Senior affordable housing, grocery store included in selected project

Capital Metro has selected a potential developer to bring life to one of Central Austin's largest vacant properties that also happens to be along the public transit agency's existing rail line.

Pending negotiations, a team led by Austin-based Endeavor Real Estate Group and Columbus Realty Partners was selected by Capital Metro board members June 23 to develop a 10.5-acre property next to the Plaza Saltillo train station in East Austin. The eight-block development will consist of 800 residential rental units, including 200 affordable apartments, a 60,000-square-foot grocery store and 52,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space. The project also calls for developing 1.7 acres of parkland, which will be donated to the city, and an additional 1.8 acres of private open space for residents.

"Everything being equal, I think we need to provide additional resources for public transportation, so that's going to influence my final vote on things," said Capital Metro board member John Langmore, suggesting the Endeavor/Columbus Realty project will draw more revenue for Capital Metro than the project runnerup.

Langmore helped break a stalemate after two 4-4 split votes. He switched his vote to the Endeavor-led project after initially casting a vote for Saltillo Collaborative, a multicompany team that gained endorsements from multiple nearby neighborhood groups.

Domain developers move East

The Endeavor/Columbus Realty team has more urban development experience than any other project finalist, Endeavor principal Jason Thumlert said during the group's April 25 public hearing with Capital Metro board members. Endeavor alone has developed more than 3.8 million square feet of office and retail space in the Austin area, including The Domain in North Austin and a recently completed office building at nearby 2021 E. Fifth St. In addition, Columbus Realty President Robert Shaw recently completed a similar transit-oriented development, or TOD, near the downtown Plano light-rail station near Dallas.

The team also includes representatives from Maryland-based Torti Gallas and Partners, which has completed more than 70 TOD projects, and Austin architect Michael Hsu, who was honored last year by the Austin chapter of American Institute of Architects for his design of restaurant Uchiko. Austin-based Bury+Partners will lead civil engineering efforts.

The team submitted one of the four development proposals pitched to Capital Metro before the board narrowed down the list to two finalists May 14. The board picked the Endeavor project despite concerns from nearby residents that the project would resemble Endeavor's efforts at The Domain in North Austin.

"It has been completely mischaracterized that we would build a Domain here," Thumlert told Capital Metro board members June 23. "I completely agree we do not want a Domain here in Plaza Saltillo. Not only is it not right for the neighborhood and not what they want, but it would be financially irresponsible."

The project did not draw unanimous support. Capital Metro board President Mike Martinez in April expressed concern about the group's proposal to place a large grocery store on the far west end of the development along I-35.

"I don't see it as an amenity to the neighborhood, and I don't see it as an amenity providing positive impact," Martinez said. "I see it as a draw of sucking downtown folks into East Austin as opposed to the existing adjacent neighborhood coming west into I-35."

But the grocery store was strategically placed by the interstate to prevent outside traffic from entering the neighborhood, Thumlert said. He also emphasized the increased pedestrian activity expected to come as a result of this project, especially along the multiple paseos—plazas that encourage walkable development such as sidewalk cafes.

The grocery store will be supported by complementary residential development, including 100 senior affordable housing apartments, 24 live-work units and 36 townhomes, which are intended to attract families, Shaw said.

"Generally, most of your urban demand has been through millennial types," Shaw said. "Unless you build the product that meets [a family's] need, most likely they're not going to show up."

Developing dense

The Capital Metro–owned land falls within one of Austin's TOD districts, meaning the project must be denser and more pedestrian-friendly than standard development, said Christine Freundl, who as a senior planner helped coordinate the city's TOD planning efforts. The city's land development code, which is in the midst of being reworked, has become so stringent that existing regulations would prevent a neighborhood such as Hyde Park from being built today, she said, making TOD development unique compared to most projects.

"Creating development that is more walkable and bikeable is completely against the grain of the way we've been building the past 50 years," Freundl said, estimating that only 0.7 percent of the city falls under the compact TOD regulations. "The other 99.3 percent of the city is business as usual."

No matter which project was selected, creating more density closer to downtown helps to buffer neighborhoods and can actually decrease gentrification through increased housing choices, said Freundl, an urban planner who now works in the city's economic development department.

"Development like this can actually preserve neighborhoods," she said. "Part of the reason we're seeing such a tremendous rise in [the values of] homes on the east side is because all we're providing folks as an option is single-family homes, and that just can't accommodate all the people moving here."

When determining cost of living, Freundl said she relies on The Housing and Transportation Affordability Index, which takes into account both the cost of living and transportation when determining affordability. If more than 50 percent of an individual's income is dedicated to housing and transportation costs, then a property is deemed unaffordable, she said.

However, by creating dense, pedestrian-friendly development, residents may no longer need a car, which, with insurance, costs an average of $9,000 per year, she said.

"If someone can live close enough to their job and not need a vehicle, then that's $9,000 they get back and can now spend apart from their vehicle," Freundl said. "It's not just about housing."