Austin’s New Height Incentive Gets its First Test

The City of Austin has an affordable housing shortage. So, they are making a deal with developers. You can build higher than the current zoning as long as you make some of the units affordable. Bouldin Village, a 375-unit apartment development planned on South Lamar Boulevard is the first test case.

Proposed by local real estate firm Narrow Road Group under the guidelines of the new ordinance, the mixed-use project will rise to a height of approximately 87 feet, rather than the usual 60-foot limit, by providing approximately 12 percent of its residences at rental rates affordable to individuals or families earning 60 percent or less of the region’s median family income — as of 2022, that’s up to $46,380 for an individual or $66,180 for a family of four. The unit mix of the community includes 30 studios, 213 one-bedroom, and 127 two-bedroom residences.

Designed by Austin studio Urban Foundry Architecture, the Bouldin Village building also contains nearly 12,000 square feet of office space at ground level.