Project Connect originally was to include several transit projects and miles of light rail, but it has been scaled back as cost estimates have risen.
Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman
Austin City Council approved changes to the city’s affordable housing incentives Thursday, created an advisory board for East Austin’s Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex and provided additional funding for SAFE Alliance as the nonprofit continues to navigate a financial crisis and the closure of its forensic-exam clinic.
The council also extended funding for a program that helps Asian American residents navigate health care. The meeting was unusually brief, with members taking unanimous action on the major items.
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As part of Project Connect, improvements will be made to the existing Red Line, which runs between Leander and downtown Austin. The Kramer Station in the 2400 block of Kramer Lane will be removed as the most significant change. The line will be extended by two stations. Uptown ATX, a 66-acre development in North Austin, will house Broadmoor Station. The second new station, McKalla Station, will be located just up the rail and in front of Q2 Stadium. These two new stations will provide better access to the rest of the city and will increase the ridership of the Red Line. The new stations should help reduce traffic congestion in the area.
Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman
The Sasha is under construction Wednesday, July 29, 2026, at the SAFE Alliance Grove Campus in Austin. Capital funding announced that day will support development of the new permanent supportive housing facility for survivors of family violence, sexual assault, child abuse and trafficking who are experiencing chronic homelessness.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
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Austin tightens affordable housing rules
Council unanimously amended a citywide density bonus program it approved in May that was designed to incentivize developers to contribute to the city’s affordable housing stock by allowing them to build taller and denser projects in exchange for affordable units. The program also allows developers to pay a fee to the city’s Housing Trust Fund, which helps fund affordable housing in Austin, instead of building affordable housing on-site.
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The council voted Thursday to direct those fees, whenever possible, toward creating housing for households earning less than 30% of the median family income – $40,300 for a family of four.
Council also voted to require that projects within half a mile of Project Connect, the city’s planned transit expansion and light-rail system, provide affordable housing instead of being allowed to pay the fee. The change is intended to increase the city’s affordable housing stock near public transit.
Resident Philip Fitzgerald said he opposed allowing developers to pay a fee instead of building affordable housing, saying the practice could limit the number of new affordable housing units Austin can create.
“Why in the world would we be allowing this for new projects being thrown up, often in areas where people quite frankly don’t have the money to afford to live in these apartments?” he told council during public comment Thursday.
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Lyric Elease Wardlow, a communications and public policy staffer at ECHO, a local homelessness nonprofit, said she supported strengthening the program but urged council to track whether it produces the promised results.
“If a developer is allowed to provide dollars instead of affordable doors on a particular site, we should be able to follow those dollars all the way to the affordable doors that they eventually create,” she said.
Council Member Ryan Alter said he generally supported allowing developers to pay fees because the money could create more affordable units than requiring on-site construction. But he said prohibiting the fees near transit corridors could discourage development and asked city staff to monitor the policy’s impact.
Council Member Zo Qadri, who represents downtown Austin, said it’s especially hard to get new moderate-income housing along major transit corridors because the land is expensive. Requiring on-site units near Project Connect, he said, should address that problem..
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Council approved the density bonus program in May. Advocates said it would increase affordable housing and offer developers flexibility, while critics argued it did too little to prevent displacement and preserve existing affordable housing.
The program replaced the city’s prior zoning and density bonus program, DB90, which was contested by residents and housing advocates after it was used to rezone and redevelop the Acacia Cliffs apartments with fewer affordable units.
Who will oversee East Austin’s Millennium?
Council voted to develop an ordinance that would create a city advisory board for East Austin’s Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex, an entertainment facility with recreational activities including bowling and roller skating. The move would shift governance of the complex to the city.
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The complex has been overseen by the Rosewood Community Development Corporation, a local government corporation, since 1995. The corporation contracted with a third party to manage the facility until October 2025, when it decided that city staff should take over day-to-day management.
The corporation’s board voted in March to transition its current corporate governance structure to a new advisory board, a change the council approved Thursday.
The corporation’s vice chair, Dewi Smith, told council Thursday that she hoped the mission and history of the center would not be forgotten. She added that the city and community working together would help create greater impact.
Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison thanked the volunteers who had served on the corporation to keep the complex running.
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“Ultimately I know that the partnerships are going to be stronger,” she said.
SAFE Alliance gets help after shelter closure
The council approved a one-time $200,000 addition to SAFE Alliance’s contract to operate the city-owned domestic violence shelter. The funding increases the agreement’s total value to $12.4 million.
The vote comes after SAFE warned in April that it was running out of money and might have to halt forensic exams and close a shelter. The nonprofit closed Eloise House, its Southeast Austin clinic, on June 8. The facility had conducted most forensic exams for sexual-assault survivors in Travis County.
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Read More: ‘Breaking point’: Austin nonprofit may shut domestic violence shelter, stop assault exams
The closure left the county with one community-based forensic-exam center while SAFE and BRAVE Alliance work to expand access. BRAVE, a Cedar Park-based nonprofit, has become Travis County’s primary provider of sexual-assault response services through a hospital-led agreement involving Ascension Seton, Baylor Scott & White Health and St. David’s HealthCare.
The agreement provides 24-hour coverage, transportation assistance and a goal of completing exams within 90 minutes. Exams and additional care at BRAVE’s Cedar Park location are free, while other costs may apply at partner hospitals, according to prior reporting.
Council questions $5 million in consulting contracts
City staff withdrew an item that would have authorized up to $5 million over five years for 17 consulting contracts related to “shared services optimization,” an initiative by City Manager T.C. Broadnax to examine whether city functions can be provided more consistently and cost-effectively.
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Staff also withdrew a previous version of the item when it appeared on the May 28 agenda, according to city records.
Council Member Mike Siegel opposed the contracts, saying the proposal did not provide details on the consultants, describe the scope of each contract, explain how the $5 million would be allocated or estimate the return on investment.
Council Member José Velásquez also supported withdrawing the item.
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“The staff withdrawal is an important victory for transparency and accountability in City spending,” Siegel said in a statement Thursday.