Creating a 'Corridor'
Fri., June 27, 2003
Capital Metro's redevelopment plans for the Saltillo District would create a gateway and centerpiece for what has already, and rapidly, become a hot stretch of Austin real estate. After decades of neglect of the industrial rail yard, both private and public money is flowing into the corridor -- transforming, and at times worrying, the Eastside neighborhoods.
SALTILLO DISTRICT REDEVELOPMENT PLAN
Developer: Capital Metro
Cost: Undetermined -- perhaps $100 million
Time frame: Build-out completed by 2013
Cap Metro hopes its 11-acre parcel can become a showpiece of transit-oriented development and a hub for rail -- while still being affordable (even by Eastside standards) and consistent with the character of the barrio.
PLAZA SALTILLODeveloper: City of Austin
Time frame: Opened 1999
After years in development, the one-block public plaza has been underutilized ever since it opened; the city, Cap Metro (which actually owns the land), and local businesses and neighbors want the plaza to be a real "town square" for the Saltillo corridor.
EAST CESAR CHAVEZ NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN
The ECC plan, adopted by the city in 1999, calls for mixed-use new-urban development along the rail corridor. The ECC planning team included Lori Renteria and her allies, but not members of El Concilio, who loudly tried to shoot the plan down, saying it would gentrify the neighborhood. While the ECC team at one point objected to Cap Metro's plans for the Saltillo District, the transit authority says the ECC plan will be the Saltillo starting point.
HOLLY NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN
The Holly plan was driven by El Concilio -- and, despite that group's criticisms of the "gentrifying" elements of the ECC plan, it calls for much of the same sort of post-industrial development on the corridor. The Holly planning team has endorsed projects like the Pedernales and the Villas on Sixth.
HUSTON-TILLOTSON MASTER PLAN
Developer: Huston-Tillotson College
Cost: $30 million (estimated)
Time frame: 2013 at the earliest
The college intends to develop new student housing and athletic facilities on the blocks it owns just north of Seventh Street, between the current campus and the State Cemetery.
UT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Developer: University of Texas System
Cost: Undetermined
Time frame: Opens Aug. 19
UT's charter school, serving first-graders (to start) in the corridor and surrounding neighborhoods, is already well under construction.
LANCE ARMSTRONG BIKEWAY
Developer: City of Austin
Cost: $4 million
Time frame: Eastside segment completed late 2005
The 6-mile crosstown bike route crosses the Saltillo site and runs through the corridor; unlike the west-side section, the Eastside bikeway will likely consist mostly of signs and stripes on existing streets.
East Seventh Street Corridor |
EAST SEVENTH STREET CORRIDORDeveloper: City of Austin
Cost: $2 million to $3 million
Time frame: Phase I completed 2005
The city's corridor streetscape project aims to make Seventh both a more useful and beautiful neighborhood arterial and a better gateway to Downtown from the airport. Phase I covers the stretch between Chicon and Pleasant Valley.
El Nuevo Mercado |
EL NUEVO MERCADODeveloper: Z Development
Cost: $75 million
Time frame: January 2006 (anticipated)
The glossy mixed-use project has gotten a go-ahead from the city, but developers say the bust and Eastside redlining have gotten in the way of financing.
Villas on Sixth |
VILLAS ON SIXTHDeveloper: Campbell-Hogue LLC
Cost: $17 million
Time frame: Unknown
The 160-unit low-income project, a partnership with the YMCA, is hoping to persuade the state to award it tax credits that will help Campbell-Hogue to offer below-market rents.
Pedernales Live/Work |
PEDERNALES LIVE/WORKDeveloper: Urban Digs LLC
Cost: $10 million to $11 million
Time frame: Completed by September 2004
The 105-unit project helmed by Perry Lorenz, Richard deVarga, and Larry Warshaw aims to provide affordable yet hip living for urban core creatives.
Sixth + Brushy |
SIXTH + BRUSHYDeveloper: Pegalo Properties
Cost: $5.6 million
Time frame: Late 2004 (anticipated)
The owner/developers of the adjacent 501 Studios and J.R. Reed media complex are putting up a 23-unit market-rate building with ground-floor retail.
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