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Stories by Audrey McGlinchy, KUT

Austin apartments boomed and rents went down. Now, some builders are dismantling the cranes.

Ben Schwertner won’t pay next month’s rent. The 28-year-old from Lubbock isn’t forgoing payment out of protest or because he can’t afford it. He’s not paying because he doesn’t have to. When Schwertner signed a lease for a one-bedroom apartment…

Groups sue Austin officials over plan to redevelop dairy plant site

Advocacy groups and a neighborhood association are suing city of Austin officials over what they allege is a plan illegally approved by City Council members to turn a dairy plant into more than a thousand new homes, offices and a…

Austin gave families $1,000 a month for a year. Most of the money was spent on housing.

People who received $1,000 a month from the city of Austin for a year spent the bulk of the cash on housing, according to a new study. Cities across the country, including Cambridge, Mass., and Ann Arbor, Mich., have begun…

Austin to allow more homes on one plot of land in the pursuit of cheaper housing

In an attempt to encourage the construction of middle-class housing, Austin voted Thursday to amend land use rules to let property owners build more homes in neighborhoods restricted to one family living in one house on one plot of land. City Council…

Austin helped buy cheap apartments with the intent of keeping prices low. Instead, rents went up.

In the parking lot of a two-story apartment building in Central Austin last month, former and current politicians came together to celebrate something increasingly rare in this city: low rents. The city, along with a real estate investment fund, had…

Austin policy lets builders forgo red tape. The result? More affordable housing, less public input.

Tomás Ramírez moistens a reed, puts in his teeth, gulps down the last of his coffee and begins to play. The sound that comes from his alto saxophone is a mournful riff. “I just sort of make things up when…

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A one-bedroom apartment comes with 1.5 parking spots. Austin could change that.

City Council members will decide Thursday whether to stop requiring developers to build parking. With some exceptions, city rules require most residential and commercial developers to build a minimum amount of parking spots. The number depends on several factors, including…

Last year, your property appraisal went way up. This year (maybe) it’s down. What does it all mean?

If you own property in the Austin area, chances are you recently received your latest property appraisal. This number, known as your appraised value, is an estimate from the Travis Central Appraisal District of what your home would sell for…

The University of Texas says it will help low-income students pay for housing

University of Texas students whose families earn less than $125,000 a year may be able to get money to cover a portion of their on-campus rent for one academic year. University officials teased the new program in an op-ed in the Austin American–Statesman last…

Austin Energy's general manager, Jackie Sargent, steps down

Austin Energy General Manager Jackie Sargent has retired – effective immediately – according to a memo from interim City Manager Jesús Garza. Sargent served as the public utility’s top executive for nearly six years. Sargent was the highest-paid city employee, earning…

Austin tried and failed to rewrite its land code. Republican lawmakers might do it for them.

In Austin, 5,750 square feet is a magic number. It’s one-tenth of a football field. Half of an Olympic standard swimming pool. And precisely the size of the American dream. “If you’re driving around urban Austin, through Hyde Park, Clarksville,…

Council fires City Manager Spencer Cronk in wake of winter storm response

Austin City Council members have fired City Manager Spencer Cronk, the city’s chief executive. The vote Wednesday followed criticism of his leadership during an ice storm that left hundreds of thousands without power earlier this month. “I ran (for mayor)…

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