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District 3
Council OKs first use of Project Connect money for housing
With little fanfare Thursday, City Council, acting as the board of the Austin Housing Finance Corporation, approved using Project Connect anti-displacement dollars for the first time to purchase apartment complexes for low-income residents. The two complexes AHFC will acquire are…
Housing • By Jo Clifton • Jun 21, 2022
Council votes to replace destroyed pedestrian bridge in Roy G. Guerrero Park
In a popular East Austin park, a sidewalk leads off a cliff down a steep, rocky bank. Across the ravine, the sidewalk continues as if it were daring people to make an impossible leap. A pedestrian bridge used to connect…
Transportation • By Nathan Bernier, KUT • Jun 16, 2022
Montopolis project gets Council go-ahead
City Council approved a rezoning Thursday that will bring affordable housing for women and children experiencing homelessness to the Montopolis neighborhood. The rezoning from Family Residence (SF-3-NP) to Multifamily-Moderate Density (MF-4-NP), which Council approved on all three readings, will allow…
Zoning • By Jonathan Lee • May 10, 2022
Setback controversy delays East Austin townhomes
A developer planning to build seven townhomes in the Chestnut neighborhood ran into opposition April 12, as neighbors and members of the Planning Commission opposed a request to build closer to single-family homes than allowed by city code. Developer Urban…
Development • By Jonathan Lee • Apr 19, 2022
Council approves St. Elmo zoning with promise of affordable housing
City Council gave its final blessing Thursday for a new multifamily complex in the St. Elmo area as developers promised that 10 percent of the 370 rental units would be affordable for families earning 60 percent of the median family…
Zoning • By Jo Clifton • Mar 29, 2022
Over 200 affordable homes planned on city-owned property in East Austin
An affordable housing project called the Libertad is set to bring over 200 affordable homes to city-owned property in East Austin. The project at 900 Gardner Road will be built on a vacant, 8.5-acre slice of a larger property that…
Zoning • By Jonathan Lee • Mar 11, 2022
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Council OKs 85-foot height for Plaza Saltillo area lot
City Council gave first reading approval last week for a request to rezone a property at 1400 E. Fourth St., within the Plaza Saltillo transit-oriented development plan for the area. The applicant requested to increase the allowed height of a…
Development • By Jo Clifton • Mar 11, 2022
Planning Commission dims owner's hopes of turning plant nursery into housing
The Planning Commission threw a wrench into an East Austin business owner’s plans to cash out on his property and allow it to be developed, voting Tuesday against removing a restrictive covenant that prohibits anything but a plant nursery. The…
Zoning • By Jonathan Lee • Mar 7, 2022
Pio Renteria: Seven years in office and 71 years in District 3
City Council Member Pio Renteria recalls the time when he was able to purchase his East Austin home for just over $20,000. Now he’s received an offer to sell it for nearly a million. As a lifelong resident of East…
City Council • By Kali Bramble • Dec 21, 2021
520-unit multifamily project on the way to St. Elmo area
Eight acres of vacant land in South Austin may soon turn into 520 apartments and condos. The Planning Commission Tuesday recommended a zoning change for the project at 4700 Weidemar Lane, but not before addressing neighbors’ concerns about the rerouting…
Zoning • By Jonathan Lee • Dec 17, 2021
New expansion plan helps food forest put down roots
Just across Interstate 35, tucked away from the busy streets and towering skyscrapers of downtown Austin, is a small green oasis called the Festival Beach Food Forest. Visitors can walk the trails just off Lady Bird Lake, picking – and eating…
Environment • By Jackie Ibarra • Dec 1, 2021
Montopolis school for Black students reopened its doors as neighborhood fights for preservation
Montopolis Negro School, a segregation-era grade school for Black children, reopened its doors on Saturday, welcoming Montopolis residents new and old, including some former students, back to an alma mater that hasn’t operated as a school in 60 years. The…
