Senate Bill 840 took effect on Sept. 1, 2025 and reworked how Dallas developed; Apartments no longer needed a zoning change to go up on land zoned for office, retail, commercial, or warehouse use. One analysis put the newly eligible land at roughly 118,000 acres across Dallas County. Fourteen months later, the law is producing more units, but are they easing affordability?
What Dallas gave up and how the law works
SB 840 covers Texas cities of more than 150,000 people in counties of more than 300,000. In those cities, multifamily and mixed-use projects on qualifying commercial land get administrative approval. City planners now leave density on qualifying projects largely to the developer, even where an existing planned development ordinance says otherwise. This is the local-control trade. Council can still negotiate when a developer asks for a rezoning. Council Member Chad West, who has cited the law to support new housing, has also criticized it for overriding agreements the city made with neighborhoods.
1 Year In
Pepper Square is the clearest test. In March 2025, council approved a planned development capping the Preston Road and Belt Line redevelopment at 868 units, after neighbors fought a plan for up to 2,000. This fall, Henry S. Miller and Lincoln Property said they now plan at least 1,050 apartments. City staff expect no new hearing; the change is treated as ministerial. Council Member Bill Roth said it violates the spirit of the agreed PD.
A nine-month report by Texas Appleseed, the American Enterprise Institute and Texans for Reasonable Solutions found two Dallas projects that could not have been permitted before the law: a 14-unit building and a five-unit office conversion. Dallas also reported four permits using the law's 45-foot height allowance on land already zoned for apartments. One is a 40-unit, four-story building on Oram Street that the old 36-foot cap would have blocked. Dallas logged 216 zoning consultations attributed mainly to SB 840, plus 31 predevelopment meetings. It is one of the few cities tracking SB 840 in its permit system. The report credits Dallas with embracing the law while suburbs such as Plano, Frisco, Irving and Arlington added hurdles.
Affordable units, or more units?
SB 840 includes no affordability requirement. Lawmakers omitted it. Statewide, the report counted roughly 170 to 341 affordable units among about 1,686 SB 840-connected units. Most in San Antonio and Austin, where federal funds, tax credits or density bonuses necessarily created affordability. We are short roughly 46,000 affordable rental units, and the Child Poverty Action Lab projects the shortfall will reach 76,100 by 2035.
Supporters offer an alternate view where new market-rate units will ease pressure on older ones. Affordable builders such as Habitat for Humanity backed the law, because commercial zoning had blocked their projects. But supply-driven relief is slow and one year in, SB 840 is producing more units in Dallas, not targeted affordable ones.
What to watch in year two
The Legislature returns in January 2027, and both chambers are reviewing SB 840. Expect suburbs to push for more local say, and the law's backers to push back against rules they call poison pills. Will the city pair the law with tools that turn more units into more units people can afford, such as tying extra height to affordable units? Follow along with DCH for more updates.
