Tag Archives: City of Austin Downtown Density Bonus
Friday, April 9, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
Planning
Council approves Rainey towers, pledges new LDC push
On Thursday City Council approved increased floor area ratio for three new towers in the Rainey Street area, bringing 1,000 more homes – 55 of them affordable – to the area. The approval of the towers may have consequences beyond…
Wednesday, April 7, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
Planning
Council discusses a recalibrated Downtown Density Bonus program
City Council members on Tuesday supported recalibrating the Downtown Density Bonus program to increase the community benefits developers must provide in exchange for more floor area ratio. The changes – should Council vote to implement them – could shape the…
Friday, January 29, 2021 by Harrison Young
Development
Planning Commission endorses Rainey high-rise
The Planning Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend construction of a skyscraper on Rainey Street that would be one of Austin’s tallest buildings. 90-92 Rainey St., currently occupied by Container Bar, would become a residential high-rise with about 450 residential…
Thursday, November 8, 2018 by Jack Craver
Development
City tries to get developers to embrace ‘great urban design’
While the most often discussed aim of density bonuses has been to create affordable housing, the city also hopes to use them as a way to encourage other community benefits, including superior design. “We’re trying to shift the narrative and…
Thursday, July 27, 2017 by Lisa Dreher
Land Development Code
Community Development Commission grapples with CodeNEXT
The Community Development Commission voiced frustration over lack of outreach and discussion with the CodeNEXT team during a special called meeting earlier this month. The first draft of CodeNEXT, Austin’s land code rewrite, has been out since January, but some…
Thursday, June 22, 2017 by Jack Craver
Land Development Code
CodeNEXT proposes new program to bolster affordable housing
CodeNEXT, the proposed overhaul of the city’s Land Development Code, dramatically expands an existing city program that offers developers incentives to build housing reserved for low- and middle-income buyers and renters. In a presentation to City Council members on Wednesday,…
Friday, September 30, 2016 by Joseph Caterine
Planning
Tovo pushes alternatives in lieu of fees-in-lieu
Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo is pushing ahead in her efforts to steer the city’s density bonus programs in a new direction. Near the end of last year, she initiated a staff review of the current programs, suspecting that there…
Thursday, October 15, 2015 by Tyler Whitson
Development
Council may revamp affordable housing policy
City Council will pick up a proposal today that Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo hopes will lead to more on-site affordable housing in future developments throughout the city. Based on a discussion at a work session on Tuesday, however, it…
Thursday, August 20, 2015 by Elizabeth Pagano
The Code
Council poised to revisit density bonus programs
Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo is moving forward with a proposal to take a closer look at the city’s density bonus programs and at whether it’s a good idea to eliminate the fee-in-lieu option that allows developers to pay into…
Thursday, May 21, 2015 by Elizabeth Pagano
Development
Committee considers density bonus revamp
On Monday, City Council’s Planning and Neighborhoods Committee started the conversations about whether it could change Austin’s Downtown Density Bonus Program to require on-site affordable housing. The Downtown Density Bonus Program allows developers increased entitlements, such as more height, in…
Tuesday, April 29, 2014 by Elizabeth Pagano
Development
Planning Commission OKs increased FAR for downtown high-rise
The Planning Commission heard its first Downtown Density Bonus Program case last week. And, while there will be a contribution to the city’s affordable housing trust fund, developers were also asking for entitlements greater than those offered under the Downtown…
Thursday, March 13, 2014 by Elizabeth Pagano
Development
Planning Commission won’t amend NCCD to fix permit mistake
The Planning Commission has shot down a city staff scheme to fix a mistake that left a neighborhood business in limbo. Though the request was solely to initiate an amendment to the Hyde Park Neighborhood Conservation Combining District (NCCD,)…
Thursday, October 17, 2013 by Michael Kanin
Development
Council looks at compromise on Rainey Street density bonus plan
Austin City Council members returned Tuesday to the question of how to calculate public amenities associated with density bonuses for projects located in the Rainey Street neighborhood downtown. As part of the discussion – postponed from Council’s last agenda –…
Thursday, October 3, 2013 by Michael Kanin
Development
Delay sought for Density Bonus plans for Rainey Street
Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole plans to delay an item on today’s Austin City Council agenda that seeks to reconcile the city’s new Downtown Density Bonus program with one in place in the exploding Rainy Rainey Street area. With the postponement,…
