Velocity is planned as a mixed-use development of up to 7 million square feet at State Highway 71 and FM 973, east of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. It is one of a handful of Travis County projects currently underway as a Public Improvement District. KIMLEY-HORN

Austin Business Journal shares, "after a four-year hiatus, Travis County is reintroducing a tool designed to support large-scale developments.

The Travis County Commissioners Court on Jan. 30 lifted a moratorium on public improvement districts, or PIDs, after nearly a year of review.

That means developers can begin submitting applications for new PID agreements Feb. 1.

PIDs enable counties and cities to levy additional taxes on sites to pay for specific project-related improvements. They're used in counties across Texas to help cover some costs to developers, such as road construction, water and wastewater systems and landscaping, when they build master-planned communities and other big projects.

Before unanimously voting to lift their PID moratorium, Travis County commissioners added a provision that at least 10% of housing developed under them must remain affordable for the life of the agreement.

The change is intended to address the issue of high housing costs in Austin that force people to live farther outside of the city.

The moratorium was initially implemented near the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the county paused nonessential construction. It was kept in place because of uncertainty regarding the housing and bond markets amid the pandemic, and later because county officials opted to revise the program.

Travis County projects that were approved for PIDs before the moratorium include Velocity, an urban development by Presidium Group LLC that is planned along State Highway 71 just east of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. A housing-focused development called Wildhorse Ranch just outside of Manor — also on the east side — by Dwyer Realty Cos.is another example of a project leveraging a PID."

 

Source: Austin Business Journal

Written by: Mike Christen

Published: January 30, 2024

Posted by Grossman & Jones Group on

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