As the city’s recently activated Economic Development Corporation takes its first significant steps to preserve creative spaces, the local real estate and development community is starting to explore ways to partner and bring arts and music uses into new and existing projects. While there were no specific details of the discussions taking place behind the […]
Planning
Posted inPlanning
Opera house redevelopment project gets first OK
City Council unanimously approved the first reading of the proposed zoning change to three tracts just east of South Congress Avenue while signaling that there is much negotiating and bargaining awaiting the project, which aims to revive part of the Austin Opera House property as a music venue. The owners of the three tracts, known […]
Posted inPlanning
Landmark commission approves ‘Keep Austin Weird’ sculpture
The Historic Landmark Commission approved plans for a public artwork installation on the southwest corner of Sixth Street and Congress Avenue this past Monday, but not before a heated dispute over the piece’s cultural merit. Plans for the statue, a 12-foot optical illusion that, from the proper vantage point, reads “Keep Austin Weird,” came before […]
Posted inPlanning
Experiment in car-free housing pays off for East Austin project
Can car-free housing work in Austin? If a proposed project in East Austin is any indication, the answer is yes. Those willing to ditch their cars have lined up to buy a unit in the Ivory, a mostly income-restricted project at 1309 Chicon St. Though construction is not yet underway, all but five of the […]
Posted inPlanning
MACC expansion plans headed for review
City leaders are getting an up-close look this week at the project details for the long-planned expansion of the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center. The Design and the Hispanic/Latino Quality of Life Resource Advisory commissions are slated to take presentations on the expansion, which adds roughly 68,500 square feet to the 36,000-square-foot facility […]
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Six months in, Safer Sixth Street initiative continues
At this week’s meeting, the Downtown Commission established a working group to help think through and execute the Safer Sixth Street initiative, which has been in the works for about six months. The project, which came about after a mass shooter killed one and injured more than a dozen other people last June, includes a number […]
Posted inPlanning
Southwest HEB location promises environmental stewardship of Hill Country
A new HEB is on the horizon for Southwest Austin. The store will open its doors sometime this year to the stretch of Hill Country bordered by Oak Hill to the east and Dripping Springs to the west – but first, site developers must compromise with the city to accommodate the area’s environmental regulations. After […]
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City works to resolve decadelong feud over Crestview gate
The Austin Transportation Department closed a chapter of Crestview history last Thursday, passing to City Council its recommendation to permanently remove the infamous gate blocking vehicle access from Easy Wind Drive to Morrow Street. The gate, the subject of a decade of neighborhood squabbling, dates back to a 2011 zoning change to placate residents concerned […]
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Project Connect team unveils report on anti-displacement strategy
Project Connect is one step closer to realizing its $7.1 billion public transportation investment, after a report outlining plans for the $300 million set aside for anti-displacement programs was completed last Thursday. The report, developed by a team of impacted community members and city staffers, describes a racial equity anti-displacement tool designed to direct and […]
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ZAP members OK ‘spot zoning’ for ADU
Last Tuesday, the Zoning and Platting Commission heard what may be one of the last requests to build an accessory dwelling unit on a Single Family Residence-Standard (SF-2) lot after City Council resolved to allow ADUs in such spots in December. When Cody Carr, founding partner of Carr Residential, requested a rezoning to build an ADU […]
Posted inPlanning
Council moves toward creating South Central Waterfront TIRZ
At its final meeting of the year, City Council gave preliminary approval for the South Central Waterfront tax increment reinvestment zone, or TIRZ in city parlance. Council members Leslie Pool and Greg Casar did not participate in the Dec. 20 meeting, but the rest of the members voted for the plan unanimously. Council unofficially adopted […]
Posted inPlanning
Exact shape of South Central Waterfront TIRZ in limbo
After a lengthy and complicated discussion at Tuesday’s work session, City Council directed Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo to advertise a new public hearing about the long-awaited tax increment reinvestment zone for the old Austin American-Statesman site and surrounding areas, known as the South Central Waterfront area. Of course, there has already been at […]