Government
BY BEN THOMPSON
Tens of thousands of homes and apartments, including 22,000 affordable units, were built in Austin from 2018 to 2023. However, development in that time frame still lagged behind ambitions set in the city’s Strategic Housing Blueprint six years into that 10-year plan. Austin officials moved to implement the housing blueprint back in 2017, with decade- long goals to add 60,000 income-restricted units and 75,000 more for middle- and higher-income residents through a mix of private and public funding. The city previously estimated $6 billion-$11 billion would be needed to help build the 60,000 units for lower-income Austinites by 2028. Austin was just over one-third of the way to that goal as of 2023, according to the city and nonprofit HousingWorks Austin. Austin remains behind housing goals
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Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes credited new construction from recent housing bonds and other city programs for the progress made in District 2, which was over 80% to its blueprint goal and had nearly 2,500 more units still on the way in 2023. On the other hand, central and western council districts remained well behind the targets set in 2017, a trend that’s persisted. In District 2, more income-restricted housing was under construction than in council districts 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 combined. West Austin’s District 10, which had the second-highest goal set back in 2017, added only 72 affordable units and had less than 200 more in progress as of 2023. The Austin real estate market isn’t the same as when the housing blueprint was adopted, with rising home prices and rents coming alongside rapid population growth. Given those changes and others in the local market, the city will be updating the blueprint through a project supported by a nearly $7 million federal planning grant. Fuentes said Austin will need to continue making local investments as bond dollars quickly dry up, and with little aid expected from higher levels of government. “I’m deeply concerned about what’s happening at the federal level and potential funding cuts that we could get to already scarce and scant federal dollars that we have going towards affordable housing,” she said.
Austin affordable housing units by council district The city's Strategic Housing Blueprint called to build 60,000 new affordable housing units from 2018-28. After six years, Austin is just over one-third to that goal with most additions coming on the east side. Built Under construction 10-year goal Percentage of goal met xx%
69%
District 1
183
45 TOLL
86% 57%
District 2 District 3 District 4
MOPAC
130 TOLL
76%
35
360
31%
District 5
620
290
21%
District 6
35%
District 7
183
14%
District 8
30%
District 9
290
MOPAC
0.9%
District 10
71
0
35
130 TOLL
N
SOURCE: CITY OF AUSTIN, HOUSINGWORKS AUSTIN/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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