Austin commercial zoning compared: NO, LO, GO, LR, GR, CS
Every commercial district sets a floor-to-area ratio
The most useful single fact about commercial zoning in Austin is the contrast with residential. No single-family or multifamily district sets a FAR at all — that row of §25-2-492 is blank for LA, RR and every SF district. Floor area in those districts comes from Subchapter F or the HOME sections instead.
Commercial is the opposite. Every district carries a figure, and it is the main lever controlling how much building the site takes:
- CR — 0.25:1, the lowest in the table
- NO — 0.35:1
- LR — 0.5:1
- LO — 0.7:1
- GO and GR — 1:1
- CS and CS-1 — 2:1, the highest outside downtown
So on a 5,750 sq ft lot, NO permits about 2,000 sq ft of floor area and CS permits 11,500 — the same land, well over five times the building. Downtown goes further again, at 5:1 in DMU and 8:1 in CBD.
| NO | LO | GO | LR | GR | CS / CS-1 | CR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Min lot size | 5,750 | 5,750 | 5,750 | 5,750 | 5,750 | 5,750 | 20,000 |
| Min lot width | 50 ft | 50 ft | 50 ft | 50 ft | 50 ft | 50 ft | 100 ft |
| Max height | 35 ft or 2 stories | 40 ft or 3 stories | 60 ft | 40 ft or 3 stories | 60 ft | 60 ft | 40 ft |
| Front setback | 25 ft | 25 ft | 15 ft | 25 ft | 10 ft | 10 ft | 50 ft |
| Street side | 15 ft | 15 ft | 15 ft | 15 ft | 10 ft | 10 ft | 50 ft |
| Interior side | 5 ft | 5 ft | 5 ft | — | — | — | 20 ft |
| Rear | 5 ft | 5 ft | 5 ft | — | — | — | 20 ft |
| Building coverage | 35% | 50% | 60% | 50% | 75% | 95% | 25% |
| Impervious cover | 60% | 70% | 80% | 80% | 90% | 95% | 60% |
| Floor-to-area ratio | 0.35:1 | 0.7:1 | 1:1 | 0.5:1 | 1:1 | 2:1 | 0.25:1 |
From §25-2-492. A dash means the table shows no value for that district — not that the figure is zero. Downtown goes considerably further: DMU allows 120 ft and CBD 350 ft, both at 100% building coverage.
The districts form a deliberate gradient
Read across the table and the intent is clear. The districts step from something that sits comfortably in a residential street to something that does not:
- NO (neighborhood office) — 35 ft, two stories, 35% building coverage, 25 ft front setback. Dimensionally this is close to a large house, and that is the point.
- LO / LR (limited office, neighborhood commercial) — 40 ft, three stories, 50% coverage. Still recognisably neighborhood scale.
- GO (general office) — 60 ft, 60% coverage, and the front setback drops to 15 ft.
- GR (community commercial) — 60 ft, 75% coverage, 90% impervious, and only a 10 ft front setback.
- CS / CS-1 (general commercial services) — 60 ft and 95% building coverage. Effectively lot-line to lot-line.
CR (commercial recreation) sits outside the gradient entirely: 20,000 sq ft minimum lot, 100 ft width, 50 ft setbacks and only 25% building coverage — the most spacious district in the table, because it is meant for things like golf courses rather than buildings.
The clear-glass rule — and who it does not protect
§25-2-585 is a small, specific provision aimed at tall commercial buildings overlooking large-lot housing. It applies to a building that is:
- in a GO, LR, CS or CS-1 district;
- adjacent to an LA, RR or SF-1 district; and
- over 35 feet tall.
Where all three hold, two requirements follow: the building's exterior glass must be clear or lightly tinted, and exterior light illuminating the building above the second floor is prohibited.
The mirrored-glass prohibition is about not presenting a reflective wall to a neighborhood; the lighting one is about not floodlighting a tower next to houses.
But note which districts trigger it. LA, RR and SF-1 only — the large-lot districts. A building adjacent to SF-2 or SF-3, where most Austin housing actually is, gets no protection from this section at all. Compatibility standards are what apply there.
Why a residential builder reads this page
Usually not to build in these districts, but to answer the question a client asks when a site next to theirs changes hands: what could go there?
The honest answer is that the base district sets the ceiling and almost everything else pulls it down. Compatibility standards reach 75 feet from a small-scale residential property and cap height at 40 feet within 50 feet of it. A conditional overlay may cut it further. And the permitted use table decides what can operate there at all, which is often the client's real concern rather than the massing.
The one figure worth carrying is NO at 35 feet and 35% coverage. A neighborhood office district next door is dimensionally a large house. CS at 95% coverage is a different proposition entirely, and the distance between those two on the zoning map is often a single parcel.
Common questions
Send us an address and we will tell you what we find
We do this research ourselves on every project we take on — zoning, floodplain, watershed, trees, whether it is a legal lot. Send us an address and we will run it and tell you what we find. It works the same whether you own a vacant lot, a house you are thinking of adding a unit to, or a house you are thinking of replacing. No charge and no strings, and if it is a bad lot we will say so.
Send us an addressWe are homebuilders, not the City of Austin. This page explains how we read the code in practice — it is not legal advice and it is not an official determination. Always confirm with Austin Development Services before you rely on it for a project. The authoritative text is the Austin Land Development Code; permitting questions go to Austin Development Services Department.