Redevelopment of East Austin dairy plant gets Planning Commission approval

A dairy plant in East Austin could soon be redeveloped into a massive mixed-use project, pending the outcome of a zoning change request.

Developer Endeavor Real Estate plans to build 1,400 multifamily units, a 220-room hotel, 411,500 square feet of offices, 66,000 square feet of restaurant space and 40,000 square feet of retail on the 21-acre Borden dairy plant site at 71 Strandtman Cove in the Govalle/Johnston Terrace neighborhood.

On Tuesday, the rezoning necessary for the project to move forward received initial approval from the Planning Commission.

The rezoning, which will now head to City Council for final approval, adds the Planned Development Area (PDA) designation to the site’s current Limited Industrial (LI-CO-NP) zoning, allowing a mix of uses and taller buildings.

The commission voted 10-3 to recommend the rezoning with certain conditions. Commissioners Awais Azhar, Jennifer Mushtaler and Grayson Cox voted against.

Those conditions limit building height to 120 feet and impervious cover to 75 percent of the site. In addition, they require buildings to be set back 60 feet from the adjoining Colorado River Park Wildlife Sanctuary.

Land use attorney Richard Suttle, representing Endeavor, said that taller buildings make sense for the site, since there are no homes next to the property. “If not here, then where?” he said.

The project will also include affordable housing. Suttle outlined two options: Endeavor could price 10 percent of the units for those making 60 percent of the median family income and donate $500 per unit to anti-displacement nonprofit East Austin Conservancy, or it could price 10 percent of units at 80 percent MFI and donate $1,000 per unit. State law, however, prohibits the commission or City Council from requiring affordable housing as part of a rezoning request. 

Traffic proved a key concern for the three speakers in opposition on Tuesday. An analysis showing that the development could bring 21,875 new daily car trips drew concerns that existing streets like East Cesar Chavez and East Fifth won’t be able to handle all the new traffic. 

Speakers also expressed concern over how the project would contribute to gentrification. “This is definitely a gentrification project, and one that will set the precedent going along the Colorado River,” said Susana Almanza, director of environmental justice group PODER and a member of the Govalle/Johnston Terrace Neighborhood Plan Contact Team.

Daniel Llanes, the contact team’s president, said the group voted to only support a project with a 75-foot height limit and a maximum 65 percent impervious cover. 

Commissioners opposed to the rezoning said that the process seemed rushed, and that the rezoning should have gone through the more elaborate Planned Unit Development (PUD) process.

“This should be a PUD – it’s bigger than the Statesman site; it’s a huge change in use and intensity,” Mushtaler said, referring to the 305 South Congress PUD approved by Council last year. She added that LI-PDA zoning seemed like a shortcut. 

Despite the concerns, most commissioners indicated their support for more housing and mixed-use development on the site.

“This is such an amazing location that I’m glad to watch it no longer be (Limited Industrial),” Commissioner Greg Anderson said. “And I’m really excited to see a lot of housing get built in a part of Austin that is just as desperate for housing as most other parts of Austin.”

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Posted In: Zoning, District 3