Vacant Southeast Austin land acquired by the city decades ago for a road widening project will be repurposed for new affordable housing.
The overview
The 0.09-acre property at 306 Saxon Lane in Montopolis has sat unused for years. The city originally bought the lot in 1980 for transportation purposes, but much of the land was never fully utilized after the adjacent Torres Street expansion was completed.
The Saxon Lane site is located in an existing neighborhood, and the city recently identified it as an affordable housing opportunity due to changes to Austin's zoning rules and land development code.
Council member José Velásquez, who represents District 3 including the Montopolis property, said changes like the Home Ownership for Middle-income Empowerment, or HOME, initiative helped make residential development there possible.
“Before we made changes to minimum lot size and parking minimums in 2024, this would have been another piece of land that was too small to do anything with. But now, because of the deliberate policy changes made by this council, my office has been able to work with the community, [Austin] Housing and [Austin Transportation and Public Works] to convey the land for the development of more affordable housing," he said. "This also illustrates the impact that new missing middle districts can have; they can create space to accommodate a duplex, a quadplex and potentially offering two or four more affordable homes where previously only one has been."
What's next
Through a resolution from Velásquez approved March 26, City Council approved the land's transfer to the Austin Housing Finance Corp. The city's strategic housing nonprofit will now facilitate the development of income-restricted housing there.
Council took a similar approach with another East Austin property in 2024. The city later turned that land over to the Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corp., a local affordable builder, for a project with at least two units for lower-income residents.
A construction timeline and the amount of new housing coming to Saxon Lane are still to be determined. The city will advance a development process there in the coming months, and could end up funding some of the eventual project.
"A nonprofit developer will be chosen through a solicitation process following conveyance to AHFC later this year," Austin Housing spokesperson Tamarind Phinisee said in an email. "The solicitation may also lay out the expected number of units to be developed and potential funding strategy. The developer may also choose to apply for funding through the Housing Developer Assistance program for the construction of the affordable units."
