Even though they expressed a wide variety of opinions on the East Fourth Street zoning case, City Council members voted unanimously on first reading Thursday to grant a 60-foot height on the proposed office building and sent the developer off for more discussions with the East Cesar Chavez neighborhood. Attorney Michael Whellan of Armbrust & […]
East Austin
East Austin is the quadrant of Austin that, generally speaking, is east of IH-35.
Posted inZoning
Commission split on CURE rezone east of I-35
A rezoning application for several properties on East Fourth Street is moving forward to City Council with no recommendation after a divided discussion at the Planning Commission’s Nov. 14 meeting on the appropriateness of the central urban redevelopment (CURE) combining district on the central east side. Council passed a resolution at its Oct. 19 meeting […]
Posted inHousing
East Austin community looks to AISD for affordable housing
At a September meeting of the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees, almost half of the public comments weren’t about academic issues. Instead, they were about housing. Students, parents, teachers and other community members were asking the board to create affordable housing at the former Allan Elementary School on the east side. It wasn’t […]
Posted inHousing
A new development is bringing ‘micro-units’ to East Austin
A new development going up in East Austin hopes to provide a more affordable option for home ownership. The Fourth & condos in East Austin feature what are called “micro-units,” efficiency apartments that span just a few hundred square feet. “It is laid out to where you have a living space, you have a bookshelf […]
Posted inParks
Austin Energy to turn over Holly Power Plant site by December
The bitter reminder of decades of pollution that the Holly Street Power Plant presents to the residents of the Holly neighborhood will soon disappear. As of the Parks and Recreation Board meeting on Sept. 26, the plant is in its final phase of decommissioning before the land will be transferred from Austin Energy into the […]
Posted inPlanning
Commission recommends East 12th stay on urban renewal course
No speedometer exists for the vehicle of urban renewal, so the Planning Commission at its Sept. 12 meeting had to rely on guesswork to decide whether sections of the booming East 12th Street corridor should maintain their current pace of redevelopment or if they should be slowed down to accommodate one adjacent neighborhood. In the […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Austinites call for halt, and a vote, on CodeNEXT
Residents and activists in East Austin called for a halt and possible public vote on CodeNEXT during a community session Saturday where reparations for displaced individuals and a program to create affordable housing stock on city-owned lands were also discussed as possible solutions for gentrification focused in that area. The session – titled “Destruction, Displacement, […]
Posted inAISD
Crowd demands answers from AISD trustee at east side rally
Austin Independent School District Trustee Jayme Mathias struggled to find common ground with parents, teacher assistants and other community members at the Save East Austin Schools rally Wednesday night. The event was organized by Bertha Delgado and Monica Sanchez, who asked attendees to sign up for a political action committee that would lobby Austinites to […]
Posted inDevelopment
What’s the future of Austin’s East 12th Street? Ask these guys from Dallas.
Property ownership can be a stealth business, with land changing hands before anyone’s had time to notice. For the past four years, one North Texas company has quietly begun buying up property on E. 12th Street. Ironically, the company takes its name from a cry of surprise and discovery: “Eureka!” One-fourth of what was once […]
Posted inAustin
Forty years after its fiery demise, a movie theater continues to be missed by East Austin
Ada Harden, 81, stands on a vacant lot at the corner of E. 12th and Salina Streets. While gravel and shorn grass crunch beneath her feet, she sees instead a maroon seat made of velvet and a wide screen where a fence now stands. “Can you imagine a theater sitting right here?” Harden asked, giggling. […]
Posted inEnergy
Holly Power Plant to be officially decommissioned in August, staff reports
Remnants of the Holly Street Power Plant still stand in East Austin, bitter reminders of a facility that spread pollution to nearby residents, but Austin Energy staff assured the Electric Utility Commission at its March 20 meeting that the decommissioning would end in August of this year. The update was prompted by testimony from Gavino […]
Posted inPreservation
City’s East Austin Historic Resources Survey fails first big test
In one of its first tests, the recently adopted East Austin Historic Resources Survey has failed the demolition-seeking owner of a well-known community activist’s home. Adriana Salazar, who is with owners A New Hope Real Estate Investments Inc., spoke in favor of the demolition and asked the Historic Landmark Commission to make a decision on […]