HUD’s new Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities
Showing posts with label Affordable housing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Affordable housing. Show all posts
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
New Report Links Homeowners’ Auto Dependence With Foreclosure Risk
DCStreetsBlog.org
Elana Schor // January 28, 2010
Homeowners in car-dependent areas without access to alternative transportation are at greater risk of foreclosure, according to a report released yesterday by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) that calls for mortgage underwriting standards to begin taking so-called "location-efficiency" into account.
MORE
Elana Schor // January 28, 2010
Homeowners in car-dependent areas without access to alternative transportation are at greater risk of foreclosure, according to a report released yesterday by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) that calls for mortgage underwriting standards to begin taking so-called "location-efficiency" into account.
MORE
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Supportive housing development for homeless opens downtown
Dallas Morning News
Rudolph Bush // December 28, 2009
Rudolph Bush // December 28, 2009
The city's first mixed-use 
permanent supportive housing development with units set aside for the homeless is set to begin taking in residents.
The Citywalk development at 511 N. Akard will provide 206 residences, 50 of which will be set aside for formerly homeless people.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Irving exemplifies the troubles faced by inner-ring suburbs
Dallas Morning News
Brandon Formby // December 27, 2009
In many ways, Irving is the poster child for the issues typical to inner-ring suburbs over the past decade. Its growing pains come not from population booms, but from shifting demographics and attempts at reinvention.
Irving has served as the backdrop for the national debate on illegal immigration. And it has decided the balance of political power in the Texas House. The Dallas Cowboys are gone, a convention center's going up and a light-rail line is being laid.
"In the last decade, we've actually become a world-class city," said longtime City Council member Lewis Patrick.
Representation
Hispanics remain the largest racial or ethnic group in the city. Their ranks between 2000 and 2008 grew at five times the rate of the city's overall population. Still, Hispanics often criticize the all-white City Council for not representing their needs or dealing with claims that police racially profile residents.
MORE
Brandon Formby // December 27, 2009
In many ways, Irving is the poster child for the issues typical to inner-ring suburbs over the past decade. Its growing pains come not from population booms, but from shifting demographics and attempts at reinvention.
Irving has served as the backdrop for the national debate on illegal immigration. And it has decided the balance of political power in the Texas House. The Dallas Cowboys are gone, a convention center's going up and a light-rail line is being laid.
"In the last decade, we've actually become a world-class city," said longtime City Council member Lewis Patrick.
Representation
Hispanics remain the largest racial or ethnic group in the city. Their ranks between 2000 and 2008 grew at five times the rate of the city's overall population. Still, Hispanics often criticize the all-white City Council for not representing their needs or dealing with claims that police racially profile residents.
MORE
Sunday, November 1, 2009
DFW APARTMENT DEMAND UP; OCCUPANCY, RENTS DOWN
From: Dallas Urban Core
October 9, 2009
North Texas apartment occupancy fell in the third quarter, as did its average rent when compared with October 2008 figures, according to Carrollton-based MPF Research Inc.
The apartment analyst firm reported a 4.1 percent decrease in Dallas’ average apartment rent to $772 between third quarter 2008 and 2009. Fort Worth experienced a 2.1 percent fall to $686 during the same period.
North Texas apartment occupancy came to 89.9 percent at the end of September, down from over 93 percent a year ago.
However, Dallas–Fort Worth net leasing during the third quarter increased for the first time in a year by 2,770 units.
With an estimated 17,576 apartments under construction at the end of September, about 8,500 apartments are set to open by the close of 2009.
Elsewhere, Austin’s average rent fell 6.8 percent to $829, Houston rents fell 2 percent to $783 and San Antonio rents fell 0.7 percent to $725.
October 9, 2009
North Texas apartment occupancy fell in the third quarter, as did its average rent when compared with October 2008 figures, according to Carrollton-based MPF Research Inc.
The apartment analyst firm reported a 4.1 percent decrease in Dallas’ average apartment rent to $772 between third quarter 2008 and 2009. Fort Worth experienced a 2.1 percent fall to $686 during the same period.
North Texas apartment occupancy came to 89.9 percent at the end of September, down from over 93 percent a year ago.
However, Dallas–Fort Worth net leasing during the third quarter increased for the first time in a year by 2,770 units.
With an estimated 17,576 apartments under construction at the end of September, about 8,500 apartments are set to open by the close of 2009.
Elsewhere, Austin’s average rent fell 6.8 percent to $829, Houston rents fell 2 percent to $783 and San Antonio rents fell 0.7 percent to $725.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Keeping Austin Affordable
Affordable Housing Finance, June 2009
By: Donna Kimura
AUSTIN, TEXAS—A popular bumper sticker here reads “Keep Austin Weird.”
