Legendary CBS news anchor Dan Rather didn’t break the story — but his home health aide did.
For Patricia Morales, caring for others is her profession. She provides Rather with steady, dependable support in his daily routines. But the reliability she offers at work disappears when she returns to her own Northwest Austin apartment. At the Acacia Cliffs complex, where she’s lived for four years, Morales and her neighbors are caught in a swirl of uncertainty — unsure if, or when, their affordable homes will be torn down to make way for luxury development.
Earlier this month, Morales visited the leasing office to submit her 60-day notice that she’s moving out — to another apartment complex. Morales said she was surprised when the staff told her that the Acacia’s demolition had been halted. When she asked why nobody bothered to tell the residents, Morales said she was told it was for legal reasons.
The staff then tried to induce her to stay. “They were going to give me all the administration fees and everything back and talk to the new apartment (owner) to break the lease that I just signed,” Morales said. At 56, Morales said she didn’t want to move again but she’s done with the ongoing confusion over Acacia’s fate.
“I’m leaving,” she said.
At this point, Morales and her neighbors have several questions, but no answers. Austin City Council Member Marc Duchen, whose District 10 includes Acacia, also was in the dark about the apartment complex’s future, but did offer help.
“Whether or not the Acacia Cliffs redevelopment moves forward is ultimately up to the property’s owner,” Duchen told Austin Free Press Thursday. “In the meantime, our office is happy to help residents who have complaints and to ensure their legal protections are in place.
“We have continued to work with the tenants association on housing and affordability issues that impact all Austinites, and we appreciate its members’ perspectives on policies related to displacement and the rising cost of local homes.”
Acacia Cliffs made headlines last June, when the Austin City Council unanimously approved its owner’s request to build a larger, more upscale housing complex there. The developer applied under the city’s density bonus 90 ordinance, which the council had touted as an affordable housing solution. Yet Acacia’s proposed replacement would result in a net loss of 210 affordable units. In approving that demolition over mass tenant and community protests, the council pledged to adopt reforms to prevent future destructions of the city’s shrinking stock of affordable housing.
Management notices distributed in mid 2025 stated that demolition could begin as early as January 2027. Property owners offered residents facing displacement relocation help, including money and help to find new homes. Since then, however, there’s been “absolutely zero communication for six months about what’s going on with the apartments,” Morales said.
Acacia’s owner, Price Realty Corp., and its local lobbyist, Michael Whellan, did not respond to Austin Free Press questions about the apartment complex.
Acacia Cliffs Tenants Association leader Eric Gomez said that the association has reached out to community groups and Duchen for answers and help.
Last year Duchen proposed a resolution to create an Affordable Housing Preservation Fund to protect affordable older housing like Acacia Cliffs from redevelopment. The city council approved advancing the Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing Fund last September.
“Before all this happened, they renovated the basketball court, built a dog park, and upgraded the barbecue area,” Gomez said. “Then we get the news they’re going to demolish it. It’s confusing and frustrating” because residents don’t know what’s going on.
Price Realty Corp. informed Acacia tenants in April that it would provide relocation benefits, including four months of free rent, $1,200 worth of moving expenses, help finding new housing, and the right to break leases without penalty, according to a tenant flyer shared by Whellan.
Gomez said that these incentives are still being offered. When Morales turned in her 60-day notice, however, she said that the leasing office just offered her reimbursement for the expenses associated with apartment applications and administrative fees. “They did not even allow me to break the lease for the last month,” she said.
When the city council approved the demolition last summer, tenants were worried that “management would feel that they don’t need to take care of the property or respect the residents,“ said Sol Praxis, who has worked with the Acacia Cliffs Tenants Association through the nonprofit Community Powered ATX. “Almost all staff are now temporary, turnover is constant.”
Image credit: City of Austin.
“It took three weeks for someone to properly fix a leak because the temp staff didn’t know what to do,” Gomez added. This came on top of widespread problems with communication, lease payments, and maintenance, he said. “We’ve had issues with extra charges on leases being applied and removed inconsistently, sometimes taking over a month to correct.”
In the months following the council’s demolition approval, Morales said she saw signs of imminent redevelopment. Units vacated by tenants were not immediately turned over to accommodate new renters, for example. “There’s a lot of empty apartments right now.”
Then, a few months ago, Morales noticed a large “For Lease” sign at the complex at 7201 Hart Lane. The complex also has been advertising 12-month leases and tours on its Facebook page, offering $250 referral bonuses. Morales said that she figured management was simply, “Trying to make money to the last.”
As of mid-February, tenants have not received written confirmation detailing the long-term plans for Acacia Cliffs. Without official documentation from management clarifying whether redevelopment has been postponed or permanently canceled, residents are left weighing whether to trust verbal assurances or continue to plan for displacement.
“Even if they send an email” that clearly spells out their game plan, Gomez said, “I’m going to find it suspect.”
Shelby Ligon is a freelancer who reports from and lives in the Texas Hill Country.
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