Browsing by Subject "Affordability unlocked"

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Making “plexible” projects possible : addressing barriers to stacked flats in Austin
(2022-05-04) Banker, Courtney W.; Wegmann, Jake
As the city’s population grows and a new transit network comes to fruition, Austin needs not only more housing, but also more types of housing that support walkable, transit-friendly, and equitable neighborhoods, and that are available at all ranges of prices. Part of the strategy for providing such variety includes fostering missing middle housing (MMH): a spectrum of housing types between detached single-family homes and large apartment complexes. Previous efforts to revise the city’s land development code tried to foster MMH. While much literature and many precedents exist regarding duplex, accessory dwelling unit, and townhome MMH types, little precedent exists for creating small-scale, stacked flats in Austin such as 6- and 12-plexes. This report builds on prior efforts to promote MMH in Austin, leverages interviews with 23 local and national experts, and employs financial modeling of for-rent projects to identify the key barriers facing stacked flats. Interviewees stressed that zoning, permitting, and other regulations (e.g., single-family compatibility, impervious cover restrictions, heritage tree protections, etc.) inhibit MMH and stacked flats. Such projects would benefit from relaxed regulations around impervious cover, a less burdensome and less expensive site plan review process, eliminated parking requirements, and more thorough reviews of the aggregate impacts City regulations have on housing supply and affordability. For Affordability Unlocked projects, additional recommended changes include tying development waivers to the least restrictive development regulation applicable. I find that stacked flats do not seem viable as market-rate rental developments given current market conditions, but that they may be viable as affordable rental housing or as for-sale condos.