Capacity is created by states and administered by cities

Since 2023, state legislatures have created more multifamily capacity than most local rezonings: apartments on commercial land, near transit, and on sites zoned for single units. The capacity is set in the state capitol; what a site can actually do depends on how its city administers the law.

Multifamily on commercial land

• Florida's Live Local Act requires cities and counties to allow qualifying rental multifamily on land zoned commercial, industrial or mixed use, with at least 40 percent of the units affordable for 30 years (Fla. Stat. 166.04151(7) and 125.01055(7)).
• Texas SB 840 (2025) requires large cities to allow multifamily or mixed-use residential on sites zoned for office, commercial, retail, warehouse or mixed use, at state minimums for density and height (Tex. Loc. Gov't Code ch. 218).
• Arizona HB 2110 (2025) requires cities of 150,000 or more to allow multifamily or adaptive reuse on at least 10 percent of their existing commercial, office and mixed-use parcels, under objective standards and without a public hearing.

Multifamily near transit

California's SB 79 sets minimum densities and heights near qualifying transit stops (Gov. Code 65912.157), and Massachusetts requires MBTA communities to zone for multifamily by right near transit (M.G.L. c. 40A, s. 3A). Washington's HB 1110 and HB 1491 add middle housing and station-area housing.

Administered city by city

Each law leaves the city to apply it: Los Angeles has temporarily exempted every parcel from SB 79 while San Diego applies it on a mapped set of sites; Miami reads Live Local height by a comparator rule. The same statute yields a different building in each city, which is why each site is read under its own city's implementation.

Questions

Which states allow apartments on commercial land by state law?

Among them Florida (Live Local Act), Texas (SB 840, 2025) and Arizona (HB 2110, 2025), each with its own conditions, and California through AB 2011 on commercial corridors.

Sources