Some suburban Austin cities are seeking workforce housing options to retain employees

Hoping to attract and retain workers as the cost of living and housing prices rise, some suburban Austin cities are pursuing ways to help employees live closer to where they work.

Many people who work in Lakeway, Bee Cave and Georgetown cannot afford to live in those suburbs and commute to their jobs. Workforce housing projects are underway in those cities to provide employees with reduced rents at apartments to ease the financial burden of living closer to work.

The problem isn't just an issue for city councils. In 2022, Pflugerville school district voters approved almost $44 million in bond funding for affordable housing for teachers, while the Round Rock school district this year will begin offering reduced rents for teachers and staff at four apartment complexes.

Jake Wegmann, a University of Texas associate professor of community and regional planning, said suburban cities have a full range of people in different stages of life who need housing that can accommodate those who cannot afford an expensive house.

He said workforce housing also benefits employers as it makes it easier to hire people who know they won't have to commute. Additionally, he said, workforce housing can be great for developers from a return-on-investment standpoint.

Workforce housing "should be anywhere where there's any kind of concentration of population," he said. "In my view, there is no good reason for any city, large or small, to completely zone out multifamily housing."

Incentives for developers in Bee Cave

In Bee Cave, the City Council updated its zoning code at the beginning of the year to include a bonus incentive for developers to provide workforce housing. City Manager Clint Garza said the incentive helps developers make up for the money they would lose by providing reduced rents.

The incentive is given to developers in the western Travis County city who have 51% of their units available to people who make 80% or less of the area median income, which is $100,179, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Garza said that can increase low-income units per project by at least five.

“I think it’s important that we provide (workforce housing) here in town," Garza said, "because when you go out west, there’s nothing affordable at all out there.”

Bee Cave still does not have any workforce housing projects since it began looking for options in 2019, but Garza said there are several plots of land where such a project could be built.

The city owns property southwest of the Hill Country Indoor fitness center, Garza said, and it has received proposals to build workforce housing there. He said the city is looking for the highest bid with the best quality.

Garza said the city is also talking to Travis County to make the land at 4001 RM 620, where Texas Disposal System is located, into a workforce housing project. Garza said the city likes the location because it connects to the Hill Country Galleria. He said he expects the county will approve the change but there might be some wait as the county looks to find a new home for the waste disposal location.

Garza said the other opportunity for workforce housing is to rezone the Hill Country Galleria to be able to have up to 2,500 residential units there, similar to the Domain in North Austin. Garza said if that is approved, Bee Cave would ask the Galleria to set aside 250 units for workforce housing.

For Garza, workforce housing is a perfect opportunity to help businesses hire employees by keeping them close to where they work. He said workforce housing also would help decrease traffic congestion, with fewer people driving into the city.

“I won’t be able to get as much (workforce housing) as we need, but I do think we’ll be able to make an impact,” Garza said.

'No magic bullet' in Lakeway

Lakeway City Manager Joseph Molis said the city along Lake Travis has one project underway that would have 5%-10% of apartment units reserved for workforce housing. The city could not provide more information about the project, saying it was in its very early stages.

Molis said most of the city government's workforce are commuters. Lakeway has 116 employees, of whom only 17 live in the city. Most of the others travel from Austin, he said. The city's median income is $132,899.

Molis also said that workforce housing would help retain employees and decrease traffic, but he added that there are still issues the city would need to address, such as its water and wastewater capacity.

The city's comprehensive plan outlines the need to increase affordable housing along Texas 71 to support workers who are not able to afford the city's available housing.

"It is a multifaceted problem," Molis said. "There's not one solution for it. No magic bullet."

More: Pflugerville school district to provide more affordable housing for teachers, staff

Project planned in Round Rock ETJ

Bradley Dushkin, Round Rock's assistant director of planning and development, said that, while there are no workforce housing projects within its city limits, a privately developed project is underway in the northeastern part of the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction. He said the project will offer reduced rents to people earning 30% to 60% of the area median income of $86,587.

Dushkin said the project is expected to begin construction at the end of the summer. It will have 252 total units, with 15% available to people making 30% of the area median income and the remaining 85% available to people making 60% of the area median income.

Dushkin said that for people making 30% of the median income, rent would be approximately $657 for a one-bedroom, one-bath apartment. According to rental marketplace platform Zumper, the median monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Round Rock is $1,450, a 3% increase from the previous year.

More: RRISD employees to have affordable workforce housing beginning in August

Workforce housing to open soon in Georgetown

The city of Georgetown will soon have its own workforce housing program set to open this summer with three developments participating: Vida Apartments, Arco and Pilare in Saddlecreek. There will be a combined total of 48 units reserved for workers making 80% of the area median income, said Sofia Nelson, the city's planning director.

The average rent for an apartment in Georgetown in northern Williamson County is $1,480. The median income is $80,416, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Georgetown also has a total of 1,981 income-restricted units through a low-income housing tax credit program, including 250 units the City Council approved in May. These units are available to residents who make 60% of the area median income.

Of the 845 city employees, only 29% live within Georgetown city limits, officials said.

According to the city's comprehensive plan, “the housing goals are to ensure access to diverse housing options and preserve existing neighborhoods, for residents of all ages, backgrounds and income levels."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: As cost of living rises in Austin, some seek workforce housing options