Austin Housing Plan, Your Voice is needed!

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Got ideas to fix ATX housing needs? Let's hear them! Community events launch for new Austin Housing Plan  With housing prices continuing to rise at an alarming rate, we need a strategic housing plan to meet the needs of people who call Austin home. A new Austin Housing Plan will address these topics: (1) How might we ensure our children can afford to live in Austin? (2) Where should Austinites who work hard – cooking food, watching your children, and caring for the sick – be able to afford to live? (3) The cost of housing is inter-connected with City decisions around job access, parking, permitting, and housing types allowed. For City leaders, doing nothing different is not an option. So, which changes can you live with? COMMUNITY EVENTS: Austin Housing Plan Tuesday, March 29, 6-8 PM Windsor Park Branch Library (District 1), 5833 Westminster Drive Wednesday, March 30, 6-8 PM Southeast Branch Library (District 2), 5803 Nuckols Crossing Road Monday, April 4, 6-8 PM Terrazas Branch Library (District 3), 1105 E. Cesar Chavez St. Tuesday, April 5, 6-8 PM Northwest Recreation Center (District 7), 2913 Northland Drive Wednesday, April 6, 6-8 PM  Turner Roberts Recreation Center (District 1), 7201 Colony Loop Drive Saturday, April 9, 10:30 AM-12:30 PM Manchaca Road Branch Library (District 5), 5500 Manchaca Road Monday, April 11, 6-8 PM Pleasant Hill Branch Library (District 2), 6405 Circle S. Road Tuesday, April 19, 6-8 PM Little Walnut Creek Branch Library (District 4), 835 West Rundberg Lane Wednesday, April 20, 6-8 PM Spicewood Springs Branch Library (District 6), 8637 Spicewood Springs Road Monday, April 25, 6-8 PM North Village Branch Library (District 10), 2520 Steck Ave. Wednesday, April 27, 6-8 PM Hampton Branch Library (District 8), 5125 Convict Hill Road Thursday, April 28, 6-8 PM (Affordability & CodeNEXT) Town Lake Center at Austin Energy (District 9), 721 Barton Springs Road See map of meeting locations and find one near you. These are come-and-go events. We’d love for you to stop by at any time.  At these outreach events, you can also share your priorities for improving mobility around Austin with the Mobility Talks team. What has been your Austin affordability experience?  #ATXhousing The Austin Housing Plan seeks to increase housing choices available to all Austinites, as called for in Imagine Austin. If you cannot attend any of these meetings, you can also host a small-group conversation with your friends and take the Austin Housing Survey coming out next month. Sign up to be notified about the survey and Conversation Kits.

Copyright © 2016 Communications and Public Information Office, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Communications and Public Information Office 1000 E. 11th Street Austin, Texas 78702 austintexas.gov

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The Rent Is Too Damn High!

Austin's Affordable Housing Pipeline for 2016

Almost everyone in Austin agrees: To bridge the gap of affordable housing needed in Austin, more homes have to be built. The City of Austin's 2014 Housing Market Study showed that almost 48,000 rental units alone were required to meet the need. 

Foundation Communities, Bluebonnet Studios on S. Lamar

The good news is that in 2016, Austin has the opportunity to add more affordable housing units than ever before in a single year.  Developers and builders have reported that over 1,000 units of affordable housing are in the pipeline for this year.  This represents at 38% increase over the units built last year.

Currently 829 affordable rental units under construction should be completed this year.  HACA (Austin Affordable Housing Corporation) is building the bulk of these units, 433, in two projects, The Point and The Villages at Ben White.  Click here to see where the rental and homeownership units are slated to be built in 2016.

Two of eleven Austin Habitat homes on Eggers Str.

For homeownership units, it is estimated that 178 units will be completed in the next 10 months.  The bulk of these homes will be located in Mueller.  But new this year will be affordable attached condominium units at The Chicon.  Additionally, both Guadelupe CDC and the City of Austin, will be producing single-family homes under their Community Land Trust (CLT) models.  These units will have not only an affordable purchase price, but they will have reduced property tax assessments because they are in a CLT.

While this looks to be a record breaking year in affordable housing production, one sticking point, is that none of the units are located in Central and West Austin.  For this year, there are no affordable housing being built in Council Districts 10, 7 and 4.  HousingWorks Austin reported that District 10 had 1%; District 7 had 4% and District 4 has 18% of the city's subsidized housing.  Austin will not achieve the vision of "all types of housing, in all parts of town" without addressing this disparity.

Sales Office in Easton Park (Pilot Knob)

When considering the pipeline of affordable homes in Austin, the City Council made a significant decision in approving the Pilot Knob PUD in December.  This project is required to provide 650 homeownership units, sold in a CLT or deed restricted manner, providing long-term affordability of all the units.  (An additional 350 affordable rental units have also been committed.) This will be the largest affordable homeownership program to date slated for construction in Austin.  However, there has been much discussion on this project since the Council approved the PUD ordinance. (See Austin Monitor) Over the next few weeks, a decision will be made regarding whether or not to rescind the Pilot Knob ordinance, and concerned affordable housing advocates will be watching to see how committed the Council is to affirming its commitment to affordability.

