Posted Oct 8, 2024, 7:08 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Austin, TX / Portland,OR / Chicago, IL
Posts: 14,002
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Wave of taller, mixed-use development coming under new Austin affordable building program
Quote:
Plans for dozens of mixed-use projects concentrated around South and East Austin are advancing under a city building program created earlier this year.
Hundreds of affordable housing units will be included in those developments, which could reach seven or eight stories tall under the new policy that's drawing some resistance from residents living near the proposed projects.
With a stated desire to bring denser, affordable housing and commercial projects to Austin's busiest corridors, city officials in 2022 expanded Austin's vertical mixed-use building program that's now been in place for almost two decades.
That expansion, labeled VMU2, granted taller building allowances to projects with a share of affordable housing. However, a court decision voided the program late last year following a resident lawsuit.
In response, VMU2 was replaced this year with a new policy geared toward similar goals: DB90, a density bonus program allowing for mixed-use construction up to 90 feet high in areas across the city.
DB90's provisions differ from the original VMU2, including a requirement for more lower-income housing than the overturned program called for. However, it didn't include a previous proposal to use localized affordability standards that was intended to reduce the risk of residential displacement amid new construction.
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