The Austin City Council has approved an agreement to develop the 11-acre Plaza Saltillo District into one of Central Texas' premier transit-oriented developments, a mixed-use, multimodal community in East Austin.
“This is an important milestone in the long history of Plaza Saltillo,” said Capital Metro President/CEO Linda S. Watson. “The community has contributed important ideas for Plaza Saltillo over the past two decades that have helped shape our overall vision for the project. We're very pleased to have completed this step in the process, and we look forward to continue our work with the Endeavor team to create something that Capital Metro and the community will be proud of.”
A partnership between Capital Metro and the Endeavor Real Estate Group, the Plaza Saltillo District entails six contiguous blocks in East Austin that will provide important revenue and ridership to Capital Metro’s overall operations while meeting important community goals for residents of the neighborhood.
The 11 acres of Plaza Saltillo District will include approximately 800 apartments, of which at least 15 percent will be categorized as affordable; 110,000 square feet of retail, including a proposed public market; an office building; open space; and public art. The district will be developed in a way that acknowledges and honors the neighborhood’s history and its residents. That will include recognition of Masontown, a settlement of former slaves founded in the years after the Civil War, as well as the Tejano Music Legends Trail and the Tejano Healthy Walking Trail, both of which will pass along the Saltillo District.
The City Council approved construction of the development’s office building at 70 feet with the option to increase the height to 125 feet, contingent on Capital Metro, Endeavor and the city each contributing an additional $540,000 to affordable housing in the Saltillo area. The Capital Metro board of directors, at its Monday, Feb. 27 meeting, committed to that provision. The development will include an office building of at least 4 stories and up to 8 stories.
The Plaza Saltillo District will be among the largest transit-oriented developments built in Austin, and it will offer more transit modes than any other development. The project will be a truly multimodal center and be served by MetroRail, MetroBus, Car2Go, B-Cycle, electric car charging stations and an extension of the Lance Armstrong Bikeway.
Capital Metro thanked Mayor Steve Adler and the City Council — especially the three City Council members who also serve on the Capital Metro board of directors: Sabino Renteria, Delia Garza and Ann Kitchen — for their diligence and their commitment to the city and its residents during this process.
The project is currently in its final phase of design and construction is scheduled to start later this year. During this period, the operations of Plaza Saltillo Station will not be affected and both MetroRail and MetroBus service should continue as normal.