Part of that is making sure the city remains a place for all types of people to live and work, says Mayor Will Wynn.
“Austin has changed in the past 10 years from being one of the more affordable cities in the country to being one of the less affordable,” he says. “The city balances attracting businesses and people to the city with the character and diversity that keeps Austin unique. As housing becomes increasingly unaffordable, we need to continue to rise to the challenge to provide a variety of housing options for all citizens.”
The 2008 median sales price for a home in the Texas capital was $240,000, an 85 percent jump from the 1998 median price, according to a market study commissioned by the city. The rental side also has its challenges, with only one in six renters earning less than $20,000 able to find affordable housing in Austin, the 16th-largest city in the nation and the country’s second-fastest growing metro between 2007 and 2008.
Wynn cites several moves to help address the housing needs. In 2006, voters approved a $55 million general obligation bond for affordable housing—$33 million for rental and $22 million for homeownership for seven years. About $10 million in bond funds were allocated to 11 projects in fiscal 2007-2008.
Austin also established its SMART (Safe, Mixed-Income, Accessible, Reasonably Priced, and Transit-Oriented) Housing initiative in 2000.
Redevelopment funding rejected for LTV Tower
Redevelopment funding rejected for LTV Tower at 1600 Pacific
Jun 09, 2009 Rudolph Bush/Reporter
A plan to restore the LTV Tower at 1600 Pacific Avenue into a a 590-unit residential building got the thumbs down Monday from the city's Downtown Connection TIF Board.
Craig MacKenzie and Curtis Lockey, who hoped to redevelop the property with 236 affordable units, are none too happy about the decision.
In a presentation before the TIF board Monday, MacKenzie and Lockey requested some $46.3 million in TIF funds plus interest.
(A briefing prepared by the city's economic development staff set the subsidy figure at as much as $120 million in principal and interest, a number the developers called sensational.)
After the jump, read what MacKenzie told us in an e-mail this morning.
Craig MacKenzie: After brief deliberations, the Downtown Connection TIF Board of Directors voted yesterday "against" the proposed redevelopment of the 1964 vacant LTV Tower Building.Despite pouring over $140 Million in subsidies into redevelopment projects in the City's core during the last ten years, the TIF Board said "no" to the 590 planned residential units (including 236 Affordable Housing Units) planned for the project.
There are more than 2,400 residential units in Downtown Dallas today; none of these units serve the affordable housing market.For years, Dallas politicians have waxed lyrically over the trials and tribulations of trying to bring affordable housing to the City Center. Finally, two developers, Curtis Lockey and Craig MacKenzie, have a plan for an affordable housing project.........but the City Leaders at the TIF Board said "NO".In a city that aspires to build a $500 Million Convention Center Hotel, the Citys' leaders (apparently) could care less about the 1,000 employees who will work at such a facility and where they will live.........$500
Million for a Convention Center Hotel and $0 for Affordable Housing....Dallas wants to be a "world class" city????????"
Jun 09, 2009 Rudolph Bush/Reporter
A plan to restore the LTV Tower at 1600 Pacific Avenue into a a 590-unit residential building got the thumbs down Monday from the city's Downtown Connection TIF Board.
Craig MacKenzie and Curtis Lockey, who hoped to redevelop the property with 236 affordable units, are none too happy about the decision.
In a presentation before the TIF board Monday, MacKenzie and Lockey requested some $46.3 million in TIF funds plus interest.
(A briefing prepared by the city's economic development staff set the subsidy figure at as much as $120 million in principal and interest, a number the developers called sensational.)
After the jump, read what MacKenzie told us in an e-mail this morning.
Craig MacKenzie: After brief deliberations, the Downtown Connection TIF Board of Directors voted yesterday "against" the proposed redevelopment of the 1964 vacant LTV Tower Building.Despite pouring over $140 Million in subsidies into redevelopment projects in the City's core during the last ten years, the TIF Board said "no" to the 590 planned residential units (including 236 Affordable Housing Units) planned for the project.
There are more than 2,400 residential units in Downtown Dallas today; none of these units serve the affordable housing market.For years, Dallas politicians have waxed lyrically over the trials and tribulations of trying to bring affordable housing to the City Center. Finally, two developers, Curtis Lockey and Craig MacKenzie, have a plan for an affordable housing project.........but the City Leaders at the TIF Board said "NO".In a city that aspires to build a $500 Million Convention Center Hotel, the Citys' leaders (apparently) could care less about the 1,000 employees who will work at such a facility and where they will live.........$500
Million for a Convention Center Hotel and $0 for Affordable Housing....Dallas wants to be a "world class" city????????"
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