While large apartment complexes continue to rise across the city, officials said there are not enough single-family housing options.
AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin City Council on Thursday approved a zoning measure intended to expand “missing middle” housing and increase opportunities for mixed‑use development across the city.
City leaders said the plan is designed to support smaller-scale housing and neighborhood-level retail, addressing what they describe as an imbalance in Austin’s current development patterns. While large apartment complexes continue to rise across the city, officials said there are not enough single-family housing options.
District 8 Council Member Paige Ellis, who sponsored the resolution, told KVUE that Austin has lacked “missing middle” housing, such as duplexes and townhomes, for more than 40 years. A recent study found that only about 3% of the city’s current housing stock falls within the 3‑to‑16‑unit range.
City leaders said these housing types, along with mixed‑use buildings, can help create walkable, transit‑oriented neighborhoods and provide more attainable options for first‑time buyers, families and seniors.
“But in a district like mine, we also actually see when folks are ready to retire and downsize, there’s nowhere for them to go other than big houses or to another community entirely,” Ellis said. “So I want to make sure people can stay close to those support networks, near their churches, near their doctor’s office, near their friends, and to make sure that as people age, they can do so in place.”
The resolution also supports mixed‑use development, which Ellis said would allow ground‑floor retail with smaller residential units above, potentially enabling residents to operate a small business while living on‑site.
With the council’s approval, the city will now begin the process of creating new zoning districts. Council members said discussions about where the new zones will be located will take place later in the process.