A mixed-use project moving through Austin City Hall this week is a case study in how developers navigate the city’s outdated land development code: sometimes by labeling residential projects “industrial.”
Austin-based Manifold Development is seeking to rezone a 1.2-acre parcel at West Sixth and Walsh streets from commercial to light industrial to make way for its 6th & Walsh development, which would bring nearly 300 apartments and 21,000 square feet of retail to the area, the Austin Business Journal reported.
The proposed zoning would allow building heights up to 120 feet, much taller than would otherwise be permitted under the site’s current designation or even the city’s flagship affordable housing incentive program, Density Bonus 90.
City planners opposed the industrial rezoning, citing a lack of required on-site affordable units. But Austin’s Planning Commission recommended approval anyway, and the project is advancing toward a City Council decision.
The light industrial zoning was “just a zoning tool to allow for housing,” said Greg Anderson, a member of the Austin Planning Commission and longtime critic of Austin’s 1980s-era code. “But that’s how backwards things are in Austin, Texas, when it comes to zoning sometimes, because we quite literally have to zone something industrial just to allow housing.”
The city’s outdated framework has led to a patchwork of workarounds, particularly in high-demand areas like Old West Austin.
The density bonus program, meant to incentivize affordable units in taller buildings, caps projects at 90 feet and doesn’t apply to this site. Manifold initially tried to enter the program but pivoted to the industrial designation after talks with the Old West Austin Neighborhood Association.
The resulting compromise would stagger building heights across the site, topping out at 120 feet along Fifth Street and stepping down to 60 feet along West Sixth. The neighborhood association endorsed the plan, citing compatibility with nearby projects like Sixth and Blanco.
To address affordability, Manifold said it’s willing to enter a restrictive covenant to set aside 10 to 12 percent of units at below-market rates.
The case shows just how often developers have been forced to backdoor housing through land-use categories that don’t quite fit.
— Judah Duke
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