Austin planners have detailed a new citywide strategy to allow taller buildings in various places, in exchange for affordable housing. The proposal responds to direction from City Council last year to revise a similar program, and the impacts of a new state law.

The details: After over a year of sometimes-controversial rezonings and new construction under Austin's "DB90" building program, city planners have proposed a replacement this spring. The citywide density bonus, or DBC, would allow different building heights in different places.

DB90 allowed a blanket 90-foot total of building height for projects that committed to either include some affordable housing, or pay the city fees. Under DBC, additional building height ranging from 0-60 feet beyond current allowances could be tacked on in exchange for affordable housing. City planners said the program's multiple tiers responds to different neighborhood contexts around Austin and a changing housing market.

The Deep Eddy Vodka Tasting Room in Dripping Springs will close its doors in June after over a decade.

The big picture: Deep Eddy has maintained a presence in Dripping Springs since 2014, when the space opened as a distillery, before transitioning into a tasting room in 2019. 

The distillery in Buda will remain open, and the company will continue to attend local events in Austin, according to the website.

• Closing June 13
• 2250 Hwy. 290, Dripping Springs

The $180 million St. David’s South Austin Medical Center expansion broke ground March 2, ahead of construction on the project’s four-story patient tower later this year.

The details: The new tower will include a 30-bed patient care unit, a 20-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit, four new operating rooms with shell space for future OR expansion, an eight-bed pre- and post-surgical unit, a seven-bay post-anesthesia care unit, and new lobby and waiting areas. The development will also feature new utility infrastructure, a sterile processing department and shell space for future additions.

Quote of note: “As South Austin continues to grow, we’re responding with an investment that expands access to surgical, rehabilitation and inpatient care, while strengthening the infrastructure that supports our clinical teams,” hospital CEO Charles Laird said in a statement.

Check out six upcoming or ongoing transportation projects across the Austin metro.

Upcoming projects
183A Toll at Scottsdale Drive dedicated U-turn
Project: This project will shift through-lanes west and construct a new right-turn lane at Scottsdale Drive.
Update: Plans that include the first 30% of the design process are being reviewed.

• Timeline: expected completion winter 2027

• Cost: $1.3 million

• Funding source: 2022 transportation bond

Ongoing projects
Austin to shutter South Terminal as airport expansion continues; future Concourse M designs revealed
The South Terminal at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport officially shut down March 31 after less than a decade in operation.

The auxiliary terminal will be demolished to make way for new midfield taxiways as part of the multiyear Journey with AUS campus expansion. That includes the addition of the 26-gate Concourse B with a new connecting tunnel to the existing Barbara Jordan Terminal, and the development of a temporary six-gate southern terminal called Concourse M.