Cara Mendelsohn
The Austin City Council took a bold leap last week, agreeing to allow builders to develop up to three housing units on almost any lot in the city where single-family homes are allowed, thereby reducing the minimum lot size necessary for dwellings. Dallas housing advocates, elected officials, and Not In My Backyard homeowners were watching, and…
Dallas City Council members last month reviewed a pair of development programs used to spur affordable mixed-income housing throughout the city in the hopes that City Council will authorize changes to make the initiatives more developer-friendly. The programs are complicated and the funds are restricted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines.…
Housing-related state legislative priorities for the 2025 session include protecting rental subsidies from landlord discrimination, tenant protection from “junk fees,” and funding for emergency homeless shelters. Director of Government Affairs Carrie Rogers reviewed state and federal legislative priorities during a Nov. 14 meeting of the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee. Rogers pointed out…
The Dallas Office of Homeless Solutions proposed a pilot program in September that would house the homeless in partnership with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, costing the city about $3 million. A location for the housing development in City Council District 6, selected by the AHF, is already operational. City staff recommended partnering on the existing…
City officials have again promised a “deep dive” into plans for repurposing 50,000 acres of city-owned real estate, but they don’t have a strategic vision, and three different panels are evaluating the assets. Those three panels — the Trust for Public Land, the Ad Hoc Committee on Pensions, and the Dallas Economic Development Corporation —…
