News Stories

KVUE: What were the benefits of Austin's 2013 affordable housing bond?

As Austin voters head to the polls this week and next, they'll decide whether to approve $925 million worth of bonds. One of those bonds is for affordable housing.

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CBS Austin: Austin's 'Prop A' How past housing bond money was used

During early voting and on November 6, Austin taxpayers are casting ballots on a historic $250 million affordable housing bond. The proposition, known as 'Prop A', is more than twice the amount approved in the last two affordable housing propositions in 2006 and 2013 combined.

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Statesman: Why local housing groups need Proposition A

Richard Overton relaxes at his home after it was renovated in 2017. [RALPH BARRERA / AMERICAN-STATESMAN]
Richard Overton relaxes at his home after it was renovated in 2017. [RALPH BARRERA / AMERICAN-STATESMAN]

This election season, there is a lot at stake — including the future of housing affordability in Austin. Austin is in a housing crisis. We’ve reached a point where 37 percent of residents spend almost half of their income on housing. We’ve become one of the most economically segregated cities in America. We are on the brink of the proverbial tipping point.

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Statesman: Prop A is key piece to Austin’s affordability puzzle

Wildflower Terrace is a mixed-income apartment property for seniors built partly with affordable housing money included in a 2006 bond package. [Josh Rasmussen/American-Statesman]
Wildflower Terrace is a mixed-income apartment property for seniors built partly with affordable housing money included in a 2006 bond package. [Josh Rasmussen/American-Statesman]

Austin’s prosperity has come at a steep price for longtime residents and working families who are financially squeezed — or pushed out altogether — by rising housing costs.

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Chronicle Endorsements: City Propositions

Chronicle Endorsements: City Propositions

We wholeheartedly support the city's $250 million affordable housing bond. The largest bond of its kind in city history tops ballot propositions for a reason: Austin needs more affordable housing – approximately $4 billion worth of it – for both low-income families fighting displacement, and middle-class households working to keep their heads above water.

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FOX7: Discussing $1 billion bond proposal

Austin voters have a lot of consider this election season and one of the biggest items is the nearly $1 billion bond proposal. Proposition A, which was just recently approved by Austin City Council, is split across seven different categories with the largest bond on the ballot dedicated to affordable housing.

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Statesman: Voters to ponder a big-ticket item in form of affordable housing bond

Lorenzo Rivera stood outside his house on a recent morning as the mosquitoes nipped at him and workers gathered to fix his home’s ailing foundation.

Without the repairs, Rivera’s house would have started to slide down the sloped lot on Melridge Place in the Zilker neighborhood, where he has lived for nearly 50 years. But the faulty foundation is only one of myriad problems with his home. The roof on the northern end of the house leaks, leading to extensive water damage near his bedroom. Pushing down the carpet there reveals a gap in the floor about 2 inches wide.

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Spectrum News: 'Keep Austin Affordable' holds rally for affordable housing bond

The coalition of “Keep Austin Affordable” is rallying support for a historic affordable housing bond set to be voted on this November. The coalition of nonprofits and businesses held a community conversation about Austin's affordability crisis. Part of their solution is a $250 million bond, the largest of its kind in Austin's history. It is only a part of a $925 million bond City Council is proposing for different developments around the city.

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KVUE ABC: Non-profits rally for city's $250 million affordable housing bond

If approved by voters in November, the $250 million bond for affordable housing would set the record as the largest affordable housing bond in the city's history.

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Austin Chronicle: As Long As There's a Plan

Photo The Bluebonnet Studios on South Lamar
The Bluebonnet Studios on South Lamar. Foundation Communities built the low-income housing project, with funds from the 2013 housing bond. Each unit is available at or under 50% MFI. (Photo by Jana Birchum)

Behind the abandoned Home Depot at I-35 and St. Johns sits a small "pocket park" – two picnic tables and a few small shade trees in a grassy field. The city has owned the lot, as well as the abandoned building and a neighboring property, since 2008, when it was purchased with the intent to build a new courthouse on the site. Today, it's one of several properties being eyed by residents and City Council members for possible affordable housing.

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