “supernova” markets, according to the national Urban Land Institute (Nashville, Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte being the others), then the onset of an expected slowdown will likely come with an increase in growing pains related to affordability, infrastructure […]
Posted inDevelopment
Builders talk pros/cons of city’s push for environmentally friendly construction
As Austin moves closer toward its net-zero energy goals, the city’s building and development community will play a major role in making new buildings environmentally sound and gradually retrofitting existing buildings to be more energy efficient. How to manage those costs and responsibilities was the topic for a recent Urban Land Institute panel held in […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
Real estate leaders put affordable housing bond under the lights
In summarizing the city’s many efforts and successes to preserve and create more affordable housing, Rosie Truelove offered a simple summary of what’s going on in one of the hottest real estate markets in the country. Speaking at last week’s Urban Land Institute Austin breakfast panel that looked at the $350 million affordable housing proposal […]
Posted inDevelopment
Austin’s growing pains impacting housing, jobs east of 130
The push of economic development flowing from Austin has officially hit the SH-130 corridor, and is bringing the same pressure on infrastructure, housing and workforce development that have become regular talking points in Austin political circles for years. At a recent Urban Land Institute Austin luncheon hosted by Huston-Tillotson University, leaders from Taylor and Caldwell […]
Posted inParks
City leaders focus on the importance of green space
As the ambitious $5 billion plan to lower the downtown sections of Interstate 35 moves slowly forward, those who have lived through a similar effort in Dallas emphasize the need and opportunity to emphasize green space in any cap-and-stitch plan that materializes. Members of the local real estate and planning industries heard some of the […]
Posted inTransit
Real estate, transit leaders see potential for change in Project Connect plans
As planning and early design work on the Project Connect mass transit plan moves forward, with cost increases mounting due to inflation and scope expansion, a Dallas developer told Austin real estate leaders recently that the city has an opportunity to remake transportation policy and serve as a model for other U.S. cities. At the […]
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 […]