The Austin City Council is moving forward with its new citywide density bonus program (DBC) it announced in April. Many observers have been eagerly anticipating these new rules as Austin adjusts its policies in the lead up to the implementation of SB 840. This legislation requires that all zones that allow commercial development also allow multi-family housing, along with giving all such housing unlimited Floor Area Ratio (FAR) by right. This creates far more space for housing across the state. In the wake of these changes, city staff has designed to further encourage affordable housing in this new landscape.
Unlike previous Austin density bonus programs, which focused on specific geographical regions, this new policy applies to commercial and multi-family zones across the city. This broadens the reach of the program, and uses the expanded zoning of SB 840 to vastly expand the number of lots that can take advantage of a density bonus program.
The second main change in the program is to focus on height. Developments that use this new program can select from 0’, 15’, 30’, 45’, and 60’ height increases, depending on what the project needs. In return, the City requires that 10% of units for ownership be affordable to 80% MFI, and 10% of units sold for rental be affordable to 50% MFI.
On May 21st, the Austin City Council passed the plan, with a few changes. They expanded the fee-in-lieu policy, which allows developers to pay a fee to the city instead of offering affordable units, from just the units for sale to both sale and rental units. This money I’ll go to the City of Austin’s affordable housing fund, which will use the earnings to finance low-income rental and ownership.
However, these changes were not without objection. Council Member Mark Duchen of District 10 objected to this policy and its changes. He argued that the final proposal would not guarantee any new affordable housing, and would change the character of local communities. “Not everybody wants to live in mixed-use apartments jammed up against their neighbors,” Duchen said. “The appeal of the city for many is the open space, the clear sky, the quiet leisure of private life.” Duchen was the only member to vote against the proposal.