Urban Renewal Board makes pick for Council from two redevelopment plans for Blocks 16 and 18

A plan that looks to combine housing, retail, restaurants and assorted cultural facilities has received an important vote of support in the effort to redevelop two signature blocks of East Austin.

On Monday, the Urban Renewal Board voted 4-1 to recommend the Pleasant Hill Collaborative development plan to City Council as the preferred package for Blocks 16 and 18 on East 11th Street. That plan, which is composed of professionals from Servitas LLC and the Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corporation, was one of two under consideration to remake the area that has been eyed for redevelopment for roughly three decades.

City Council is expected to consider the matter on July 18, which would lead to the start of entering into an exclusive negotiating agreement with PHC.

That plan would incorporate the Historic Victory Grill music venue as well as an unspecified African American cultural and heritage facility, multifamily housing, live/work townhomes, and assorted hospitality and cultural venues on the two blocks.

Community feedback and City Council resolutions in recent years had identified a number of important pieces for possible inclusion in the two blocks. Among those were housing, creative and cultural spaces, retail that met the area’s needs, and preservation of relevant existing landmarks and businesses.

Manuel Escobar, chair of URB, said the board tried to take all that feedback into consideration when evaluating the two proposals. Also important was the feasibility of both plans, especially given high inflation and borrowing costs.

“There’s only a certain number of acres that are out there. And trying to balance everything and trying to deliver on some of those things, we took that obligation very seriously, trying to consider all those things,” he said. “Nobody has an expectation that what’s been proposed is exactly what’s going to end up on the ground, because that’s just not the way these things are working. But we’re comfortable with what’s being proposed right now. That is going to deliver on a number of things that I think this community has wanted for a very long time.”

Board Member Darrell Pierce, who voted against the PHC recommendation, said the community discussions around how to redevelop the two blocks has been ongoing for so long that there’s a risk some top priorities from years or decades ago have become entrenched even though they might no longer reflect the needs of the area in the future.

“Oftentimes we’re talking about how to either preserve East Austin, or we’re talking about how to preserve the history, the landmarks, the residents that at one time stayed in the community and businesses that were very vibrant,” he said. “The challenge you have with these developments that have been very slow in coming, that oftentimes we find ourselves in what we’re developing, we have to all ask ourselves a question, who will actually be the benefactors?”

Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison, whose district includes the two blocks, said the selection includes the many considerations and priorities included in rounds of community feedback held in recent years regarding the two blocks and the larger district.

“I am excited to see that the Urban Renewal Board’s decision has been shaped by our community’s valuable input and that this historic project can proceed,” she said via email. “As we move into the next steps, there will be further opportunities for public input and updates on the negotiations. I look forward to the City Council’s review and vote to carry out our shared vision of equitable, community-centered, amenity-rich development that meets both the cultural and quality-of-life needs of its surrounding communities and this city.”

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Posted In: Planning, District 1