Item 47 on 9/11/25 Agenda

[Ryan Alter]

I would like to express my great appreciation to CM Velásquez for bringing items 46 and 47 regarding homestead preservation districts. These items and your work on them are critical to fighting displacement within our community and increasing the availability of affordable housing. I am proud to be invited as a co-sponsor and would like to provide some additional direction around one of the areas identified by our staff as potentially eligible for a future district.

Since its inception, the University Neighborhood Overlay (UNO) density bonus in the West Campus area has delivered much needed SMART (Safe, Mixed-Income, Accessible, Reasonably-priced, Transit-Oriented)) housing to qualified students from low-income households. As the UNO area builds out and the affordability periods of many of the earlier SMART units are set to expire, it’s important that we explore all options for creating or preserving affordable housing to provide access to students from low-income households. With that in mind, I’d like to offer up the following amendment that directs our staff to include the areas of west campus that are eligible under state law in any updated ordinances.

http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 145051.pdf

All the best,
Ryan

[Melissa Beeler]

On Behalf of CM Qadri:

Thank you, Council Member Alter, for bringing forward this amendment to consider the West Campus area for this opportunity. You may recall students are a protected class in the City of Austin. Throughout my time in office, I've heard students' demand for more affordable housing units at deeper affordability levels in West Campus. Troublingly, the City's 2023 Student Housing report and UNO case study reported that the affordability periods on the earliest developments are expiring. We were expected to lose 173 units of affordable housing by the end of 2023. The urgency of this issue cannot be overstated. We need tools to help ensure students and other low-income Austinites have a variety of affordable options in West Campus, within walking distance of future Project Connect light rail.

I'm hoping the determination of West Campus' eligibility under state law can occur as soon as possible.

Best
Zo

[Jose Velasquez]

Colleagues,

I am grateful to Council Member Alter for his amendment and have incorporated the requested changes in a version 2 for this item.

http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 193813.pdf

a sus ordenes,

CMJV