{"id":213475,"date":"2026-03-20T21:43:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T21:43:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/213475\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T21:43:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T21:43:34","slug":"st-john-site-development-update-approved-advancing-mixed-use-plans-with-over-500-new-apartments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/213475\/","title":{"rendered":"St. John Site development update approved, advancing mixed-use plans with over 500 new apartments"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChanges to plans for the St. John Site<\/a> affordable housing redevelopment were approved in March, moving Austin and its building partners closer to groundbreaking on the long-vacant North Central Austin lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy constituents have been waiting for this for way too long,” said council member Chito Vela, who represents the area. “It\u2019s going to be a big win for the city, it\u2019s going to be a big win for the neighborhood. And it\u2019s going to be advancing our housing goals, our parks goals, so many issues that this touches.\u201d<\/p>\n

The big picture<\/p>\n

The city previously acquired a pair of commercial lots at 7211-7309 N. I-35 that were intended to house new public safety facilities. Plans for the 19-acre property in the St. John neighborhood later changed<\/a> at the request<\/a> of residents and City Council, who eventually set a new vision<\/a> calling for the site to become a “mixed-income, mixed-use district” with a large share of affordable housing, public open space and local retail options.<\/p>\n

“><\/p>\n

After weighing several proposals<\/a> for the site’s redevelopment, city leaders chose to move forward with<\/a> developer Greystar<\/a> and the Housing Authority of the City of Austin<\/a> in 2021. Their plan originally included up to 560 residential units, with half reserved for lower-income tenants, as well as a retail center and expansion of the adjacent St. John Park.<\/p>\n

A final outline was later reached<\/a> in 2023 after negotiations between the city, Greystar and HACA. Under their approved master development agreement<\/a>, 526 studio to three-bedroom apartments, including half set aside as affordable, would be spread across multiple buildings. The property would also feature the new parkland with amenities like a playground and walking paths, commercial space for businesses or nonprofits with a focus on local options, and a public installation commemorating St. Johns history.<\/p>\n

The details<\/p>\n

High-level details have remained the same since the Greystar-HACA concept was chosen, despite some adjustments through iterations over the past few years. On March 12, council members authorized further changes to project terms<\/a> for the property now labeled 800 E. St. Johns Ave. before it moves to final site plan reviews and eventually breaks ground.<\/p>\n

This year’s update allows Greystar to pursue other funding sources for the redevelopment, “thereby improving the project\u2019s overall financial viability given current market conditions,” a city agenda document stated. Phased construction will now proceed under two separate projects on the north and south side of the property, each backed by different equity partners.<\/p>\n

Overall elements like the affordable housing, parkland, commercial space and installation remain in place. And while some income-restricted units will be mixed in with market-rate housing across most of the campus\u2014typically a city requirement for affordable housing\u2014two buildings on the property’s south side will now be for lower-income tenants only.<\/p>\n

\"PlanningPlanning for the redevelopment of the St. John Site, including hundreds of new affordable housing units, is moving ahead. (Courtesy city of Austin)More than two-thirds of the property’s 526 total apartments will be set aside for individuals and families who earn below the area’s median family income<\/a>, or MFI. They’ll feature varying bedroom counts across income levels with:104 units available for those earning up to 50% MFI133 units capped at 60% MFI27 units capped at 70% MFI102 units at 80% MFIWith his vote in support of the new terms, council member Marc Duchen credited developers’ “agile management” of new market conditions while still providing the desired housing.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m happy to see that, together as a city, we\u2019re working with folks who can adapt to the changing environment as well, and that the project provides housing at the much needed 50% MFI income range,” he said. “Lower-income and deeply affordable housing is going to continue to be something that we struggle to adequately subsidize.”<\/p>\n

The project changes approved this year won’t affect any residents’ access to on-site amenities, or public access to the retail and open space. Vela said he was very excited for the new term sheet to be approved.<\/p>\n

“I know that\u2019s not the final step, but we\u2019re getting close to the end and I swear I can see the finish line. Let\u2019s get this done and build that housing and build that new park,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe vacant St. John Site off I-35 is currently home to former Home Depot and car dealership buildings. (Ben Thompson\/Community Impact)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Changes to plans for the St. John Site affordable housing redevelopment were approved in March, moving Austin and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,1501,134,133,3670,12960,83581,83582],"class_list":["post-213475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-city-council","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-chito-vela","tag-greystar","tag-housing-authority-of-the-city-of-austin","tag-st-john-site"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}