Encouraging New Mixed-Use Development Without Sacrificing Affordable Housing

"The development firm Ardent Residential wants to tear down the 30-year-old Stoneridge apartment complex on South Lamar Boulevard and replace it with 300 apartments and 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail -- exactly the kind of dense, mixed-use project that city leaders love. The rub is that the 141 existing apartments rent for about $400 to $660 a month - affordable by Austin standards -- and Ardent's apartments would rent for $930 and up."

"The project is what city leaders wanted when they passed a set of incentives recently to encourage mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly projects on Austin's major roads, Council Member Brewster McCracken said. The city can now allow more density and more housing units in mixed-use projects if the developer makes 10 percent of the units affordable for families that earn $56,900 or less."

"Housing advocate Heather Way said she likes the idea of denser development on South Lamar, 'but only if low-income families can benefit from it and only if it doesn't displace low-income families.'"

"The Austin Neighborhoods Council wants the city to enact a policy to require developers to replace affordable units if they tear some down."