Mayor Kirk Watson teases permitting reform

Last month, Mayor Kirk Watson gave leaders of the local real estate sector a sneak preview of the findings of an analysis of the city’s development review process conducted by the consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Speaking at the Austin Board of Realtors’ Central Texas Housing Summit, Watson shared that McKinsey found 11 city departments are involved in every permit review process, which includes more than 1,470 steps. He said the firm also found that, on average, every application goes through five review cycles, calling the process “wildly inefficient.” Watson said the firm’s work, which is expected to be fully disclosed soon, will help the city to streamline development reviews to make it easier to build homes and other real estate projects. “The McKinsey findings will give us a path forward, and the proposed budget includes funding to implement changes so the city can move quicker and stop being an obstacle to creating essential housing and infrastructure,” he said.