EPS provides rigorous analysis and insightful solutions to address complex challenges in real estate development, land use policy, and local government finance. We are motivated by the role our work can play in shaping places where people live and we strive to create high-quality urban environments that advance the principles of diversity, resiliency, and shared prosperity.
EPS offers a wealth of experience, robust technical expertise, and the ability to offer insightful solutions to address the challenges and opportunities of urban development.
To incentivize the production of affordable housing and other community benefits, the City of Austin has created over a dozen different density bonus programs over the past 20 years. Some programs apply to properties citywide, while others only pertain to specific districts or corridors. The City was interested in understanding the effectiveness of the various programs, and to refine them to achieve greater utilization by developers.
EPS used long-term parcel-level construction data to evaluate how successful each program has been in changing development patterns and delivering community benefits. EPS also engaged developers, land use attorneys, architects, and engineers to understand their experience using the density bonus programs and suggestions for improvement. In addition, EPS prepared case studies of density bonus programs in major cities throughout the country to explore similarities and differences in their intentions, implementation, and successes.
In February 2025, EPS presented to the City Council’s Housing and Planning Committee our findings and recommendations for improvements to individual programs and the City’s overall approach to density bonuses and community benefits programs. EPS is now assisting the City to amend certain programs, including financial analysis of the tradeoffs between the attainable added density and the cost of providing the community benefits.
On February 5th, South Pasadena City Council voted to adopt an in-lieu fee as part of its inclusionary housing ordinance, effectively moving forward another program of the City’s Housing Element. EPS has been advising the City of South Pasadena on elements of its inclusionary housing ordinance since 2021, including calculating an appropriate fee amount that, under the rules set in the ordinance, could be paid by certain developers to fund the building of affordable housing in-lieu of building affordable units on-site. EPS additionally provided development feasibility analysis that informed revisions to its inclusionary housing ordinance and was integral to the completion and certification of the City’s Housing Element certification. The City is now discussing how best to spend future collected fee revenue to effectively provide more affordable housing for residents and meet the city’s housing goals established under the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) process.
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