Austin and Travis County commercial land acquisitions

Many sites along Austin's commercial corridors still carry improvements built for an earlier market: single-story retail, low-rise office, service and light industrial buildings on wide surface lots. On some of them the land now carries more value than the building, and the zoning allows more than the use in place. Hardgate Capital underwrites that gap. We underwrite the land, not the building on it.

Our Austin mandate covers infill commercial and industrial parcels, outdated improvement acreage and covered land plays, where existing income carries the site while a redevelopment path is prepared. Existing income is tolerated, not required. We do not pursue single-family lots or residential subdivisions, sites under 3.0 contiguous acres, rural land outside the Austin metro area, or stabilized assets priced on in-place income.

Inside the City of Austin, the base district is the first test. The use table in the Land Development Code (LDC §25-2-491) permits multifamily residential use in the MF-1 through MF-6 districts, in the downtown CBD and DMU districts, and in CH (Commercial Highway Services), and allows it as a conditional use in L (Lake Commercial). Under the city code alone, office and commercial bases such as NO, LO, GO, LR, GR, CS and CS-1 do not permit multifamily use. State law now changes that for many of them, as described below.

Combining districts are the second test. The -MU combining district adds residential uses, including multifamily, to the NO, LO, GO, LR, GR, CS and CS-1 bases. A -V designation allows vertical mixed-use buildings that, when they meet the affordability requirements, are not subject to minimum site area, maximum floor area ratio, building coverage or certain setback limits. DB90, DBETOD and the citywide density bonus (DBC) combining districts adopted in 2026 (LDC §§25-2-652, 25-2-654 and 25-2-656) can add height and waive density and floor area limits in exchange for income-restricted units. A conditional overlay (-CO) can instead limit height, uses or traffic through the tract's own zoning ordinance, and historic designations (-H, -HD) put demolition and alteration under historic review.

Outside city limits the analysis changes. A 2013 Travis County staff memo to the Commissioners Court states that the county has no zoning regulations, and nearby cities such as Round Rock and Pflugerville apply their own codes. We evaluate those sites on utilities, access and the local rules that govern them.

Senate Bill 840, effective September 1, 2025, added Chapter 218 to the Texas Local Government Code. The chapter applies to a city of more than 150,000 people that lies wholly or partly in a county of more than 300,000 (§218.002), and Austin meets both thresholds. In those cities, the city must allow multifamily or mixed-use residential development in any zoning classification that allows office, commercial, retail, warehouse or mixed use, and may not first require a rezoning, variance, conditional use approval or other discretionary approval (§218.101).

For a qualifying project the city may not impose a density limit more restrictive than the greater of the highest residential density allowed in the city or 36 units per acre, or a height limit more restrictive than the greater of the height that would apply to an office, commercial, retail or warehouse building on the site or 45 feet. It may not require more than one parking space per unit or a multilevel parking structure, restrict floor area ratio, or impose setbacks or buffers beyond the lesser of the commercial requirement for the site or 25 feet. A project that meets the applicable regulations is approved administratively (§218.102). As a result, many GR, CS, LO and GO parcels that read as retail or office sites on the map can now support apartments without a rezoning, subject to the exclusions below and the City's other development rules.

The law has limits. It does not apply to a zoning classification that allows heavy industrial use, which on our reading of the Austin use table likely includes LI and MI but not IP; to land within 1,000 feet of an existing heavy industrial use or development site or within 3,000 feet of an airport or military base; or to an area the city has designated as a clear zone or accident potential zone (§218.101(c)). The city also keeps its authority over water quality protection, stormwater mitigation, sewer and water access requirements, building codes and historic preservation (§218.003).

We look at 3.0 to 15.0 contiguous acres at a total value of $10 million to $75 million, held as one parcel or as adjacent parcels that together form one site. Where several owners each hold part of a block, we can structure a joint-venture assemblage or buy each parcel under its own purchase agreement so the combined land reaches a buildable size. These criteria are indicative, and every site is underwritten on its own terms.

We identify Austin sites through our own analysis. We work from public parcel and appraisal-district records joined to the City's published zoning map to find sites where land value and allowed use have moved ahead of the improvements. Zoning, the entitlement path, utilities and comparable land trades are then confirmed in site-level underwriting.

Owners, LLC managers and commercial brokers can submit through the portal on our home page or by email to ashwanth@hardgatecapital.com. Please include the owner or entity name, the Travis Central Appraisal District property ID or street address, acreage, current zoning and improvements, and a price expectation, plus any survey, offering memorandum or letter of intent in hand.

A principal reviews every submission within 24 hours. We then confirm zoning, the entitlement path, utilities and comparable land trades, and qualified sites receive a written letter of intent stating price, deposit and closing timeline. On our representative timeline, title, survey and site diligence run under the letter of intent, the purchase agreement follows with a deposit that is non-refundable at signing, and we target a funded close in 30 to 60 days with no financing contingency. Submissions are kept confidential as described in our Privacy Notice.

This page is general information about Texas and Austin land use rules as of October 2026, not legal advice.