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