Heres how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting construction on new apartments in Austin – KXAN.com

AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal/KXAN) One of Austins largest apartment developers is scaling back due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Journeyman Group President Sam Kumar said his company will probably build at least 600 fewer apartment units in Austin this year than it had initially planned.

Despite that, the company is still projected to have 2,100 apartment units under construction this year, he said. Thats about the same or slightly more than Journeyman built last year.

FULL Q&A with Sam Kumar at Austin Business Journal

While construction in Austin has continued through most of the pandemic as construction was considered an essential business Kumar says the pandemic worried many potential investors because of possible rent delinquencies.

In March, the CARES Act was passed by Congress and included a 120-day moratorium on evictions. While evictions were prohibited for eligible renters, it didnt forgive any rent due.

Local renters were also protected when Travis County Justice of the Peace Nicholas Chu signed an order that required landlords to prove their properties dont fall under the CARES Act.

The City of Austin also passed its own COVID-19 rental assistance program.

The Relief of Emergency Needs for Tenants program, according to the City, allowed applicants to have at least a portion of their rent paid. In its first hour that applications were open, over 1,300 people applied.

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Heres how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting construction on new apartments in Austin - KXAN.com