Central East Austin, On the Ground

The ARA's Community Redevelopment Plan covers East 11th Street from I-35 to Navasota and East 12th Street from I-35 to Poquito (i.e., to Sam's BBQ).

According to the CRP document, adopted in 1999, East 11th "has been conceptualized as the place for higher intensity mixed-use development [that] can build on the present and historical strengths of the corridor for the creation of a dynamic entertainment/retail/housing area." The Victory Grill, at Waller Street, is slated as the centerpiece of an entertainment "node"; one block away, the ARA's Eleven East office project, currently under construction, has one confirmed tenant -- the city's Neighborhood Housing and Community Development department. On the other side of the Victory Grill, across from the ARA's own headquarters on Navasota, developer and city Planning Commissioner Michael Casias plans a mixed retail-and-residential project on Block 19, currently site of a Quickie Pickie. More housing is planned for Juniper Street, one block off 11th, where the ARA is both restoring historic homes and proposing new "market-rate" town homes.

Meanwhile, East 12th "has been conceived as a more residentially compatible opportunity for neighborhood-based retail, small-scale offices, and housing. Consistency with existing housing is of primary importance." That "existing housing" includes the homes already built in the Anderson Hill (SCIP II) project; the controversial Anderson Hill town homes proposed for East 12th, opposite Minnie's Beauty Salon, were conceived as a buffer between the single-family homes to the south and the commercial properties elsewhere on 12th.

The CRP designates both 11th and 12th from I-35 to Navasota as "Phase I," with the remainder of 12th Street being "Phase II." However, nothing has yet been done on 12th Street, which -- along with the residential components of the CRP -- has raised the ire of 12th Street property owners.