Officials execute agreement for affordable housing development in Round Rock ETJ

By unanimous vote, city officials authorized Round Rock Mayor Craig Morgan at a July 14 meeting to execute a development agreement with property owner LSBD Inc. regarding a future affordable housing option near SH 130.

The 9.37-acre property is located in the Round Rock extraterritorial jurisdiction, or ETJ, and is adjacent SH 130 frontage, according to city documents. Under the agreement, the property will be developed to city standards and zoning code for multifamily-2, or MF-2, designation. This designation allows for 20 three-story garden apartments per acre, meaning that the development could bring between 200 and 300 units of affordable housing, Planning and Development Department Director Brad Wiseman said.

"They will have to provide architectural elevations and site plans to us so we can review and make sure that it complies with the MF-2 standards," Wiseman said.

While the agreement does not include a specific definition of "affordable," developers seeking such designations are often referred to federal and state requirements, such as income restrictions, Wiseman said. The most common of these, he said, is at or below 60% of the area median income.

Wiseman also said the letter of no objection is required for the developer to seek low-income housing tax credits from the state of Texas, and that the Williamson County Commissioners Court had already approved a similar agreement. City staff asked the developer to seek county approval before granting its own approval. In addition to outlining MF-2 code standards, the city's agreement also stipulates that the developer will not seek any property tax exemptions or abatements. The agreement does not include any economic development incentives. Had the property been contiguous to existing city limits, city staff would have recommended a voluntary annexation.

Council also approved an out-of-city wastewater agreement for the development that will help the city bring its wastewater line closer to crossing SH 130, Utilities Department Director Michael Thane said.

"We're getting lots of interest for all these properties to develop today," Thane said. "So allowing them to tie into the wastewater system will extend that."