The Greater Austin YMCA plans to redevelop its TownLake facility, bringing a new "community hub for wellbeing" and housing near downtown, the nonprofit announced May 8.
The overview
The Town Lake YMCA has stood at 1100 W. Cesar Chavez St., Austin, since 1970, and now serves more than 25,000 members and 400,000 annual visitors. The aging facility recently required significant maintenance and is nearing the end of its lifespan, according to the nonprofit, prompting plans to redevelop the property.
“We’ve spent the last two years talking with neighbors and stakeholders to learn what our community needs,” said Kathy Kuras, Greater Austin YMCA president and CEO, in a statement. “In the process we recognized a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the health and wellbeing of the entire community by reimagining and repurposing the TownLake YMCA."
The Austin nonprofit will partner with developer Millennium Partners affiliate MP-Austin and Foundation Communities on a project set to include:
- Market rate residences alongside up to 90 affordable units, mainly including two- and three-bedroom family-oriented units
- A 100,000-square-foot YMCA, including 50,000 square feet of youth program space
- A 10,000-square-foot YMCA Tomorrow Academy early education center
- Wrap-around services like mental health counseling
Through the redevelopment, the nonprofit will keep some of its 4.8-acre parkside property for the new YMCA facility and sell the remainder to MP-Austin for the residences. The builder and Foundation Communities are also supported by a St. David's Foundation grant.
“This project will be unprecedented in Austin, delivering larger family-size residences at deeper levels of affordability than anything available in our urban core. We commend the Y and MP-Austin for their vision and willingness to address this critical issue," Foundation Communities CEO Walter Moreau said.
Following the YMCA board's approval of a development agreement, community outreach and planning work will now take place to inform final project designs. The YMCA aims to break ground on the Central Austin project by 2028.
“When we talk about downtown being Austin’s ‘living room,’ this is exactly the kind of project that will make that living room a more welcoming, engaging, vibrant, safe, and accessible place that creates smiles,” Mayor Kirk Watson said. “Like improving the look of I-35, Project Connect and the Austin Convention Center, it’s yet another opportunity to be thoughtful and creative and proactive and to take the necessary steps to ensure we are creating the future we want.”
The TownLake redevelopment is taking place under a broader initiative by the YMCA to "reimagine and repurpose" all of its Austin-area properties to meet current community needs.
