austin · small sites · september 2026

does this site pencil?

type the lot, the cost and the rent. the page draws the massing those numbers imply and says whether the yield on cost clears the hurdle. change anything; the drawing and the verdict follow.

every default below is an assumption, not a fact. the lot, the setbacks, the coverage cap, the efficiency, the unit size, the hard cost, the soft cost, the land price, the rent, the vacancy, the operating ratio, the cap rate and the spread are all placeholders that make the page work on first load. none of them describe a real site or a real austin market quote. the four checks at the bottom are sourced (cited on each card); the parking and site plan lite cards are checked against city documents, the spread and efficiency cards are rules of thumb and say so.

inputs

lot width (ft)street frontage

lot depth (ft)front to rear

front setback (ft)

side setback (ft)each side

rear setback (ft)

storiesmax 5 here

lot coverage cap (%)of lot area

efficiency (%)net rentable of gross

average unit (sf)net rentable per unit

hard cost ($/sf)per gross sf

soft cost (% of hard)

land cost ($)

rent ($/sf/month)per net sf

vacancy (%)

operating expense (%)of effective income

exit cap rate (%)

target spread (bps)yield over cap rate

the answer

what the numbers draw

site plan

lot, setbacks, and the footprint that is left

section

stories stacked, net rentable against gross

the arithmetic

line	value	how

how fragile is it

yield on cost when rent and hard cost each move ten percent. the middle cell is the base case.

rent \ hard cost	hard cost -10%	base	hard cost +10%

checks - the assumptions behind the answer

read this before using any of it

the question is always the same. someone owns a lot, or is about to, and wants to know what it can hold and whether the numbers work. that answer needs a drawing and a number. they usually come from two firms, on two timelines, for two fees, and by the time both arrive the deal has moved.

turnaround is the product. not the drawing on its own and not the estimate on its own, but the fact that both come back in days with no firm to spin up. a designer who can read the zoning and draw the answer, working with a cost estimator who can price it, is the whole service.

this page is the front door, not the answer. it shows the shape of the argument in thirty seconds. the real answer needs the real lot, the real zoning, a real cost quote, real rent comps, and a drawing that has been looked at by someone who has built one. if the defaults here made you curious, that is what the page is for.