
Welcome to Ultraground. We carve the zoning turkey for you.
December 01
560-Unit Mixed-use
1,300-Unit PUD
Relaxed Missing Middle Requirements
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St. Johns Site
District 4 St. John | 19.11 acres | 560 Units | Reading: ① - ② - ③
This 19.11-acre tract of land along IH-35 has been proposed to be developed into 280 affordable housing units, 280 market-rate housing units, and 15,000 square feet of commercial use.

St. John/Coronado Hills neighborhood plan FLUM


After two years of community engagement, the City of Austin issued an RFP to find a development partner to realize the new community vision. Greystar Development Central, LLC was chosen and an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement was executed on April 13, 2022 to negotiate the terms of a Master Development Agreement.
Developer: City of Austin, Greystar
We've covered the next two before, so we are going to brief bullets.
Statesman PUD
District 9 South River City | 19 Acres | 3.5M SF | 3,981 Spaces | Reading: ① - ② - ③
Endeavor's Statesman PUD is approved on third reading.
3.5M SF and up 1,378 residential units move closer to breaking ground along the Colorado River. We covered this project previously here and here.
Topics
Remove reflectivity code modification.
If Project Connect builds across Lady Bird lake - now "public transit" not "light rail."
Hotel Issue (Pulled for discussion).
Dark skies arrangement - allow for an exception for tree lights.
Allowed 3 temporary COs until Barton Springs Rd is constructed.
6:1 FAR based on total acreage, plus 200' of height.
Prohibit type 1 and type 2 STRs, limit type 3s to %10
The details of the project will be further expanded on. Keep an eye out for a special report.
Developer: Endeavor
Crux Climbing
District 2 South Austin | 27,000 SF | 4,000 SF Commercial | Reading: ① - ② - ③
Rezoning for 27,000 SF rock climbing gym and 4,000 SF commercial; CO limits height to 50' w/ 30' buffer to SFR.
Updates
Motion sheet added: no permit if trips exceed 1000 per day.
The first time we covered this project is here.


4833 Spicewood Springs
District 10 Northwest Austin | 1.146 Acres | Reading: ① - ② - ③
See the project progression below.

2021
Seeking LO-MU to build 20 Units
↓
05/2022
Seeking LO-MU-CO with limit of 14 units
↓
10/2022
Only tract 2 rezone from SF-3 to LO

The Zimmerman
District 10 | 32 Units | 7.63 Acres | Reading: ① - ② - ③
The Zoning and Platting Commission voted to reduce the size from 150 units to 32 units. This decision was made due to concerns about an endangered salamander and a Golden-cheeked Warbler.
The project will now be classified as a "transition to multifamily" due to the reduction in size and the potential impact it could have on the local wildlife.
Owner: Udaya and Uma Kumar

Site Plan Lite
Citywide
Council initiated a huge win for missing middle housing.
This resolution, called Site Plan Lite, does two things to make site plan review easier for missing middle housing.
First, it adds triplexes and fourplexes to the same review requirements as residential. That means that there's no site plan required. For 5 to 16-unit developments, there is a "Site Plan Lite” review with easier requirements.

"Let's make fourplexes and sixplexes and rowhomes sprout up.."
Key Point: this does not alter the zoning. It is simply altering the requirements of the site plan as it relates to parking, tree removal, Street Impact Fees (SIF), drainage and water quality, parkland dedication, and utilities.
Mayor Pro Tem Alter raised concerns about altering the parkland dedication and the tree removal review. This was seconded by other members of the Council. Since it "tailors" but doesn't remove the requirements, the resolution was approved.
This was just to initiate the code change. It will come back to Council next year in an ordinance.
Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 19
Lady Bird Lake
The City of Austin proposes to amend Reinvestment Zone No. 19 to finance the construction of public improvements for the South Central Waterfront Project. The total estimated cost for the improvements is $354,614,211 and will include new and refurbished roadway, drainage, streetscapes, open spaces, utilities, and green infrastructure. The improvements will be phased in tiers based on property tax revenue projections, financing capacity, and priority of need.
The boundaries of the zone have been amended, the financing plan includes affordable housing as a tier one improvement, and the tax increment of the captured increment of City property taxes has been increased to 46%. That means 46% of the incremental revenue will go to the TIRZ.
Reminder: TIRZ helps build roads and infrastructure with government money.
This passes 7-3-1

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