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Rental Pipeline	2016
Organization	Project	Units
Foundation Communities	Lakeline Station	128
Foundation Communities	Live Oak Trails	58
Foundation Communities	Bluebonnet & S. Lamar	107
HACA	The Pointe at Ben White	250
HACA	The Villages at Ben White	183
Jeremiah Program	Women & Child Program	35
Pinnical Housing Group	Art at Bratton's Edge	68
		829
Homeownership Pipline	2016
Organization	Project	Units
Austin Habitat	Eggers St.	11
Austin Habitat	Magin Meadow	6
Momark Dev. & Austin Habitat	Westgate Grove	30
Mueller	Mueller	90
Guadelupe CDC	Guadalupe-Saldana Net-Zero Subdivision	6
COA	COA -CLT	7
Chestnut CDC	The Chicon	28
		178

2015 – The Year in Affordable Housing, Austin, TX

Austin, Texas is on many desirable “Top 10 Lists.”  However, in 2015, the Martin Prosperity Institute rated Austin as one of the most economically segregated cities in the country.  Much of the segregation that occurs in Austin is due in large part to the lack of affordable housing across the city.

 

Affordable homes at Westgate Grove.

In 2015, housing builders and developers have reported finishing or closing a total of 725 affordable rental and homeownership units.  This number is significant because it falls short of the supply needed to keep up with the demand.

In the City of Austin’s Housing Market Study of 2014, it was reported that a gap of almost 48,000 rental units for low-income residents.  Austin Mayor Steve Adler has called for building 100,000 new housing units by 2025 to affordably house the residents of Austin.  At the current production rate, it will be a long time before the gap will be filled.  And as Austin continues to grow in population, the gap could only get wider.

Some bright spots for last year included the establishment of the Community Land Trusts, HACA’s acquisition of The Bridges, Foundation Communities’ opening of Capital Studios, and the passing of the Accessory Dwelling Unit ordinance.

With the purchase of The Bridges of Center Ridge and The Bridges of Tech Ridge, The Housing Authority of the City of Austin (HACA) was able to preserve over 300 units for affordable housing.  In January, Foundation Communities opened Capital Studios, downtown and in December opened Homestead Oaks, in Southwest Austin.  These projects contain 275 new residential units.

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Highlights for the year include:

Austin Habitat homeowner getting the keys to her home.

·         Community Land Trust – The City of Austin closed on the first 7 units in their Community Land Trust in 2015.  A Community Land Trust is a new form of homeownership for Austin and Texas.  This type of housing allows the buyer to own the home at an affordable price, and build equity while owning the home.  Under this model the buyer, usually making 80% of Austin’s Median Family Income or lower, purchases the unit through taking out a home loan.  The buyer owns the housing unit, but not the land on which it is built.  The land is held by the CLT agent, which is usually the government or a non-profit organization.  Because the buyer is not buying the land, the price for the housing unit is affordable.  The buyer will pay a monthly lease for the land, but this is usually a nominal amount.  Future CLT projects in Austin will allow for more homeownership across the entire city, especially in high opportunity neighborhoods.  In addition to the City’s effort Guadalupe CDC also operates a CLT.

·         Accessory Dwelling Units – In November, the Austin City Council passed an ordinance making it easier to build accessory dwelling units (ADUs), also known as granny flats or garage apartments.  The ordinance allows garage apartments on SF-3 (and some SF-2) lots , between 5,750 and 7,000 square feet, which encompasses roughly 56,000* lots in Austin.  This change allows for potentially more affordable housing units to be built across the city, but especially in central neighborhoods.

·         HACA – The Austin Affordable Housing Corp., the nonprofit subsidiary of Housing Authority of the City of Austin, and the Community Development Trust, a national lender and investor in affordable housing collaborated to purchase The Bridges at Tech Ridge and Center Ridge.  This purchase ensures that 321 apartments in Northeast Austin will have affordable rents for income-qualified tenants for forty years.

As we look forward, for Austin to fill the gap of affordable housing units more will need to be done at the policy, financing, development and regulatory levels to meet the ever increasing demand.  However, the most important driver will be the building of affordable homeownership and rental units now, as we continue to grow.

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About J. Michael Willard

J. Michael Willard – Principle, Willard Consulting, has been involved with affordable housing for more than 20 years.  In his work with Habitat for Humanity he has built homes in Austin, TX and around the world.  Currently he is consulting with non-profit organizations on affordable housing and other strategic and operational issues.

willardconsulting@gmail.com

Call/Text 512-426-5004

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* Council Member Greg Casar contacted me to correct this number.  Earlier I had reported only 9,000 lots were available.