Preapproved Housing Plans for Missing Middle Housing: A Case Study of the City of Riverside
Missing middle housing—including duplexes, bungalow courts, and other small multifamily forms—can expand housing choice within established neighborhoods. Yet these projects often lack the scale needed to absorb architectural costs, technical review, financing, and development uncertainty. Riverside’s Preapproved Housing Plans for Missing Middle Housing responds to this challenge by investing in reusable plans that give property owners and developers a clearer, more accessible starting point. Adopted by the Riverside City Council in June 2026, the initiative provides preapproved plans for two neighborhood-scale prototypes: a duplex and a bungalow that can be arranged with additional units around a shared courtyard to create a bungalow court. Major architectural and technical components have undergone advance review, reducing work that would otherwise be recreated for each project. Applicants must still satisfy site-specific, zoning, utility, and other requirements, but they can begin with a professionally developed design rather than starting from the group up.