Austin Housing Finance Corporation board approves Sunset Ridge nonprofit formation and policy change on consent; public speaker raises affordability and opacity

The Austin Housing Finance Corporation board on July 24 approved four consent items that authorize the formation of an AHFC-affiliated nonprofit to develop the Sunset Ridge housing project and a policy change that would list nonprofit board members by title rather than by name.

Mandy DeMaio, Austin Housing Finance Corporation staff, told the board the items authorize AHFC to proceed with formation of “AHFC Sunset Ridge Non profit Corporation,” approve AHFC ownership in the Sunset Ridge development — an approximately 444-unit property in District 8 on Southwest Parkway — allow AHFC to act as the general contractor and approve a new policy under which nonprofit boards would be identified by title rather than by individual names. The board adopted the package as a consent agenda, moved by Board Member Ellis and seconded by the Mayor Pro Tem, and the board chair said the agenda was adopted “without objection.”

The items were presented as complying with newly passed state legislation, HB 21. DeMaio said HB 21 bars use of out-of-jurisdiction housing finance corporations and requires a public demonstration that at least 50% of a sought tax abatement’s benefit be directed toward rent reductions. “In this case … the proposed development is estimated by the third party that the proposed development will achieve much more than that, 72% of the rent reduction will go toward rent relief for our low income tenants,” DeMaio said. She also reminded the board that AHFC previously authorized an $8,850,000 loan for the development in February 2024.

During discussion, Member Alter asked whether the HB 21 compliance question related to bedroom mix; DeMaio replied by outlining HB 21’s two main effects: prohibiting traveling housing finance corporations and requiring documentation of public benefit, including the 50% tax-abatement-to-rent-reduction threshold and the third-party estimate that this project would deliver roughly 72% rent relief.

A member of the public, Zenobia Joseph, spoke in opposition to the items. Joseph raised concerns about affordability levels cited for the project, saying 120% area median income (AMI) levels referenced by staff were out of touch with local incomes and that local African American and Hispanic median earnings were lower. She asked staff to clarify whether statements such as “80% or 120% area median income” meant tenants must earn those amounts or whether the income ceilings are “up to” those amounts. Joseph also criticized what she described as a lack of online transparency about nonprofit formation and meetings and said the policy change to identify board members by title would reduce public visibility into who is serving on those nonprofit boards. She invoked federal fair-housing protections in criticizing the project’s likely distribution of benefits across neighborhoods and cited transit and service differences in Southwest Austin as part of her concerns.

The board did not take separate recorded roll-call votes on the four items; the presiding officer confirmed the consent agenda was adopted without objection at 1:14 p.m. The staff presentation and motion indicate next steps include preparing required legal documents, a ground lease and formation paperwork for the AHFC Sunset Ridge nonprofit and implementing the new policy for naming nonprofit boards by title.

The meeting packet included backup materials and the HB 21 compliance documents; the AHFC presentation staff noted the requirement that at least half of tax-abatement benefit be directed to rental reductions and referenced a third-party estimate that the Sunset Ridge proposal would achieve substantially more than that minimum.