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In fast-growing Austin, Mueller Foundation presses a three-part strategy: affordability, education, and sustainability

Katie Stewart Sat, Nov 15, 2025 • 08:40 AM

A neighborhood foundation built for a city in flux

In a city adding people and apartments at a dizzying clip, a neighborhood-based foundation in East Austin is attempting something both simple and expansive: keep homeownership within reach, invest in public education, and make the built environment healthier and more resilient. The Mueller Foundation describes its mission as preserving affordable homeownership inside the master-planned Mueller community while advancing the social objectives of sustainability for residents across the area, according to the Mueller Foundation.

That work is unfolding as Austin’s population and housing pressures set new marks. The city’s estimated population reached 993,588 as of July 1, 2024, and roughly 58.2% of adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to U.S. Census QuickFacts. In the broader region, the Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos metro added more than 50,000 residents from 2022 to 2023—a 2.1% jump—keeping it among the fastest-growing U.S. metros, as reported by the City of Austin.

The housing challenge

Fast growth has strained affordability even as construction cranes multiply. Austin’s median household income climbed to about $91,461 in 2023, yet owner-occupied housing represents only about 44.4% of units. Median property values sit above $500,000, and a notable share of homeowners spend more than 40% of their income on mortgage costs, data from DataUSA show. The tightrope between rising incomes and the high cost of buying has defined the local market for years.

Developers are building at a historic pace. More than 15,000 new apartments have been completed this year, with approximately 26,715 projected by year’s end, placing Austin among the top three U.S. cities for new apartment deliveries in 2025, according to MySanAntonio. New supply can temper rent growth, but it doesn’t directly solve the homeownership squeeze for middle-income families.

Inside this context, the Mueller Foundation focuses on a practical pathway to ownership. Its centerpiece is the Mueller Shared Appreciation Housing Program—designed to preserve affordability and expand access to homes in the neighborhood—paired with financial education for individuals and families, according to the Mueller Foundation. The goal is sustainable affordability rather than a one-time discount, aligning with the neighborhood’s origins on Austin’s former municipal airport site and its promise of a mixed-income, mixed-use community.

Education and community

The city’s educational attainment is a point of civic pride—nearly 60% of residents hold bachelor’s degrees—but it is not evenly distributed across communities, Axios has reported, citing national rankings and local data on disparities in degree attainment, according to Axios. And the region’s population growth since 2020—nearly 11% through 2024—has placed new demands on schools and support services, as reported by Axios.

The Mueller Foundation has put public education near the center of its community strategy, with supports that range from early learning through college and career preparation. The organization lists the following program areas, according to the Mueller Foundation:

Public education supports and programming
Pre-school and after-school youth services
Mentoring and tutoring
Career, college, and workforce preparation
Art and culture initiatives

The push reflects a broader shift in local philanthropy. “Ten years ago, I think it would have been very difficult to get local foundations to consider giving to public education,” said Paul Reville, Executive Vice President, Alliance for Education, in Education Week. The line, while decades old, captures how neighborhood-based funders now increasingly treat schools as core civic infrastructure, not tangential beneficiaries.

Sustainability in practice

Sustainability in Mueller is not limited to green roofs or native landscaping, though those matter. The foundation’s lens includes accessible parks and open spaces, trail connections, and opportunities for lifelong wellness—what it calls recreation, amenities, and fitness programs that make daily life healthier. It also emphasizes protection of natural resources and the cultivation of diverse, sustainable communities, according to the Mueller Foundation.

Advocates for equitable development often argue that the most sustainable building is the one already standing. “The greenest buildings are the ones that are already built,” said Majora Carter, Environmental Justice Leader & Founder, Sustainable South Bronx, in Bookey. Her broader definition of sustainability speaks to the neighborhood-level work underway in places like Mueller: “Sustainability is about so much more than the environment. It's about creating communities that are strong, healthy, and resilient,” said Majora Carter, Environmental Justice Leader & Founder, Sustainable South Bronx, in Bookey.

In practice, that means weaving together housing, education, and public realm investments rather than treating them as separate policy silos. In Mueller, initiatives span:

The Mueller Shared Appreciation Housing Program to preserve affordable ownership
Financial literacy supports for households
Youth development and academic programming from early years through career readiness
Parks, trails, and wellness-focused amenities across the neighborhood

An Austin story, in one neighborhood

The pressures defining the metro—rapid in-migration, a high-earning workforce, a soaring cost of entry for homeownership—are visible in Mueller but also shape every corner of the region. As planners weigh how to accommodate growth, the city continues to reckon with affordability: a high-income, high-cost dynamic that makes ownership elusive for many residents even as thousands of apartments rise.

The foundation’s wager is that affordability, education, and sustainability are mutually reinforcing—not separate lines in a budget. Whether Austin can grow while holding space for long-term neighbors will be decided across city policy and private markets. But on the ground in Mueller, the work looks like classroom support, trail maintenance, and a deed that remains within reach of the next family trying to plant roots.

Read the press release on muellerfoundation.org.

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