Sixty-eight acres in Northeast Austin have been zoned for single-family, small lot construction by the city’s Zoning and Platting Commission.
Plans indicate there are 211 plots at 4806 Blue Goose Road, just east of Cameron Road. Commissioners approved the zoning as part of the consent agenda at their Sept. 6 meeting, following a recommendation by city staffers.
The final number of homes could change.
The project is spearheaded by RR Braker Valley LP and Jeremy Smitheal, a partner at Austin-based real estate investment firm Riverside Resources. The company is behind several major commercial projects across the city, including plans to transform part of West Sixth Street.
A representative for Riverside Resources confirmed the firm is behind the rezoning but declined to comment, although they clarified that Riverside is the landowner and is under contract to sell to a homebuilder to develop the property.
That homebuilder was not immediately identified by Riverside Resources.
The rezoning marks a step forward for the first phase of the Braker Valley subdivision within the Walnut Creek Watershed.
It is located just west of a 190-acre site rezoned by the board in May for single-family, small-lot housing and community commercial/mixed-use development at 6100 Blue Goose Road.
The rezoning request was submitted by BGE Inc., a Houston-based civil engineering firm.
The city’s planners recommended approval for the first phase of the project under the condition that Riverside rename Native Rose Lane, update the development’s vicinity map and label a currently unbuilt section of East Braker Lane in the project’s planning documents.
The changes were described in the application as "administrative actions that include very minor tweaks to the plat that will be resolved prior to recordation."
The project also includes variances approved by the Austin Land Use Commission.
The item will not need to be heard before the Zoning and Platting Commission again.
Joey de la Garza, a senior planner with the city, said that after complying with the changes requested, the applicant can submit a subdivision construction plan.
When that plan is approved, a permit for construction will be issued, allowing building to begin.
The new development comes at a time when the city continues to navigate an affordable housing crisis caused, at least in part, by a shortage of inventory. The situation has contributed to staggering increases in the city's cost of living.
According to the Austin Board of Realtors, the median sales price of a home in the Austin metro hit $515,000 in July, up 8% from the same month a year prior. However, that was the first time since June 2020 that the year-over-year increase was in the single digits, representing the continuing of a cooling trend as inventory ticks up.
Also in July, the median price for a home in the city of Austin rose 11% to $633,000.
Source: Austin Business Journal
Posted by Grossman & Jones Group on
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