The Housing Affordability Committee of the Houston City Council met at 10:00 a.m. on September 15, 2026, with Vice Chairman Davis presiding in the absence of the chair. Committee members present included Councilmember Ramirez, Mayor Pro Tem Martha Tatum, and Vice Mayor Pro Tem Amy Peck, along with representatives from Councilmembers Carter, Salinas, Alcorn, Pollard, Jackson, Panzarella, and Martinez. HCD staff delivered a full program briefing, and one public speaker, Doug Smith, testified. No agenda or minutes were available; this summary relies solely on the raw transcription, which contains phonetic spellings and some garbled passages.
Compliance, grants, and Houston Housing Finance Corporation (HHFC) — Deputy Director Conisha London. London recommended council approval of (1) the Seventh Amendment to the CDBG-DR Harvey Subrecipient Agreement between the City of Houston and the Texas General Land Office and (2) a resolution amending the HHFC articles of incorporation. The HHFC board would change from 12 members (11 mayoral appointees, including the chair, plus one seat reserved for the HCD director) to 11 members, all appointed by the mayor, including the board president. The HCD director or an HCD employee designee would serve as a non-voting ex officio member and would not be required to reside within Houston city limits, unlike other board members. Staff said the change, made after consultation with the city attorney's and mayor's offices, creates consistency with other local development corporations and avoids potential conflicts of interest. Asked about the working relationship, London said it was strong, calling the current board "superior to past boards."
Planning and grant reporting — Assistant Director Amy Connolly. Since the last meeting, HCD submitted just under $5.9 million in additional draw requests to the General Land Office and received approximately $2.9 million in approvals and dollars returned to the city for the Harvey grant. The Home Buyers 2.0 program has stretched performance benchmarks; as of September 11, the program was just under meeting the December 31 benchmark. Connolly will share outcomes and data with the Quality of Life Committee and Vice Chairman Davis, and will begin DR21 and DR24 updates next month after reviewing the format with Chair Thomas. Two agreements with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) for Homeless Housing Services Program (HHSP) funds carry performance periods from September 1, 2026 through August 31, 2027. A first amendment with Access Care of Coastal Texas adds $1,276,825 in HOPWA funding for case management, nutritional assistance, medical transportation, and other services across the nine-county region. Staff also discussed "other permanent housing" (OPH) as a newer homelessness approach.
Operations — Division Manager Roxanne Lawson. A councilmember noted directing a new fire department council liaison to spend time with Division Manager Lawson, and described a lot-safety item that will make a lot safer through landlord-paid modifications.
Single-family development (items 5A and 5B) — Assistant Director Cedric Lassain. Councilmembers discussed the in-town, mixed single-family development, which carries a five-year affordability period passed to each successive homeowner at purchase. Staff confirmed the project's infrastructure is separate from the adjacent 169-unit development. Councilmembers called the project a boost to the city.
Multi-family development (items 6A and 6B) — Deputy Assistant Director Ryan Bibbs. Item 6A authorizes $2.4 million in CDBG-DR24 funds for a loan agreement with Britain's Place 2023 for a comprehensive rehabilitation, including generators, correcting defects identified a year ago through major renovation. Item 6B concerns Hayes Street Apartments at 1400–1500 Hayes Street in District H, serving families, developed by Amtex (engineer Amanda Barriere present), with no city funding. The project previously received a resolution of support; because the applicant is amending its ownership structure, TDHCA requests a continuation resolution of support. A council staff member asked whether tenant living situations would be disrupted or whether vacant units would be addressed first; the response is garbled in the transcript.
Director's comments — Director Mike Nichols. Nichols highlighted a recovery event connecting residents with resources "beyond what the city can offer," and described assessments of whether a repair can be completed for under $100,000 or costs more than 50 percent of a home's value, which would require full reconstruction. A participant acknowledged the department is behind and does a lot by hand; improving efficiency would also help get information to the public.
Good morning. We are in the Housing Affordability Committee meeting for September 15, 2026 at 10 a.m. It's approximately 10 a.m. I'm going to call this meeting to order and would like to welcome all of the council members that are present. Welcome Councilmember Ramirez, Mayor Pro Tim, Martha Tatum, Vice Mayor Pro Tim, Amy Peck, and then we have several representatives from the office of Twilight Councilmember Carter, Councilmember Salinas, and also Councilmember Alcorn and Councilmember Pollard and some representatives from Councilmember Jackson and Councilmember Panzarella. And we shall uh today we're going to be hearing from the Holland Community Development Department. Present uh compliance and grant and grant administration presented by Deputy Director Conisha London. And uh following that will be the planning and grant reporting represented by Assistant Director Amy Connolly. Operations presented by Division Manager Roxanne Lawson, single family presented by assistant director Cedric Lassain, multi-family presented by Deputy Assistant Director Ryan Bibbs, director's comments from our director, Brother Mike Nichols, and then at that point we will after we'll hear from the public comments if there'll be any. Good morning, guys. Welcome. Good morning, Vice Chairman Davis. Thank you for being here, Councilmembers. Thank you for being here. Um just to kind of start things off. You'll get a chance to see the full gamut of what housing department does today. Um it's interesting as you look through the list of items. It's uh it it gives you a sense of the breadth of this department. And as you walk through this, I want you to keep in mind the goal that we all have is to bring greater affordability, particularly in housing to the city of Houston, and that's really been the goal from day one. Um how we do it is a complex, uh it's complex because of the way the dollars come in, and the rules are very complex, and we'll get to see that in action today. So we'll start out with uh Deputy Director London. Appreciate her service and um excellent work in the compliance area. All right, good morning. Good morning. The Housing and Community Development Department recommends council's approval of an ordinance authorizing the Seventh Amendment to the community development block grant, disaster recovery, Harvey Subrecipient Agreement between the City of Houston and the Texas General Land Office. The GLO proposes to amend the subrecipient agreement to reflect the following changes. Um my only comment is again, it's a good job with the whole team as we look for any dollars that are unspent to move them quickly through the process, and that's a big part of what is done here. Six or seven homeowners doesn't seem like a lot, but it's it's it's a lot considering if we weren't careful making sure we uh are uh missing any of these dollars. It would be a loss to the city. So thank you to this team for moving forward to make sure no dollars are missed. Very good. Very good. All right. Well good. Planning and grant reporting. Assistant director Amy McConnelly. Morning. Good morning. Thank you. Red button, yes. The housing and community development department recommends approval of a resolution authorizing an amendment to the articles of incorporation of the Houston Housing Finance Corporation and approving the form of the amendment. This amendment changes how the HCD director interacts with the Houston Housing Finance Corporation. Prior to this amendment, the HHFC board consisted of 12 members. 11 members, including the chair were appointed by the mayor, and one seat is reserved for the HCD director. After the amendment, the HHFC will consist of 11 members, each appointed by the mayor, including the president of the board. The HCD director or their designee shall become a non-voting ex officio board member. The designee of the HCD director must be an HCD employee, but would not be required to reside within the Houston City limits, unlike other HHFC members. And these amendments are uh needed to maintain transparency and coordination between HCD and the HHFC to advise on the use of federal funding for housing developments to assist in ensuring compliance with applicable city, state, and federal conflict of interest requirements, and preserve the continued strong working relationship between HCD and the HHFC. On June 24th, the HHFC Board of Directors approved this resolution authorizing the proposed amendments to the Articles of Incorporation. Note this is only the third amendment ever to the HHFC Articles of Incorporation, which was established in 1979.