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CONTINUED FROM 1 pavING the way Workforce housing is being proposed in and around Lakeway and Bee Cave. Here are potential development sites and the progress of each.
“We’re hearing more and more of folks having to commute,” Alvarado said. “They may accept the position and tell us, ‘Yes, I can commute from 20, 30, or 45 minutes away.’ But a few weeks later after making that com- mute, they decide it’s just too much.” Workforce housing aims to address employee shortages caused by shrink- ing nearby labor pools and long com- mute times by o ering attainable housing options. The Texas State A ordable Housing Corp. says workforce housing typi- cally targets families making 60%- 120% of the area median income, which in Travis County would trans- late to between roughly $58,000- $117,000 for a family of four, according to the city of Austin. Of the respondents to a Lake Tra- vis Chamber of Commerce survey, 78% said their business would bene t from workforce housing. “This is a pretty critical situation, and doing nothing is not going to help the problem; we have to do some- thing,” Tisdale said. Cities’ solutions Heading into 2022, the issue of workforce housing has come before both Lakeway and Bee Cave city councils. On Jan. 3, Lakeway City Council approved two new zoning regula- tions, one of which Mayor Tom Kil- gore said would open the door for di erent housing options, including future workforce housing projects. City Council created the R9 zoning category, which allows high-den- sity developments up to 20 units per acre. Previously, the city’s highest density zoning code allowed for 12 units an acre. “That high density would allow an apartment building developer or a workforce project owner to come to the city,” Kilgore said. However, Lakeway City Council voted down a compromise measure o ered by Higginbotham that would have brought a workforce housing development to a 7.6-acre parcel at the intersection of RM 620 and Night- ingale Lane during a Nov. 15 meeting. The proposal would have allowed for a total of 152 units. Kilgore, who voted against that development, said council had con- cerns about tra c on Nightingale, the size of the site and giving up potential commercial space on RM 620.
built out. We only have so much land left available, and the need is huge for [workforce housing].” Housing hurdles More than 92% of people employed in ZIP code 78738 and 87% of people employed in ZIP code 78734, which encompass Bee Cave and Lakeway, do not live in the ZIP code where they work, according to 2019 data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Similarly, about 90% of the people who live in both ZIP codes do not work within them. Local o cials said this discrepancy is caused in large part by the rising cost of housing and cost of living in the Lake Travis area, which has priced manymiddle-income earners out. The median sales price of homes rose over 35% from 2015-20, according to data from the Austin Board of Realtors. “Many of the jobs in this area are service workers, teachers, nurses, rst responders, those kinds of jobs, and many of those people just can’t a ord to live here, so they have to commute,” Tisdale said. Marco Alvarado, executive director of communications and community relations at Lake Travis ISD, said he sees a correlation between the area cost of living and the employment challenges facing both the district and the community. While he said hiring and retaining bus drivers and cafeteria servers has always been a challenge, the district is now having the same problems with teachers and aides. Alvarado said about 50% of the 1,400-person sta live within the dis- trict, while the other half commute.
This problem, coupled with the high cost of living and housing in the area, has led to heightened labor shortages and calls for workforce housing to be built. “The basic conundrum is that many of the people who work here can’t a ord to live here. [People] who do work in the area have to commute very long distances to get here. That not only puts a dent in their quality of life, but [it] also increases turnover because after a while, that commute just gets to be too burdensome, and workers decide to look elsewhere,” said Ward Tisdale, executive direc- tor of the Lake Travis Chamber of Commerce. In recent months, local leaders in both Lakeway and Bee Cave have worked to adjust city codes to make them more hospitable for multifam- ily developments, including work- force housing. Additionally, the city of Bee Cave has taken steps to recruit a workforce housing development project on a piece of city-owned land. However, not all municipalities and elected o - cials feel they have the same role to play in providing a ordable housing options to the area’s employees. “In our past, this wasn’t … some- thing that people planned for because there really wasn’t a need for it. The population was much lower out here. The cost of living was lower,” Lakeway City Council Member Laurie Higgin- botham said. “Now, all of a sudden, that’s changed. Things are getting
Cardinal Point
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Status: open Location: 11015 Four Points Drive, Austin
Details: 120 units, with some set aside for at-risk and previously homeless families; o ers one-, two- and three- bedroom units; rent ranges from $803-$1,334 Next steps: community began leasing units in late 2017 and is 98% occupied as of Jan. 6
The Highlands at Lakeway
2
Status: under construction Location: 2309 N. RM 620, Austin Details: 180 units; 7.94 acres; $950 average rent for qualifying residents Next steps: encountered COVID- 19-related construction delays and permitting delays with Travis County and the water district; expected completion in December 2022
Skaggs tract
3
Status: planning Location: Bee Cave Parkway at Tordera Drive
LAKE TRAVIS
Details: 20 acres; developments with 51% of units for residents earning 80% or less of the average median income can have densities of up to 20 units per acre Next steps: with help of real estate rm JLL Inc., city will review housing proposals through spring
4 POINTS DR.
1
BULLICK HOLLOW RD.
2222
2
620
4
Nightingale at lakeway
LAKEWAY
4
Status: rejected Location: RM 620 between Nightingale Lane and Bowling Lane
620
EMMA LONG PARK
3
Details: 152 proposed units; 7.6 acres Next steps: Lakeway City Council voted Nov. 15 against compromise measure that would have allowed 20 workforce housing units per acre
SKAGGS DR.
TORDERA DR.
E
360
71
71
BEE CAVE
MAP NOT TO SCALE N
SOURCES: CARDINAL POINT, CITY OF BEE CAVE, CITY OF LAKEWAY, RISE RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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