Developer expects to reach agreement for Crestview project this fall

The firm selected to lead in the redevelopment of a former utility yard in Crestview doesn’t expect the city’s recent changes to land use for transit-oriented developments to impact its plans for the site that has long been earmarked for substantial new housing.

In May, the Austin Housing Finance Corporation voted to pursue a development agreement with DMA Development Company LLC, with the goal of bringing 300 units of housing and a park to the 5.4-acre site on Ryan Drive near the Crestview Station transit hub. That contract is still in negotiations, with company leaders expecting to come to an agreement by the fall.

The city’s request for qualifications for the site spelled out minimum requirements for interested firms, with DMA earning the top score from Housing Department staff. Another requirement for the site is to make half the units affordable to those earning 50 percent to 80 percent of the area’s median family income, with the rest priced up to 120 percent of MFI.

Janine Sisak, senior vice president for DMA, said the site’s location near transit had already given it the characteristics and considerations needed for a transit-oriented development project, also called a TOD, with the city’s Affordability Unlocked initiative offering the additional financial help needed to make half of the units affordable.

“It’s already in a transit-oriented district which allows for the needed development incentives, and then we will also use the Affordability Unlocked program. So I don’t think any from the new HOME initiative or any of the stuff that City Council has passed or is considering in the last 6 to 12 months affects the site for us,” Sisak said, noting that DMA is still working to determine what state and other tax credits it could qualify for. “We will leave no stone unturned in looking for outside-of-the-box solutions to accessing financing in this difficult economic climate.”

The company recently met with members of the Austin Housing Finance Corporation to present different financing scenarios under consideration for the Ryan Drive site.

Last June, the city terminated its agreement with 3423 Holdings LLC, the company selected in 2021 to redevelop the site.

Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Pool, who is finishing her final Council term this year, has said for years that she hopes to see work on the Ryan Drive site underway before she leaves office. At the May meeting to approve DMA as the potential master developer for the project, she said the city was ready to regroup and move forward.

“I first started imagining what this might look like back in 2014 when I was but a candidate for Council. So here we are 10 years later,” she said. “It’s an important development that we’re looking at here. Crestview Station serves as an important transit hub for my district and will eventually be expanded with the extension of Project Connect’s blue line. There’s a perfect opportunity for more affordable homes, new neighbors.”

The selection of DMA did come with some objections from the community, with advocates for senior housing preferring a plan from Pennrose LLC that included some units for seniors as a possible use.

“Thoughtful developers have included us in their real estate development plans,” said Carol Lilly, a member of Boomers Collaborative Foundation. “Now, just as we have another developer willing to work with us, we again find ourselves facing disappointment. TODs and ETODs are ideal residential locations for a population group that increasingly cannot or should not drive, but who still need to run errands and attend doctor’s appointments.”

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Posted In: Development, District 7