At Monday’s City Council meeting, the Council received a follow-up briefing by consultant GrowAmerica regarding the City’s Housing Strategy and Housing Needs Assessment, which was commissioned by the City in 2025 and presented to the Council in October. Based on Council feedback, three main housing needs and four possible strategies/tools to address those needs have been identified as priorities from the Assessment:  

Richardson’s Housing Needs 

  1. Older, low-income homeowners need the opportunity to safely age in place. 
  2. More reasonably priced for-sale housing units are needed to accommodate families with children. 
  3. More well-maintained rental housing units are needed that are affordable for lower-wage workers.  

Priority Housing Strategies to Consider 

  1. Home repair program funded by federal grants
  2. Zoning changes, other steps to address Missing Middle Housing 
  3. Tax incentives: utilizing Opportunity Zones   
  4. Tax incentives: create Housing Finance Corporations (HFCs) and Public Facility Corporations (PFCs)  

Monday’s presentation gave a further look at the four strategies, each which will be given a separate briefing at future Council meetings.  

Jan. 12 City Council Presentation: Video