Senate Bill 840, which was preliminarily approved by the state House, would allow residential construction in areas previously zoned for offices and commercial uses.
A proposed Texas state bill, Senate Bill 840, would allow housing construction along retail and commercial corridors. The bill would let property owners build residential units on land previously zoned for commercial or office uses without rezoning.
“There’s broad support among Texas voters for allowing more homes in business and shopping districts and vacant office and commercial buildings to become homes, a recent poll conducted by YouGov and Texans for Housing found.”
According to reporting by Joshua Fechter in The Texas Tribune, “The bill would only apply to Texas’ largest cities. It’s limited to cities that have a population greater than 150,000 people that sit in a county with at least 300,000 residents.”
Housing experts estimate Texas’s need for new housing at roughly 320,000 units. Lawmakers have also introduced bills that would allow smaller lots and ADUs and streamline permitting.
FULL STORY: Vacant offices, strip malls may get new life as housing in Texas’ largest cities
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