Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Consultants and staff present comprehensive analysis of Austin’s density‑bonus programs
Summary
A consultant team presented findings from a yearlong review of Austin’s 15 density-bonus and related affordable-housing programs, recommending greater calibration by market area, consolidation of overlapping programs, more frequent updates of in-lieu fees and clearer, consistent calculation denominators.
Consultants and City of Austin staff reviewed the performance and structure of the city’s density-bonus and affordable-housing incentive programs and presented options to recalibrate and simplify during the Housing and Planning Committee meeting Feb. 6.
Darren Smith, a principal with Economic & Planning Systems (EPS), said his firm and Clarion Associates were hired to inventory programs, assess performance, interview stakeholders and recommend refinements. “The intention of the work initially was to look at ways to enhance utilization of these programs,” Smith said, noting Austin currently administers about 15 programs with differing goals, geographies and calculations.
EPS highlighted wide variation across programs: income targets differ (for example, many rental incentives target 50–60% of area median income while some downtown programs use 80%),…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
