With little fanfare Thursday, City Council, acting as the board of the Austin Housing Finance Corporation, approved using Project Connect anti-displacement dollars for the first time to purchase apartment complexes for low-income residents. The two complexes AHFC will acquire are at 615 W. St. Johns Ave. and 2000 Woodward St. In order to purchase the […]
District 3
Posted inTransportation
Council votes to replace destroyed pedestrian bridge in Roy G. Guerrero Park
In a popular East Austin park, a sidewalk leads off a cliff down a steep, rocky bank. Across the ravine, the sidewalk continues as if it were daring people to make an impossible leap. A pedestrian bridge used to connect the sidewalks in Roy G. Guerrero Park over a flood bypass channel known officially as […]
Posted inZoning
Montopolis project gets Council go-ahead
City Council approved a rezoning Thursday that will bring affordable housing for women and children experiencing homelessness to the Montopolis neighborhood. The rezoning from Family Residence (SF-3-NP) to Multifamily-Moderate Density (MF-4-NP), which Council approved on all three readings, will allow approximately 75 homes on a 3-acre site at 1013 and 1017 Montopolis Drive. Twenty percent […]
Posted inDevelopment
Setback controversy delays East Austin townhomes
A developer planning to build seven townhomes in the Chestnut neighborhood ran into opposition April 12, as neighbors and members of the Planning Commission opposed a request to build closer to single-family homes than allowed by city code. Developer Urban Gravity hopes the city will approve a 5-foot setback from adjacent homes instead of the […]
Posted inZoning
Council approves St. Elmo zoning with promise of affordable housing
City Council gave its final blessing Thursday for a new multifamily complex in the St. Elmo area as developers promised that 10 percent of the 370 rental units would be affordable for families earning 60 percent of the median family income. They also promised that 10 percent of units for sale would be offered at […]
Posted inZoning
Over 200 affordable homes planned on city-owned property in East AustinÂ
An affordable housing project called the Libertad is set to bring over 200 affordable homes to city-owned property in East Austin. The project at 900 Gardner Road will be built on a vacant, 8.5-acre slice of a larger property that is home to the Austin Animal Center, among other city organizations, as well as nonprofit […]
Posted inDevelopment
Council OKs 85-foot height for Plaza Saltillo area lot
City Council gave first reading approval last week for a request to rezone a property at 1400 E. Fourth St., within the Plaza Saltillo transit-oriented development plan for the area. The applicant requested to increase the allowed height of a proposed office building on the site from 40 to 85 feet. City staff and the […]
Posted inZoning
Planning Commission dims owner’s hopes of turning plant nursery into housing
The Planning Commission threw a wrench into an East Austin business owner’s plans to cash out on his property and allow it to be developed, voting Tuesday against removing a restrictive covenant that prohibits anything but a plant nursery. The owners of the longtime tree nursery Ted’s Trees hope eventually to let the land be […]
Posted inCity Council
Pio Renteria: Seven years in office and 71 years in District 3
City Council Member Pio Renteria recalls the time when he was able to purchase his East Austin home for just over $20,000. Now he’s received an offer to sell it for nearly a million. As a lifelong resident of East Austin, Renteria has experienced the whirlwind of change undergone by District 3 firsthand. Though it […]
Posted inZoning
520-unit multifamily project on the way to St. Elmo area
Eight acres of vacant land in South Austin may soon turn into 520 apartments and condos. The Planning Commission Tuesday recommended a zoning change for the project at 4700 Weidemar Lane, but not before addressing neighbors’ concerns about the rerouting of a natural gas line as part of the development. The applicant, Alice Glasco on […]
Posted inEnvironment
New expansion plan helps food forest put down roots
Just across Interstate 35, tucked away from the busy streets and towering skyscrapers of downtown Austin, is a small green oasis called the Festival Beach Food Forest. Visitors can walk the trails just off Lady Bird Lake, picking – and eating – fresh fruit and vegetables along the way. According to a new conceptual plan approved […]
Posted inPreservation
Montopolis school for Black students reopened its doors as neighborhood fights for preservation
Montopolis Negro School, a segregation-era grade school for Black children, reopened its doors on Saturday, welcoming Montopolis residents new and old, including some former students, back to an alma mater that hasn’t operated as a school in 60 years. The Parks and Recreation Department hosted the open house to give community members an opportunity to […]