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Development
Texas

Austin falls behind affordable housing goal

About 150 units planned in South Austin could make a dent

The two undeveloped lots surrounding 5923 Hidden Valley Trail in Austin, Austin City with Council member Vanessa Fuentes
The two undeveloped lots surrounding 5923 Hidden Valley Trail in Austin, Austin City with Council member Vanessa Fuentes (Google Maps, AustinTX.gov)
By
Mar 1, 2023, 1:04 PM

Austin is behind on its goal to build 60,000 new affordable housing units, but a South Austin development could put a small dent in the shortage. 

The Austin Housing Finance Corporation, a public nonprofit tasked with building affordable housing in the city, will build about 150 units in Dove Springs, KXAN reported. The project will include 96 affordable rentals and 46 “affordable ownership units,” but pricing details were not included in the report. 

The project will rise on two parcels between Pleasant Valley road and Nuckols Crossing Road near Mendez Middle School. The Austin Housing Finance Corporation purchased the land in 2021. 

The city’s affordable housing production plan, passed in 2017, aims to build 60,000 new affordable units by 2027. The plan divides the city into districts, each with its own goals. As has been the case in cities across the country, though, actual building has lagged political resolutions. 

A 2021 status report by advocacy group HousingWorks found that District Two, the section of the city that includes this project, had seen 1,063 new units built in the four years since the plan took effect. The district needs to build 572 units a year to reach its minimum of 4,492 homes by the deadline.

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No place in the city is building fast enough, councilmember Vanessa Fuentes said.

“The reality is that we are not doing it at the rate that is needed, and we are not on track to meet the goals that we have set not only for our district but for Austin overall,” Fuentes told KXAN.

The 150-unit project is not expected to be finished until 2025. It is currently in a public outreach phase. 

— Joe Lovinger

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