Plaza Saltillo Project Stalled Again Amid Disagreements Over Affordable Housing Volume For East Austin

EAST AUSTIN, TX — Austin City Council members on Thursday yet again delayed final action on the Plaza Saltillo development amid ongoing disputes between developers of the mixed-use commercial project and East Austin community advocates calling for greater affordable housing stock.

Endeavor Real Estate Group, the developer, is seeking a zoning change that would allow for taller heights for the Plaza Saltillo project than what's normally allowed. The company wants to build a project encompassing apartments, retail outlets and office space at the 11-acre site along East 5th Street. While approval was previously approved, the move requires a third reading before construction can begin.

Jason Thumlert, an official with the company, threw a wrench in the works on Thursday by telling council members "We have no more room to give on affordable housing," as quoted in the Austin American-Statesman.

Plans call for developing the old railyard owned by Capital Metro into a mixed-use project, and officials said construction on part of the acreage, from Interstate 35 to Navasota Street, could commence within a couple of months. Construction on the affordable housing portion would start later, company officials have said.

As the Statesman reported, Endeavor officials publicly pledged in 2014, when they were selected for the project, to include in the housing mix 25 percent of the 800 planned units as affordable apartments. These unites were to be earmarked for residents making 50 percent or less of median family income in Austin, according to the report.

But now officials are insisting the affordable units pledge called for only 15 percent of the total units to be reserved as affordable housing. According to the report, the additional 10 percent were to be priced at market levels unless the city ponied up the difference by subsidizing them, which the city has not offered to do.

Renewed negotiations between developers and the city are now pending, and talks could get contentious. We won't know the outcome, if there even is one soon, until March 2 when council reconvenes for its next regular session.

>>> Read the full story at Austin American-Statesman

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