AUSTIN, Texas — More Austin property owners are leaving dangerous buildings standing. The effects those abandoned buildings have on the city don’t stop at the property line. Austin and Travis County taxpayers are increasingly paying to clean up the problem.
KVUE Defenders analyzed years of city records and found that complaints are climbing and the city is demolishing more properties.
But even as the city steps in, some dangerous properties can remain standing even after fires, repeated complaints and demolition orders.
Issues beyond the property line
On Jan. 30, the abandoned Velo Flats apartment complex on Wheless Lane was engulfed in flames…