City Council: On South Lamar, Who Can We Trust? With new zoning, housing project developer commits to some income-restricted units – News

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Gourdough’s Public House is one of several residents of 2700 S. Lamar (Photo by John Anderson)

Last week, the city council gave its first approval of a zoning request at 2700 S. Lamar for a plan that will bring about 450 new housing units into the corridor, according to the developer. The case affects seven stretches of land near the three-way intersection of Lamar, Barton Skyway and Menchaca that are currently designated for commercial and retail uses (current residents are a 7-Eleven, Dirty Dog Self-Service Dog Wash and the Gourdough’s Public House Trailer and food court). Five of the wings contain a zoning overlay for vertical mixed use, one of Austin’s density loyalty programs designed to encourage developers to include low-income housing units in their projects.

This VMU overlay limits the height of the buildings in these areas to 18 meters, which according to Armbrust & Brown attorney Michael Whellan, who is acting as the applicant for the zoning case, would reduce the amount of housing that could be built on the site. Instead, the developer is requesting that all seven wings be rededicated as MF-6, the most intense multi-family zoning category that has a height limit of 90 feet and (unlike VMU) does not require the ground floor to be dedicated to retail. These inquiries have drawn opposition from the Zilker Neighborhood Association, who say they carefully prepared the current zone map for this section of the corridor.

With the number of units enabled by the MF-6, the developer is committed to making approximately 46 units affordable for households, which is 60% of the median family income of Austin (that’s $ 58,550 for a family of four). This is in line with the MIP requirement that 10% of on-site units at 60% or 80% of MFIs must be affordable (neighborhoods can choose when they sign up; Zilker chose 60%). A big sticking point for ZNA – and for Councilor Ann Kitchen, who represents that part of South Austin – is how the city would ensure affordable housing is provided as promised.

“The crisis we are having right now is related to housing, not retail. Our project would help in this crisis. ” – Crossbow & Brown attorney Michael Whellan

State law prohibits the council from requiring developers to include affordable housing (known as inclusion zones, which is legal and customary in other states). This has led to the city’s various incentive programs offering density premiums, subsidies, and fee waivers to make limited-income living economically viable in the private real estate market. If a developer agrees to participate, the Housing and Planning Office enforces the affordability regulations – how many units, at what income level and for how long.

In a case like 2700 S. Lamar, where a property developer is proposing to provide affordable housing with no bonus or subsidy, “the city of Austin does not monitor or enforce affordability,” a city spokesman told us in a statement. Instead, developers enter into legal agreements with third parties known as restrictive agreements to create a mechanism by which they can be held accountable for years to come, even if the properties change hands. On South Lamar, Whellan says, the various property owners have already signed such restrictive agreements with HomeBase, a subsidiary of Austin Habitat for Humanity.

Kitchen said she supported the project but was concerned about the loss of city oversight. “VMU is one of the city’s most successful affordable housing programs,” she wrote in a statement. “The council is asked to lose the VMU zoning for this property without guaranteeing any other way of securing affordable housing on the property.” In the past, the city itself has often been involved in such restrictive agreements, but the city’s legal department has put an end to this practice.

Under the arrangements proposed at 2700 S. Lamar, owners would pay HomeBase a fee to conduct annual audits to ensure that the tenants renting the affordable units meet income restrictions. The agreement also includes provisions that the city’s bonus and incentive programs do not include, such as: For example, a HomeBase marketing plan aimed at community households who may not be aware of this affordable rental option.

In certain previous cases, the city itself commissioned a third party to check compliance with affordability; Kitchen itself recently voted to re-zoning at 7113 Burnet Rd. (Approved on the Council’s Approval Agenda of July 29), which included a similar restrictive agreement with HomeBase. “Habitat for Humanity has a 46-year track record in trusted service in Austin,” said Whellan. “The crisis we are having right now is related to housing, not retail. Our project would help with this crisis.”

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