'The potential here is great' | Austin City Council approves $87M to buy land for new neighborhood – KVUE.com
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AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin City Council on Thursday approved the purchase of the current Tokyo Electron campus and surrounding property to be used for a future mixed-use development. The acquisition will cost the city $87 million.
The city of Austin said the 107-acre parcel of land, located at 2400 Grove Blvd., includes two existing buildings that will be leased to Tokyo Electron while it completes its relocation to a new headquarters on South First Street.
The city said the $87 million includes approximately $27 million in Project Connect Anti-Displacement Funds.
“The acquisition will enable the City of Austin’s Housing Department to develop additional income-restricted units close to transit and other community amenities promoted by Project Connect investments,” the city said. “The remaining $60 million will be funded through bonds backed by property tax revenue.”
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The city plans to use the two existing buildings, totally around 190,000 square feet on more than 41 acres, for a new Combined Transportation and Emergency Communication Center (CTECC).
Through this purchase, the city will also get approximately 66 undeveloped acres, located at 2500 Montopolis Drive. The city said that land, combined with the 18-plus acres at the southeast corner of Grove Boulevard and Riverside Drive that is already held by the Austin Housing Finance Corporation, can be used to build more affordable housing.
“This was a rare, generational opportunity to purchase a huge swath of mostly undeveloped land centrally located in Austin,” Assistant City Manager Veronica Briseño said. “In addition to much-needed administrative offices for critical City services, we have the chance to create not just affordable housing, but an entire community with space for commercial and cultural endeavors.”
“The vision is for a dense, transit-oriented neighborhood that could conservatively accommodate 1,100 living units,” Mayor Kirk Watson said. “The potential here is great.”
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The city said this property’s location near the proposed light rail – part of Project Connect, the city’s planned public transit expansion – is important because building affordable housing along the corridor will increase the number of potential public transit users.
“This is the first major step in a project that has the potential to be transformational,” Councilmember José Velásquez said, adding that the opportunity to build more affordable housing “intentionally and strategically” in this area is very exciting.
The city said any future redevelopment of this site will include community engagement, extensive planning and feasibility assessments before any plans are set in stone.
Boomtown is KVUE’s series covering the explosive growth in Central Texas. For more Boomtown stories, head to KVUE.com/Boomtown.
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