ULI Austin in Austin Texas awarded David Steinwedell, founder of the Austin Housing Conservancy Fund and Affordable Central Texas, now Texas Housing Conservancy, its annual Vision Award.
The ULI Austin Vision Award recognizes an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in his or her lifetime within the Austin region. The Vision Award represents the highest honor one can receive from ULI Austin, and it speaks to an individual’s impact not just within the real estate industry but to the greater Central Texas community. Winners are selected annually by the ULI Austin Governance Committee and represent a diverse range of sectors, including real estate, finance, public service, not-for-profit and education.
Steinwedell, now retired, is a 45-year veteran of the commercial real estate industry and has worked in a variety of disciplines including public and private investment management, acquisitions, debt, capital markets, investment banking and asset management. Over his career, he completed over $15 billion in transactions across all property types and as part of private equity funds, REITs and other investment vehicles.
Steinwedell is the founder and Chairman of the Board of the Austin-based Texas Housing Conservancy, a not-for-profit fund sponsor with a focus on preserving workforce multifamily housing utilizing private equity through the Texas Housing Conservancy Fund. The Fund has invested in over $500 million of moderate-income multifamily housing in seventeen properties totaling almost 3,000 units with capacity to serve over 4,000 residents with a long-term goal of preserving 15,000 units in 10 years.
One of Steinwedell’s most noteworthy accomplishments took place in 2015, when then Austin Mayor, Steve Adler, convened civic and industry leaders to confront Austin, Texas’s escalating affordable housing crisis. He played a pivotal role in shaping what would become a nationally recognized solution. Drawing on research from the Urban Land Institute’s Technical Advisory Panel and the ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing, Steinwedell helped guide the creation of the Austin Housing Conservancy fund, which became the Texas Housing Conservancy. The social impact fund broke new ground as the nation’s first to pair a nonprofit investment manager, Affordable Central Texas, with an open-end private equity fund to preserve workforce housing at scale. His leadership has been instrumental in advancing a sustainable, market-driven approach to protecting affordability while supporting long-term economic resilience in growing cities.
Steinwedell’s work for the Texas Housing Conservancy resulted in the organization earning many noteworthy honors, including the 2024 ULI Global Award for Excellence, ULI Americas Award for Excellence, 2023 ULI Austin Impact Award for Next Big Idea and the 2019 U.S. Conference of Mayors CommunityWINS Grant Program. He was personally recognized as an Affordability Champion by the Austin Business Journal and is the recipient of many other industry awards and accolades.
In addition to his work with the Texas Housing Conservancy, Steinwedell was actively engaged with the Austin Economic Development Corporation, now Rally
Austin, contributing his expertise at the intersection of real estate, economic strategy, and community impact. Through his involvement with the non-profit organization, he supported efforts to advance equitable economic growth, public-private partnerships, and catalytic development projects across Central Texas. His efforts reflected a commitment to collaborative, forward-thinking solutions that addressed the city’s most pressing challenges – from housing affordability to long-term economic resilience – and he brought a pragmatic, market-informed perspective focused on aligning investment with inclusive growth and sustainable urban development.
Steinwedell’s impact also includes a strong, mutually reinforcing partnership with Huston-Tillotson University, where he is working to strengthen their Real Estate Concentration within the School of Business and Technology, the Real Estate Scholars Program. He has taught classes, enhanced the program curriculum, brought in guest speakers, connected the program with the real estate industry, and helped students find work opportunities. He has also spearheaded the creation of Huston Tillotson’s SBT Real Estate Advisory Board focused on fundraising, curriculum and AI, and internships and career placement. He continues to raise significant funds toward scholarships and a full-time professor position for the Real Estate Scholars Program.
Steinwedell has been very active with ULI throughout his career. He is a ULI Full Member, a past member of the Executive Committee of ULI Atlanta, and a mentor, past member of the IOPC, past Chair of the Affordability Strategic Council, and past Executive Director of ULI Austin.
Steinwedell is past chair of the Austin Economic Development Corporation board and has served on the boards of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers (NAREIM) and the Tritt Foundation. He is an adjunct professor of Real Estate at Huston Tillotson University and actively participates with CommunityFirst! Village, Mobile Loaves and Fishes, and Habitat for Humanity. Steinwedell has been a guest lecturer or speaker at SXSW as well as The University of Texas, Wharton School of Business, UCLA, Columbia University, New York University, and Hamilton College. He has been featured in various publications, business journals and events including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Real Estate Forum, CPN, RECA, ULI, CREW, and NAREIM. Steinwedell earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y.
