Eureka Holdings right-of-way acquisition moves forward despite neighborhood objections

Homewood Heights residents took an unusual approach to resist development this past Tuesday, requesting that the Urban Transportation Commission reject a right-of-way vacation on an unmaintained and unused street.

Despite concerns the vacation would reinforce hazardous traffic conditions, the commission recommended approving the application to vacate the section of Harvey Street in a 6-0-1 vote, with Commissioner Samuel Franco abstaining. With the approval of over a dozen other city departments under its belt, applicant Eureka Holdings appears on its way to securing ownership of the tract, which bisects its holdings along the block between Sol Wilson and 12th streets.

“Vacations come to the Urban Transportation Commission fairly often, and it is frankly quite rare to have multiple citizens show up to oppose them,” Commission Chair Mario Champion noted.

At the top of a laundry list of grievances were concerns that Eureka Holdings had disregarded and even obstructed the neighborhood’s efforts to improve surrounding street infrastructure. Residents complained that the developer had begun constructing a fence preventing the installation of badly needed sidewalks on Oak Grove and Sol Wilson streets. 

“With no sidewalks, pedestrians are forced into the street to get to and from school bus stops, Oak Springs Elementary, CAN Academy High School, and surrounding stores,” said Scott Collier, who lives across the street from the proposed vacation.

“Sidewalks absent from Oak Grove and Sol Wilson have been labeled high priorities,” said neighbor Christopher Paige, referring to a study conducted by Public Works in 2017. “We have been assured that this infrastructure is in the early stages of planning … to endorse a development that has fundamentally blocked this installation is outrageous to me.”

Real estate attorney Pamela Madere, speaking on the applicant’s behalf, denied the accusations. “I personally reached out to the city and they said there were no immediate plans to develop sidewalks in this budget cycle,” Madere said. “There has been a problem with dumping bulk trash on the property’s curb, which is why they didn’t set the fence back farther. The property owner has no objections to sidewalks as the property develops.”

Eureka Holdings has raised eyebrows over the past few years with its rapid acquisition of real estate along 12th Street, an East Austin corridor historically associated with Austin’s black community. As of October 2020, the developer has purchased over four dozen properties, including the historic I.Q. Hurdle House. This concentration of ownership, along with Eureka’s silence on the topic of development plans, has made neighbors uneasy.

While sympathetic to neighborhood anxieties, the Urban Transportation Commission ultimately decided the concerns were beyond its purview. “We often try to use new development as an opportunity to get the city to do things that we’ve been asking of them, but it’s not always the best vehicle,” Champion said. “I would encourage you to contact the Transportation Department separately about your grievances.”

Eureka’s plans for the Harvey Street plot remain unknown, but it’s certainly expected that neighbors will put up a fight. “I don’t think it’s credible to claim that there is no plan for this property,” said a defeated Collier. “I’m afraid we’re in the beginning of a process where the city no longer has control.”

The right-of-way vacation will move on to City Council for final approval.

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Posted In: Planning, District 1