The Austin Housing Finance Corp. board, made up of council members, signed off on the new housing assistance programs tied to a pair of supportive housing complexes located on the city's east side. The proposed facilities include Cairn Point at Cameron, a 150-unit development at 7205 Cameron Road, and The Roz Parkside, a 100- to 110-unit project at 3435 Parker Lane.
Cairn Point is a partnership between The Vecino Group and the AHFC, and would be managed by Caritas of Austin. Council also voted in support of the Cairon Point project's application for state housing tax credits Feb. 23.
The Roz will be an expansion of the existing City View Apartments located at Parker and Woodward Street that Austin acquired last year. City View is home to 70 affordable housing units.
Cairn Point is now in line to receive 100 vouchers, while The Roz will receive 60. The vouchers will be used to make up the difference between the rent residents can afford and the fair market rent as determined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to Austin's Housing and Planning Department.
While Austin regularly directs funding toward the creation of new housing, HPD spokesperson Kasi Jackson said the new action came as part of a city push to provide continuing operational support for those facilities.
"In recent years, it became clear that one of the missing pieces in our braided funding was ongoing operating dollars. Thus, AHFC created the Local Housing Voucher Program, which is funded through the Housing Trust Fund. This funding is dedicated to affordable housing developers creating permanent supportive housing for people experiencing chronic homelessness," Jackson said. "The Local Housing Voucher provides an operating subsidy for units that are dedicated to the Continuum of Care, which serves people experiencing homelessness who are identified through the Coordinated Entry System."
Following the updates approved this month, the city will have the option to extend its voucher contracts on a yearly basis going forward. And with $9.15 million now available for Austin's voucher program and more expected to accrue in the coming years, city officials said this will be able to subsidize between 375-425 supportive housing units at eight affordable projects in the future.
The February action comes months after Austin announced it will be receiving hundreds more vouchers for low-income tenants thanks to a federal partnership.
