Plans to develop 25 affordable homes using the city’s under the community land trust program are in the works thanks to a recent Austin City Council vote.
Acting in its role as the board of directors of the Austin Housing Finance Corporation, the council signed off on the construction of 25 affordable homes on a 1.23-acre site at the corner of Doris and Hathaway Drives near Burnet Middle School.
The housing will be developed under the community land trust model that Austin uses for some ownership affordable housing. Under the program, the AHFC will retain ownership of the land that the homes are on, enabling them to be sold at affordable amounts to income-qualified residents, who also lease the land for lower monthly fees. Future sales of the homes must also be at affordable amounts to continue to make them available to lower- and middle-income residents.
City officials agreed to buy the land for future affordable housing in 2016 in a $2.88 million group property purchase from the Austin Independent School District. The AHFC-owned site to be developed, one of several totaling 100 acres of empty land, has been vacant for several years.
Construction on the new homes is expected to begin next year. Sales should start in 2026, according to the Housing Department.
