Big Plans Lined Up for E. Austin Heritage District

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.

Once project negotiations are completed, the Pleasant Hill Collaborative project is expected to break ground in 2025. The first phase would open in 2027 followed by the second in 2029.