Austin, Monitored: Preservation funds and parks to come

City eyes fund to preserve affordable housing, capitalize on overbuilt apartment market

From Chad Swiatecki:

In addition to the recent Council action calling for staff to develop options for revamping density bonus programs — and including one-for-one replacement of affordable units — Duchen has taken a policy page from Dallas, Texas, which launched the Dallas Housing Opportunity Fund in 2021 with a $6 million city grant intended to attract investment partners and preserve 5,000 affordable units. He intends to bring a resolution when Council reconvenes in July.

Duchen said the fund would be designed to intervene earlier in the housing pipeline than density bonus programs, with the goal of using city dollars as seed capital to attract additional investment from philanthropic and private-sector partners, then acquiring or recapitalizing aging properties that serve moderate-income renters.

While the structure of the fund has not been finalized, early discussions have included using unspent proceeds from the 2022 affordable housing bond and funds set aside for anti-displacement efforts under Project Connect. Duchen has indicated interest in seeding Austin’s fund at a level higher than Dallas, potentially around $12 million, to signal commitment and draw outside investment.

Downstream parks coming up

The city of Austin is making progress in its pursuit of more trail connections downstream of the Longhorn Dam, as requested by a December 2024 resolution approved by City Council. That resolution asked the city to expand public access to the Colorado River “through land acquisition, parkland dedication, trail easements and other appropriate methods.”

A recent memo from Parks and Recreation Department (PARD)  Director Jesús Aguirre says that his department has made progress on securing public access “through multiple strategies, including parkland dedication, land acquisitions, and transferring existing City properties.” 

In terms of parkland dedication, PARD anticipates several upcoming gains between Pleasant Valley and Bolm District Park on the north shore. And, on the south side: “Anticipated dedication along the south shore of the Colorado River includes the Interport development adjacent to 130 and the entire waterfront as it traces the Dog’s Head municipal utility district.”

The parks department is working with several other city departments to spend $50 million on land acquisition in this fiscal year, focused “along both shores of the Colorado River between John Trevino and Hornsby Bend, and downstream of the Dog’s Head MUD… These properties are critical acquisitions under high development pressure fronting the Colorado River,” reads the memo. In addition, PARD is working with Dell Valle ISD and the city’s Aviation Department to acquire riverfront property and coordinating with the Great Springs Project and Travis County’s  Colorado River Trail Vision to plan trails along the Colorado.

Additionally, as labeled in the map below, the parks department has identified key pieces of city-owned land that will help complete the vision.

West Campus co-op looks to make it official

During (yet another) Historic Landmark Commission meeting dominated by demolition requests, commissioners and community members took a moment to celebrate a proposed historic landmark designation for the Whitehall Cooperative, which has served the community from 2500 Nueces Street since 1896 in various forms. Chair Ben Heimsath noted that, if approved, it would be the first co-op in Austin to be deemed officially historic by the city.

Historic Preservation Officer Kalan Contreras praised the structure’s “importance to Austin, to the University of Texas, to the history of Women, to the university students’ resilience and ambition, to integration efforts during the mid-20th Century and to the cooperative housing movement across Texas.”

“It’s the oldest independently-run residential cooperative in Texas, and it has a rich history that dates to 1896,” she continued. “It’s transformational from a traditional Queen Anne to an eclectic and whimsical Austin establishment is truly unique.”

Historic Landmark Commissioners agreed, voting unanimously to support the historic zoning application, which will ultimately be approved or denied by Austin City Council. More information about the historic application and the history of Whitehall Cooperative can be found here. 

These are the people in your neighborhood

Wondering how the many pieces of our ever-shifting city government fit together at the current moment? We invite you to check out the city’s newly-released org chart, which lays out the hierarchy of City Hall’s upper management: from Austin’s residents at the top, through the purviews of the various assistant city managers that manage almost 13,500 employees. Check it out here.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NEWS

Despite a credible threat that resulted in an arrest this weekend, Austin’s “No Kings” protests remained largely peaceful.

Nonetheless, the Austin Police Association worries that earlier incidents at earlier protests could negatively impact recruitment to the force.

And despite a series of storms in the area, KUT reports that swimming at Jacob’s Well might be canceled for the fourth summer in a row.

The Austin Chronicle last week dove into the reality of how Trumps’ targeting of campuses for deportation campaigns is playing out locally.

And, as part of their series of legislative recaps, the Texas Tribune explains the energy bills that lived and died this past session.

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