Statesman redevelopment project delayed from affordable housing debate

KVUE
Author: Sam Searles
Published: 1:28 PM CDT September 27, 2022
Updated: 1:48 PM CDT September 27, 2022

AUSTIN, Texas — The redevelopment of the former headquarters to the Austin American-Statesman has been further delayed due to a debate regarding affordable housing.

In a report from the Austin Business Journal, they found that there has been a rezoning request debate between Endeavor Real Estate Group LLC and the Austin City Council over the Statesman's former headquarters. 

Endeavor is the company that is trying to renovate the building and turn it into six towers that would vary in height from 215 feet to 535 feet. These buildings, which would be called "305 South Congress," would create upwards of 1.5 million square feet for offices, 1.6 million square feet for residents, 220,000 square feet for hotels and 150,000 square feet for retail.

The project on the 18.9 acres has been postponed three times and will be heard by the council on Sept. 29. The Statesman vacated this property in 2021 and moved to the MetCenter business park near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, and the lot has been mostly empty since. 

The reason the property hasn't been developed on is because of the need for affordable housing in Austin. Endeavor has set aside only 4% of the residential units for affordable housing, which translates to only 55 units in the building. The City has been pushing back to have 10% of the units be set aside for affordable housing, which translates to 137 units out of the total of 1,378 units in the building.

The report states that there is an already existing ordinance for new projects under development to have a 10% requirement for affordable housing.