Dear Colleagues,

In preparation for our July Board meeting, I wanted to seek your feedback on the next phase of our “strategic reset” discussion. As a reminder, it is our current expectation that we need to be ready to make proposals to the Court at our August joint meeting.

At our June Board meeting, there was interest in creating more detailed proposals (1) focusing on social housing financing and (2) advancing a targeted program addressing a sub-population that is adjacent to the County’s criminal justice responsibilities (e.g. individuals exiting the criminal justice system).

In the coming month, I am confident we can get to a fairly detailed social housing proposal for the Court’s consideration. There are a variety of existing and emerging models in the U.S., and some are a good fit given our Chapter 394 powers and legacy housing finance operations. In addition to being a fit for our existing capabilities, the economics are closer to self-sustaining and more capable of rapid scale than many of the traditional below-market-rate, subsidy-centered approaches (e.g. our LIHTC portfolio). This may be appealing to the Court given its many funding obligations. An additional benefit is that it can address the permanent housing affordability vision laid out in our Rosemont Investment Plan resolution, as well as other policy statements from SHFC.

As for our “subpop” proposal, I’ve hit a bit of a wall.

There isn’t an “off the shelf” report or granular data relevant to Travis County that can help us formulate this idea in a data-driven way. One option might be to offer to split the cost with the County to conduct a study and actually develop an “off the shelf” plan that is based on a rigorous assessment of needs and gaps. An even broader option would be to offer to partner with the County to develop a version of the City’s “Strategic Housing Blueprint” to formulate countywide affordable housing policy including the lane for each of the affordable housing vehicles it influences, Countywide unit targets, and the “off the shelf” plan for sub-populations that are of special interest to the Court.

Please let me know if you have feedback on how to proceed. Otherwise, I will keep working with staff to prepare drafts of a social housing proposal and a sub-populations study proposal. Both will be for your review. We will not be taking action or adopting a direction at our July meeting.

JGA

20 days later

I've reviewed some of the available data on subpopulations experiencing homelessness in our community as posted by ECHO https://www.austinecho.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/TX-503_Needs-and-Gaps_2022.pdf, and also available on Austintexas.gov https://austininnovation.wixsite.com/solveforhomelessness/current-state-of-the-system. But as noted by my colleague, Mr. Altamirano above, detailed data does not seem to be readily available. There does seem to be agreement by both public and nonprofit entities that are mission driven to house those experiencing homelessness that unaccompanied youth (including those exiting foster care) as well as folks exiting the criminal justice system experience enormous challenges finding affordable housing in Travis County.

I am also tracking exciting possibilities in the area of Social Housing initiatives such as those discussed at our June SHFC meeting. There is a new property containing 268 units which just began leasing up in Montgomery County MD on June 8, that was developed using this model. Financing was provided by a fund created by Montgomery County MD and the Housing Opportunities Commission (HOCMC). It is receiving nationwide attention for innovations in offering affordable housing to mixed income groups while utilizing exceptional design, an enriched community experience, and generating revenue for long term financial sustainability.

I look forward to discussing with all of you some new possibilities for SHFC; ones where we can have a significant impact on the dire need for much more quality affordable housing in our community, and where we can help develop long term thriving communities for residents of Travis County, not just temporary solutions to our current housing crisis.

5 days later

I am in favor of JGA's Housing Production Fund proposal and agree that we should present it to the Commissioners in August. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend our July meeting. I look forward to working with you all to further develop the proposal at our August meeting.