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Development
To boost housing supply, Council to allow residential use in commercial zones
Of all the policies to arise from City Council’s decreed Austin Housing Affordability and Supply Week, the most substantial is allowing residential use in commercial zones, a move that could open up capacity for tens of thousands of new homes. “Allowing…
Housing • By Jonathan Lee • Dec 2, 2021
Officials are brainstorming solutions to Austin's booming housing costs. Here are 4 of their ideas.
Tenants bidding on a rental home. Potential homebuyers offering $200,000 more than the listed price. Nearly 90 prospective buyers angling for one home. While these are just anecdotes, the data bears it out: The median sales price of a home…
Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Dec 1, 2021
Design Commission gives nod to bathhouse project
With the unanimous blessing of the city’s Design Commission, plans to renovate and and restore the historic Barton Springs Bathhouse continue to move forward. Barton Springs’ 1947 bathhouse is unimpeachably historic, with city, state and federal historic designations that all…
Preservation • By Elizabeth Pagano • Dec 1, 2021
Landmark commission experiments with new postponement tool
The Historic Landmark Commission is taking a fresh approach to resisting demolition, opting to indefinitely postpone several cases at its Nov. 15 meeting. After consulting with the city’s legal department, staffers recommended using the new tool in cases where applicants…
Preservation • By Kali Bramble • Nov 30, 2021
Student commission prepares to tackle affordable housing crisis
On Nov. 5, the College Student Commission voted to create a working group to study the city’s affordable housing crisis, specifically as it affects students. “I think that anyone who’s living here in Austin knows, we do have an affordable…
Housing • By Jackie Ibarra • Nov 29, 2021
Austin continues to make progress on bold 2016 sidewalk initiative
Halfway through a 10-year plan to upgrade the city’s network of sidewalks, officials say the initiative has gone better than expected but still needs considerable work to extend walkability to the majority of residents. “It feels like a tale of…
Planning • By Andrew Logan • Nov 24, 2021
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Council looks to increase height allowed under VMU zoning
City Council last Thursday took a step toward addressing housing affordability, passing a resolution to allow greater building height in areas zoned Vertical Mixed-Use (VMU). The code change would create VMU2, a new zoning category that allows 90 feet of…
Land Development Code • By Jonathan Lee • Nov 22, 2021
City Council to meet for special session on housing supply
City Council is convening Nov. 30 to discuss what Mayor Steve Adler has called one of Austin’s “greatest present challenges” – housing supply. In a City Council Message Board post co-authored with Council Member Alison Alter last Wednesday, Adler outlined…
Housing • By Sean Saldaña • Nov 22, 2021
ZAP says MF-2 too dense for Menchaca, a Project Connect corridor
On Tuesday, the Zoning and Platting Commission rejected Multifamily Low-Density (MF-2) zoning for three properties along Menchaca Road over objections from some commissioners who argued for more density on a corridor slated for Project Connect investment. “When I look at…
Zoning • By Jonathan Lee • Nov 22, 2021
South Central Waterfront financing plan expected next month
After many years of vision planning and discussions, two major redevelopment projects – the South Central Waterfront and the Colony Park Vision Plan in Northeast Austin – are showing some degree of progress in relation to how the projects would…
Planning • By Amy Smith • Nov 19, 2021
Major development on Regiene Road wins first-round OK
City Council voted unanimously Thursday to approve on first reading Major Planned Development zoning for a 16-acre East Austin site previously zoned for industrial uses. The only industrial use allowed on the site at 6501 and 6705 Regiene Road will…
Zoning • By Jo Clifton • Nov 19, 2021
A win for preservationists at historic San Jacinto warehouse
Austin’s warehouse district is on the way to gaining one more protected landmark as of this past Monday, after the Historic Landmark Commission rejected an application to demolish a historic grocery warehouse at 301 San Jacinto Blvd. Despite the property…
