02. Staff Briefing on DDBP Affordable Housing — original pdf

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Downtown Density Bonus Program (DDBP) Affordable Housing Implementation Design Commission Briefing, August 26, 2024 Rachel Tepper, Brendan Kennedy and James May Content Program History and Requirements Program Outcomes Density Bonus Funds at Work Discussion Program History and Requirements 3 Downtown Density Bonus Program History 2013: Downtown Density Bonus Ordinance 20130627-105 passes replacing CURE (Central Urban Redevelopment). 2014: Downtown Density Bonus program is updated with a new ordinance 2014022-054 that provides additional definitions and sets up current Rainey Street subdistrict requirements 2021 and 2022 Recalibration: Added commercial fees, increased residential Fee Recalibration 2014 Fee ($/SF Bonus Area) 2021 Interim Fees ($/SF Bonus Area) 2022 Proposed Fee ($/SF Bonus Area) Residential - CBD zoned properties $10 or $5 Residential - all other $5 or $3 Residential - Rainey Street district Commercial - CBD zoned Commercial - all other $5 $0 $0 $12 $10 $5 $18 $12 $12 $10 $5 $9 $6 5 2024-2025 DDBP Fee-in-Lieu 6 Affordability Requirements  50% of bonus area must be achieved thru affordable housing benefits which can be done through a fee-in-lieu or on-site affordable units  Rainey Street Subdistrict is only subdistrict that requires on-site affordable units calculated as 5% of the square footage of dwelling units developed within the FAR ratio of 8:1 and made affordable at 80% MFI or below On-site Affordability Terms Ownership: 120% MFI or below for 99 years *Rainey Street Subdistrict is an exception with an 80% MFI limit Rental: 80% MFI or below for 40 years Program Outcomes To Date 8 Program Outcomes Project Status As of 08/14/2024 DDB Program Rainey Street Subdistrict Certified Site Plan Under Review Under Construction Project Completed 2 4 7 6 1 0 4 7 These totals are only inclusive of projects that included an affordability community benefit contribution and were tracked through the Affordable Housing Inventory. These totals do not include non-residential projects that did not pay a fee in-lieu of Affordable Housing but may have utilized the Downtown Density Bonus Program. These totals also do not include cancelled projects. Certified Projects** by year Overall DDB Program Rainey Street Subdistrict 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Total 0 0 1 2 0 1 1 2 2 1 1 6 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 4 1 0 0 **Projects certified by Housing Dept. Does not reflect Design Commission approval 19 12 Development Pipeline Certified/Site Plan Under Review/Building Permit Issued Projects Downtown Density Bonus Program Rainey Street Subdistrict Estimated Total Rental Units Estimated Affordable Rental Units Estimated Total Ownership Units Estimated Affordable Ownership Units Estimated Total Fee-in- lieu Pending 2,964 1,389 610 215 10 69 646 26 $26,533,356 $5,305,640 Certified fees are estimated pending final as-built dimensions Fees are paid at completion of construction Average time from certification to payment: 4.07 years 11 Certified fees are estimated pending final as-built dimensions Fees are paid at completion of construction Average time from certification to payment: 4.07 years 12 Downtown Density Bonus Funds at work: Seabrook Square II On February 29, 2024, the board of the Austin Housing Finance Corp. (AHFC) approved a $7.9 million loan for Seabrook Square II. This loan included $5.18 million in DDBP funds. Seabrook Square II is a planned 60-unit permanent supportive housing development located at 2210 Pershing Drive. AHFC will own the land, entering into a long- term ground lease with partners including Integral Care. Seabrook Square The 60-unit PSH Seabrook Square II will be the second phase of a larger mixed-income community known as Seabrook Square. The overall Seabrook Square community will deliver 264 affordable units at 60% MFI, 50% MFI and 30% MFI. The community will include a large public plaza, a private courtyard for PSH residents, live/work units and non-residential space including a community artist incubator. The property is owned by AHFC and was developed following a public engagement and RFP process. Both phases broke ground in 2024. 14 Downtown Density Bonus Funds at work: Other Services Funded Part 5. from 2013 Downtown Density Bonus Ordinance states: "Monies generated by the fee in Section 25-2- 586(E)(l)(a)(ii) shall be prioritized for permanent supportive housing for low barrier approaches for the chronic homeless.” In total $480,333 from the Downtown Density Bonus fund was spent on two contracts with ECHO for programs that offered a housing subsidy to individuals experiencing homelessness. An additional $156,000 was spent for CoC consulting. All individuals receiving a subsidy under the pilot were transitioned to a more permanent housing subsidy before the pilot ended. Downtown Density Bonus Fund Service Expenditures Contract- Permanent Supportive Housing Pilot Program Low Barrier Housing Voucher Program $234,822 $245,511 ECHO Continuum of Care Consulting $156,000