A pair of mixed-use developments with affordable housing and cultural spaces are coming to vacant city-owned lots in East Austin’s Cultural Heritage District. The proposals will transform Blocks 16 and 18 on East 11th Street.
City officials voted to negotiate with the Pleasant Hill Collaborative on the project. That group includes the national student housing developer Servitas and Austin-based builders Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corp. and Topo.
The collaborative’s $112 million, nearly 300,000-square-foot redevelopment of Blocks 16 and 18 would include neighborhood priorities such as 138 residences with a mix of studio to three-bedroom apartments and townhomes in Block 16. Most of the units would be reserved for tenants earning 50% of the local median income or less; 27,000 square feet of cultural venues, including performance and studio space, and 13,000 square feet of commercial space, including a grocery store.
The four-story Block 18 would feature eateries, a central public courtyard with a performance stage and housing for Huston-Tillotson University students.
Servitas Real Estate Services is a privately-owned firm focused on student & workforce housing development and property management, with offices located in Dallas, Houston and Miami.
Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corporation (GNDC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that celebrates over thirty five years of service to its community as an affordable housing provider to families from East Austin. Since its inception in 1981, GNDC has rehabilitated over fifty homes, enabled over fifty families to purchase homes, developed over fifty single-family rental units and in 2008 completed La Vista de Guadalupe – a 22-unit multi-family project that is prominently located near the historic French Legation and downtown Austin.
