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Development
Following court ruling, Oak Springs project scrambles to get back on track
Planning Commission members unanimously recommended an Oak Springs Road zoning change that was temporarily thwarted by a court ruling – despite concerns at their most recent meeting about an abbreviated timeline from a neighborhood representative. In May 2023, developers submitted…
Zoning • By Elizabeth Pagano • Jun 5, 2024
City examining incentives for arts spaces, child care centers, grocery stores
The city is expected to launch a new incentive program for small businesses such as grocery stores, child care centers and creative spaces that bring needed community benefits to underserved areas. The place-based enhancement program, which is currently going through…
Planning • By Chad Swiatecki • Jun 4, 2024
Audit finds office-to-residential conversions a bad fit for most local real estate
A recent audit by the Office of the City Auditor looking at the possibilities for converting vacant office spaces into housing stock has found the practice known as adaptive reuse is likely a poor fit for office buildings mostly constructed…
Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • Jun 3, 2024
Following HOME approvals, Council calls for affordability programs to aid longtime residents
Lower- and middle-income homeowners are the target population for a resolution approved by City Council on Thursday intended to create the financing needed to build more homes on existing lots. The resolution, which was led by Council Member José Velásquez,…
Land Development Code • By Chad Swiatecki • May 31, 2024
Affordability panel looks to city, schools, churches to deliver needed housing
Austin-area housing advocates see major institutions such as the city, local schools and religious organizations as having the most potential for adding affordable housing units throughout the city in the coming years. During a recent panel discussion on the city’s…
Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • May 30, 2024
East Austin organizers push for equity/anti-displacement overlay to address affordability
A coalition of community groups representing East Austin is pushing City Council to require new infill residences built on smaller lots in the Eastern Crescent be made affordable for longtime residents at risk of being displaced due to the rising…
Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • May 28, 2024
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Council tailors ETOD zoning, affordability requirements to maximize transit use
Included in last week’s slate of land use changes approved by City Council were adjustments to the density bonus incentives and other guidelines covering equitable transit-oriented developments intended to maximize usage of transit corridors throughout the city. Following the prior…
Land Development Code • By Chad Swiatecki • May 23, 2024
Affordable housing complex competes for space with a church in Payton Gin zoning change
Planning Commission members have embraced an affordable housing project in North Austin despite concerns from the church it will replace. Developers plan to build a 100 percent affordable, six-story, 192-unit apartment complex at 1706 Payton Gin Road using the city’s…
Housing • By Elizabeth Pagano • May 22, 2024
Following HOME 2 passage, advocates seek Council action on short-term rentals
Members of the Tourism Commission are pushing City Council to move forward with an agreement with short-term rental platforms that could make it possible for the city to more easily regulate the thousands of unlicensed homes operating as lodging businesses…
Planning • By Chad Swiatecki • May 21, 2024
Developing a former summer camp proves to be more than a seasonal project
Efforts to redevelop a former ranch and summer camp in Northwest Austin have hit another snag with the city’s Historic Landmark Commission, which has voted for a second time to postpone the convoluted case. The house at 7304 Knox Lane…
Preservation • By Kali Bramble • May 21, 2024
Council adopts ordinance for electric vehicle charging stations
After adopting ordinances that promise to provide more housing on smaller pieces of land and changing compatibility requirements to allow taller buildings to be built closer to single-family housing, City Council quickly adopted changes to the city Land Development Code…
Land Development Code • By Jo Clifton • May 20, 2024
Austin cuts minimum lot size by more than half, requiring less land to build a home
More homes, less lawn. This was the pitch made by Austin City Council members Friday when, for the first time in 80 years, they voted to lower the amount of land needed to build one house. The change allows property…
