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Housing
Foundation Communities gets $1.5M, seeks more to fund affordable housing projects
A pair of affordable housing apartment complexes from Foundation Communities have received $1.5 million in subsidies to help pay for their construction costs and cover part of a remaining fundraising gap. Wells Fargo and the Federal Home Loan Bank of…
Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • Apr 23, 2021
County prepares to launch emergency rental assistance program
County Executive Sherri Fleming spoke to the Commissioners Court on Tuesday to provide an update on the county’s emergency rental assistance program. She said Health and Human Services intends to begin outreach for the program on April 15. “We have…
Housing • By Seth Smalley • Apr 14, 2021
Council OKs $22 million in low-income housing bonds
After hearing complaints Thursday from several of her constituents, District 2 City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes announced during Council’s meeting as the board of the Austin Housing Finance Corporation that she would vote against bond funding for a 179-unit, low-income,…
Housing • By Jo Clifton • Mar 26, 2021
Austin Transit Partnership OKs anti-displacement funding
The Austin Transit Partnership Board of Directors unanimously approved a grant agreement Wednesday to finance anti-displacement efforts using money from Project Connect’s tax revenue. The funds, totaling $300 million, will be dispersed over Project Connect’s 13-year timeline, according to ATP’s…
Housing • By Harrison Young • Mar 18, 2021
City launches revamped version of rental assistance program
Today the Housing and Planning Department, in partnership with the city housing authority, will launch a revamped version of RENT, the Relief of Emergency Needs for Tenants Assistance Program. Nefertitti Jackmon, the city’s housing and policy planning manager, presented to…
Housing • By Seth Smalley • Mar 15, 2021
Project Connect, anti-displacement funding made available
The Housing and Planning Committee convened on March 11, fielding discussion about anti-displacement funding, including $300 million from Project Connect tax revenue. The anti-displacement strategies discussed mostly involved using the money to acquire and preserve property in key locations for…
Housing • By Seth Smalley • Mar 12, 2021
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County approves millions toward emergency rental assistance
The county is receiving $10.7 million in federal relief funds from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021, designated for an emergency rental assistance program, or ERAP. In January it was announced that the county would receive the…
Housing • By Seth Smalley • Mar 10, 2021
Home repair funds increased to fix storm damage
In response to the unprecedented damage to homes caused by winter storm Uri, Austin Water has transferred $1 million to the city’s Housing and Planning Department to help Austinites repair ruptured water lines. The city already had a program to help…
Housing • By Jo Clifton • Feb 24, 2021
Planning commissioners: We’re not building enough affordable housing
Planning commissioners expressed concern this week about the lack of progress made toward the city’s affordable housing production goals. The discussion followed a presentation of the recently released Strategic Housing Blueprint Scorecard, which shows how much affordable housing has been…
Housing • By Jonathan Lee • Feb 11, 2021
Austin and Travis County extend eviction bans (again), say more rent help is coming
Citing a continuing public health crisis that could only worsen if people have to leave their homes, Austin-area officials have extended protections against most evictions through April 1. “Keeping people inside and housed curbs the spread of the virus,” Travis…
Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Jan 29, 2021
County endorses Decker Lake affordable housing project
The Travis County Commissioners Court held a public hearing Tuesday regarding a developer’s application for a Resolution of No Objection for the Decker Lake Apartments, which, if approved, will be located on Decker Lake Road, adjacent to the Travis County…
Housing • By Seth Smalley • Jan 14, 2021
The city is closing shelters it set up for homeless Austinites during Covid. Residents want to know when.
Last Wednesday, Helen Davis was in St. Louis, tired, sore and 825 miles from home without bus fare or a place to stay. As cars whizzed by, she wracked her brain, trying to think of an excuse – something to…
