DALLAS — Until last month, if a developer wanted to build a run-of-the-mill apartment complex in Irving, that building could reach up to three stories and had to have plentiful places for kids to run around.
Now, that apartment complex must have eight floors. It must include a swimming pool, a dog park, a gym and a workspace for remote workers. Builders must also pick from a menu of amenities to add, such as a yoga room, a place to wash pets or cars or a station for cyclists to repair their bikes.
The Irving City Council enacted those rules in August on the eve of a new state law intended to force Texas’ largest cities and suburbs to allow more apartments and mixed-use developments to be built. Texas lawmakers passed that law this year as part of a slate of bills aimed at putting a dent in the state’s high home prices and rents, mainly by overriding local rules to allow more homes to be built…