Posted Oct 17, 2025, 3:24 PM
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New Yorker for life
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 56,636
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https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/...ering-height-limits-downtown-towers.html
Height limits on new towers in downtown Austin under consideration
Developers who aim to go bigger would need to contribute to affordable housing efforts
By Sean Hemmersmeier
Oct 16, 2025
Quote:
The Austin Planning Commission recently heard a proposal from city staff to put limits on the heights of new projects in the wake of Senate Bill 840, which took effect in September and prohibits cities from enforcing certain zoning regulations, including restrictions on floor-to-area ratios, or FARs, of residential projects.
Prior to SB 840, Austin regulated projects with Central Business District zoning through FAR restrictions, and if projects wanted bigger FARs, they were required to participate in the city’s Downtown Density Bonus Program, or DDBP.
Now, however, FARs for residential projects can’t be regulated by the city. As a result, Austin is considering how to update its rules to encourage participation by CBD projects in the DDBP, which has enabled denser projects to be built in exchange for community benefits, such as the inclusion of residential units deemed affordable or financial contributions to affordable housing efforts.
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That's where the possibility of new limits on building heights comes in.
“We have to put in a height limit to make the (Downtown Density Bonus Program) continue to work,” said Alan Pani, a principal planner for the city, during an Oct. 14 meeting of the Austin Planning Commission.
Austin city staff presented a proposal to the commission that would set the maximum building height for CBD projects at 350 feet, with any project aiming to go higher required to participate in the downtown density bonus program. The planning commission has recommended to the City Council that the maximum be doubled to 700 feet for buildings in the core of downtown and Rainey Street in order to provide builders with flexibility. If a developer aims to build taller, they would have to participate in the DDBP.
...Currently, there are only three buildings in Austin that top 700 feet — Waterline (1,021 feet), Sixth and Guadalupe (875 feet) and The Republic (710 feet) — according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. For reference, one of Austin's older but iconic towers, the Frost Bank Tower, is 516 feet tall.
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