- The Austin City Council approved a redevelopment plan for the old Austin-American Statesman site.
- It will include six towers of residential, office, and retail.
- As always, Austin has a severe housing shortage. So these new units are a welcome development.
I do not usually report news in this blog. I generally just comment on it. But there was a pretty big development in the Austin real estate market last week. So I thought it would make sense to talk about it this week.
On December 2, the Austin City Council finally approved plans for a grand new development that will help to transform downtown. Once the development is built, it will provide much needed new residences and add significantly to the Austin skyline.
I am, of course, talking about the old Austin American Statesman site just south of the river. It’s a large site for which Endeavor has been working to get approval for a redevelopment. And last week, it finally received that approval from the City Council.
Struggle to Get Approved
As you probably know, Endeavor has been working to get the Statesman site redevelopment approved for at least a year now. It allegedly went through lots of negotiations with the City Council. And also had to respond to objections by the local neighborhood groups.
But on December 2, the third and final reading of the redevelopment plan at the City Council passed the resolution by an 8-2 vote, with one member abstaining. The no votes were from Kathie Tovo and Allison Alter.
What will the Development Entail
The Cox family owns the 19 acre site and it is working with Endeavor to redevelop it. The proposal is for a new PUD that will consist of:
- 1,478 residential units;
- 5 million square feet of office space;
- A 275 room hotel; and
- 150,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.
This will all be contained in six separate towers on the Statesman site.
Usually, to get a development like this approved, the developers will have to agree to provide some affordable housing units in its development plan. But here, instead of including those units directly in the plan, the developer has agreed to pay the City $23 million dollars. The City will then use those funds to build affordable housing elsewhere around town.
I have talked about this a lot in this blog – but Austin has a critical housing shortage. And it needs all the development it can get. So adding an additional 1,478 units is great news. And while Endeavor undoubtedly will not break ground for at least a year, I look forward to the day we can explore the new towers at the old Statesman site.
