Southeast rezoning will allow huge increase in multifamily units
Tuesday, December 17, 2024 by
Jo Clifton Last week, City Council gave final approval to developers who want to demolish 210 aging multifamily residences and replace them with 1,100 new units plus commercial development on Willow Creek Drive near Pleasant Valley Road in Southeast Austin. The 7-acre property at 2201 Willow Creek Drive will go from Multifamily Residence-Medium Density (MF-3) zoning to Community Commercial-Mixed Use-Vertical Density (GR-MU-V-DB90) combining district zoning. The developer is 2201 Willow Partners LLC (Kostas Koutsothanasis).
Developers have committed to helping tenants find new housing and to allow them to return once the new project is complete. That promise is part of their compliance with the city’s Tenant Notification and Relocation Assistance requirements in the Land Development Code, but the commitment goes beyond what the code requires.
Several speakers, including Noah Elias of PODER and Austin ISD, thanked Council Member José Velásquez, whose district includes the site to be redeveloped. Elias said Velásquez had worked “so hard to make sure that both sides came together, reached an agreement and came to a better outcome.” However, he added that during the experience, he and others learned that “we do need adequate relocation services here in Austin so that renters can find an affordable place to go, and they need to include a right to return to housing that is actually affordable to them.”
Alexia LeClercq, an organizer with PODER, continued to outline the agreement made by the developer to assist current tenants. These include help finding new housing. Tenants will receive a $3,000 allowance for moving expenses and the last three months of rent will be waived for those who remain after receiving the move-out notice, she said. They will also receive deposits and pet deposits.
Another activist, Solveij Sol Praxis, told Council that many residents of the current complex have children that go to nearby Linder Elementary School. Teachers and members of the community are deeply concerned about the loss of students due to the demolition, she said. “We are going to have to take responsibility for the actions that we make as a city. When you demolish affordable housing for families, you are setting the stage for AISD schools to also be demolished. This is what happened with Brooke Elementary after the affordable apartments on Lakeshore were demolished.”
She thanked Velásquez, but concluded, “We shouldn’t be continuously fighting to maintain the affordable housing that exists, and we need to ensure that new affordable housing that is for the community and driven by the community” is still available “and that we have an equity overlay to prevent continuous displacement in our communities.”
Bobby Levinski and Chris Page also urged Council to enact an equity overlay. Levinski, speaking for the Save Our Springs Alliance, urged Council to enact such a regulation “so that we focus on development and affordable housing that the community actually needs right now.”
Velásquez said that he had received more “thank yous” for his work on this case than any other zoning case he had worked on. In a discussion with Leah Bojo of the Drenner Group, who represented the developer, Velásquez ran through a list of promises the developer had made in exchange for the DB90 zoning. Perhaps most importantly, he noted that the developer had agreed to replace all of the 210 units that will be demolished with 210 units affordable at 50 percent to 60 percent of the median family income, for 40 years.
Velásquez noted that should the property be sold, Bojo was committed to work with the new owner to make sure that they work with residents. He thanked District 3 residents, Bojo and her client. “I believe this sets a strong tone,” he said. “I believe on the dais we can be pro-housing and anti-displacement, and that remains my focus and commitment to our city.”
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