Austin | W MLK & Nueces | 434 & 407 Feet | 36 & 34 Floors | Proposed

[Urbannizer]

Jack Brown Cleaners Site Pivots to Housing in Northwest Downtown

A rezoning case headed to Austin’s Planning Commission next week indicates a longtime industrial tract in the far northwest corner of downtown is preparing to redevelop as high-rise housing. Located at 615 West MLK Jr. Boulevard between Nueces and Rio Grande Streets, for decades the roughly 0.68-acre tract has hosted the central laundry facilities of the local Jack Brown Cleaners chain.

Documents prepared for the Planning Commission’s inaugural meeting of 2023 scheduled for January 10 describe a request by the Brown family partnership that owns the property for a rezoning from commercial services to a downtown mixed-use/vertical mixed-use zoning category in order to redevelop the site for a multifamily building. With the tract’s proximity to West Campus directly north of MLK Jr. Boulevard, it’s easy to forget that this property is a full-fledged occupant of the downtown area — meaning under the DMU-V zoning sought by the applicants, a building here could rise to a maximum height of 120 feet, likely 10 floors or more, thanks to the new density bonuses of the city’s vertical-mixed use program.

[paul78701]

Originally Posted by Urbannizer

Jack Brown Cleaners Site Pivots to Housing in Northwest Downtown

Let's hope this helps spur redevelopment of the rest of those fast food joints and whatnot on the south side of MLK. They are the epitome of terrible land use.

[H2O]

Originally Posted by Urbannizer

Jack Brown Cleaners Site Pivots to Housing in Northwest Downtown

I don't understand why they are adding a 'V' to DMU. Downtown Mixed-Use already allows multifamily, and the base zoning height is 120 feet. The lower DMU categories were added in the Downtown Plan to allow mixed-use in lower height zones. DMU is also eligible for the Downtown Density Bonus, allowing far greater height than 120 feet. Both Spring and Seaholm had DMU zoning and got ~400' through CURE, the predecessor to the Density Bonus.

[chinchaaa]

Originally Posted by Urbannizer

Jack Brown Cleaners Site Pivots to Housing in Northwest Downtown

wow i lived right behind this building a long time ago and was always wondering when it would be torn down and replaced. this is a win.

[Max Tower]

Originally Posted by H2O

I don't understand why they are adding a 'V' to DMU. Downtown Mixed-Use already allows multifamily, and the base zoning height is 120 feet. The lower DMU categories were added in the Downtown Plan to allow mixed-use in lower height zones. DMU is also eligible for the Downtown Density Bonus, allowing far greater height than 120 feet. Both Spring and Seaholm had DMU zoning and got ~400' through CURE, the predecessor to the Density Bonus.

the site is just outside the boundaries of eligibility for the density bonus program, thanks to the big exclusion zone we carved out for judge's hill: https://www.austintexas.gov/edims/do....cfm?id=205341

[H2O]

Originally Posted by Max Tower

the site is just outside the boundaries of eligibility for the density bonus program, thanks to the big exclusion zone we carved out for judge's hill: https://www.austintexas.gov/edims/do....cfm?id=205341

OK - dumb. But since they are doing a rezoning, they could just request DMU, or CS-V. Why are they making up new zoning overlays that do not have any precedence?

[The ATX]

The entire block bounded by MLK, 18th, Nueces & Rio Grande is scheduled for "total demolition" per next Wednesday's HLC meeting agenda.

https://x.com/TheATX1/status/1928179527433269416

[Urbannizer]

Originally Posted by The ATX

The entire block bounded by MLK, 18th, Nueces & Rio Grande is scheduled for "total demolition" per next Wednesday's HLC meeting agenda.

https://x.com/TheATX1/status/1928179527433269416

Multifamily is proposed here.

Originally Posted by Urbannizer

Jack Brown Cleaners Site Pivots to Housing in Northwest Downtown

[The ATX]

Nice! TOWERS comes through post mortem.

EDIT: I couldn't find any permits for this block, but backup files from early 2023 PC meetings indicate that only half of the block facing MLK was being re-zoned for 120' building heights. It wasn't even the entire block on MLK - only the Jack Brown Cleaners site. It appears that this project may have increased in scope.

[The ATX]

A zoning change was submitted today for a 400', 476 key hotel on the block surrounded by the 600 block of W. MLK, Nueces, 18th & Rio Grande. The hotel will include 33K Sq. Ft. of retail. There will also be a second 287 unit residential tower with 35K Sq, Ft. of retail.

https://abc.austintexas.gov/web/perm...ertyrsn=238064

The HLC approved Demo of the entire block in June & July.

The location:

[The ATX]

Some details:

[ILUVSAT]

Two buildings. Maybe the same height?

That's a lot of retail between the two - roughly 68k SF.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

Two buildings. Maybe the same height?

That's a lot of retail between the two - roughly 68k SF.

Hopefully we'll get some more info when this hits the PC. I'm not confident that both buildings will be 400', but that info isn't clear yet.

[The ATX]

A second zoning change request for this project was filed today adding a little clarity. The northern half of the block facing W MLK is where the hotel with a 400' height would be located. The southern half of the block facing W 18th St is where the residential tower would be located, and that one also has a 400' height.


https://abc.austintexas.gov/web/perm...ertyrsn=474872

[chinchaaa]

i lived in that apartment building once upon a time. not sad to see it go, but it will be sad to see that jack brown go. i always thought it would make a cool little shopping center, similar to the old post office in hyde park. either way, this block is overdue for an update. will jimmy johns and tiff's live on or no?

[foreverrushing31]

About how much is 35k sq ft of retail? Like what relevant uses etc. Does sound substantial and that intrigues me

[drummer]

That sparked my curiosity, so I looked up average square footages of different stores for comparison.

Walgreens or CVS stores are typically ~14.5K sq ft.
Kohls stores are typically ~80K sq ft.

Some web searches indicate that a typical grocery store (nationwide average) is around 40K sq ft, but obviously HEB stores are typically much bigger (>100K sq ft).

Target's urban concept stores are usually around 40K sq ft, which incidentally is also the average size of a Whole Foods (although downtown's flagship store is ~80K sq ft).

[The ATX]

Since one of the towers is a significant hotel, a good part of the hotel's ~33K Sq Ft would be a restaurant or even two with the second one being more of a bar. Hopefully a rooftop bar.

[The ATX]

This project is up for a Density Bonus at Monday's Design Commission meeting.

[The ATX]

The 34-story tower is apartments and the 36-story tower is hotel & condo. The alley between the towers is envisioned as a paseo with a farmer's market.

More info can be found at the DC site:
https://www.austintexas.gov/citycler...tings/22_1.htm