At Wednesday’s Urban Land Institute Austin breakfast discussion, interim University of Texas President Jim Davis offered a candid assessment of the university’s evolving role in Austin’s booming development scene. Once regarded as one of the city’s largest builders and employers, Davis said UT now finds itself competing for attention alongside tech giants and multibillion-dollar infrastructure […]
Montopolis
An East Austin neighborhood bounded by Grove Street to the west, Texas State Highway 71 to the south and the Southeast Austin neighborhood and U.S. Route 183 to the east. It is located in District 3.
Posted inPlanning
Planning Commission OKs re-rezoning in Montopolis
The Planning Commission voted to recommend a rezoning petition for a long-empty parcel of land in the Montopolis neighborhood during its Jan. 14 meeting. The vote was contrary to the recommendation of Planning Department staff, who cited concerns about road access and a lack of progress on development at the site since a previous rezoning […]
Posted inZoning
Planning Commission struggles with rare downzoning request
The Planning Commission, unsatisfied with a requested downzoning in Montopolis, voted Feb. 22 to postpone the case so that the applicant could add more units – including affordable units – to its proposal. The applicant, Alpha Builders Group, plans to build up to 10 units at 2404 Thrasher Lane and seeks to add a mixed-use […]
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 […]
Posted inPreservation
PARD publishes update on Montopolis Negro School preservation effort
For nearly three decades in the 20th century, the Montopolis Negro School gave Black children an education in an era when they were not welcome in Austin schools. The schoolhouse at 500 Montopolis Drive was not just a place of education, it functioned as a community center in the then-rural Montopolis neighborhood. At one point, Travis […]
Posted inZoning
Planning Commission urges more housing in Montopolis
Last week the Planning Commission voted 8-4 to recommend rezoning 1013-1017 Montopolis Drive to accommodate higher-density residences, paving the way for multi-story residences like apartments and condos. Thrower Design applied to rezone the undeveloped 3.12-acre lot from single-family (SF-3) to multifamily (MF-6) land use. Opponents say zoning areas like this for higher density accelerates gentrification, […]
Posted inZoning
Council approves Saxon Acres rezoning case in Montopolis
City Council has approved a rezoning request for the Saxon Acres development in East Austin’s Montopolis neighborhood. The 3-acre tract at 316 Saxon Lane and 6328 El Mirando St. is now zoned Townhouse & Condominium Residence (SF-6) instead of Family Residence (SF-3). The developer proposes building 34 homes, including two priced at 80 percent of […]
Posted inZoning
Reworked Kemp Street rezoning continues to draw fire
Today, Austin City Council will take up a contentious Montopolis zoning case that opponents say will speed gentrification and wreak havoc on a nearby preserve. But supporters of the reworked plan for 508 Kemp St. tout the creation of affordable housing as a new way to employ the city’s Affordability Unlocked tool. The developer is […]
Posted inPlanning
Planning Commission tackles more Montopolis cases
On Tuesday, the Planning Commission denied two out of three Montopolis area rezoning cases that neighborhood activists railed against back in June. At the end of June, the commission passed two of the five cases that the Montopolis Neighborhood Plan Contact Team had raised concerns about: 200 Montopolis Drive and 6206 Clovis, and 508 Kemp. Three […]
Posted inZoning
Two Montopolis rezoning cases move forward
The battle over a group of Montopolis rezoning cases continued at the Planning Commission last Tuesday. One of the cases – 1.32 acres at 200 Montopolis Drive and 6206 Clovis – passed on consent, and three others were postponed. After a lengthy discussion, the commission approved rezoning 508 Kemp St. from Family Residence (SF-3) to […]
Posted inZoning
Valid petition helps broker compromise in Montopolis rezone
The Planning Commission recommended to limit the units for a Montopolis condominium project proposed in a rezoning request at its Dec. 12 meeting, largely in response to strong opposition from the neighborhood. “I think this is a testament to you all and your neighborhood,” Commissioner Nuria Zaragoza said at the meeting. “I think any other […]
Posted inZoning
Commission votes against rezoning former mobile home park property
Many commission decisions set a precedent, but only some make a statement. At its Dec. 12 meeting, the Planning Commission voted to recommend denying a rezoning application for a Montopolis property in what some commissioners called a clear example of gentrification. 2110 Thrasher Lane used to contain a mobile home park of 17 households before […]