08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 1 - Staff Report — original pdf

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NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN AMENDMENT REVIEW SHEET NEIGHORHOOD PLAN: Rosewood CASE#: NPA-2025-0008.01 DATE FILED: April 17, 2025 PROJECT NAME: 2406 Rosewood Ave. PC DATE: August 26, 2025 ADDRESS/ES: 2406 Rosewood Ave, 2407 ½ Sol Wilson Ave, 1159 ½ and 1169 Hargrave Street DISTRICT AREA: 1 SITE AREA: 3.143 acres OWNER/APPLICANT: American Can, a Texas non-profit corporation AGENT: Armbrust & Brown, PLLC (Richard T. Suttle, Jr.) CASE MANAGER: Maureen Meredith PHONE: (512) 974-2695 STAFF EMAIL: Maureen.meredith@austintexas.gov TYPE OF AMENDMENT: Change in Future Land Use Designation From: Civic To: Mixed Use Base District Zoning Change Related Zoning Case: C14-2025-0049 From: SF-3-NP To: CS-MU-CO-NP NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN ADOPTION DATE: November 19, 2001 CITY COUNCIL DATE: TBD ACTION: PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: August 26, 2025 – (action pending) 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 11 of 29 STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends the applicant’s request for Mixed Use land use. BASIS FOR STAFF’S RECOMMENDATION: The applicant proposes to build a mixed- use development to include office, retail, restaurant(s) and multifamily or townhome residential unts. Staff supports the request for Mixed Use land use because the property is near existing Mixed Use land use, will provide neighborhood-serving commercial uses for the area, and will provide additional housing units for the City. The Rosewood Neighborhood Plan envisions this area for a mixed-use development with neighborhood-serving uses to be a “destination” for the planning area where residents can shop and work. 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 12 of 29 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 13 of 29 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 14 of 29 LAND USE DESCRIPTIONS: EXISTING LAND USE: Civic - Any site for public or semi fire facilities, hospitals, and public and private schools. Includes major religious facilities and other religious activities that are of a different type and scale than surrounding uses. public facilities, including governmental offices, police, ‐ Purpose functional institutional uses that serve 1. Allow flexibility in development for major, multi the greater community; 2. Manage the expansion of major institutional uses to prevent unnecessary impacts on established neighborhood areas; 3. Preserve the availability of sites for civic facilities to ensure that facilities are adequate for population growth; 4. Promote Civic uses that are accessible and useable for the neighborhood resident and maintain stability of types of public uses in the neighborhood; ‐ 5. May include housing facilities that are accessory to a civic use, such as student dormitories; and 6. Recognize suitable areas for public uses, such as hospitals and schools, that will minimize the impacts to residential areas. Application 1. Any school, whether public or private; oriented civic facility, including all hospitals, colleges and universities, and 2. Any campus major government administration facilities; 3. Any use that is always public in nature, such as fire and police stations, libraries, and museums; 4. Civic uses in a neighborhood setting that are of a significantly different scale than surrounding non civic uses; ‐ 5. An existing civic use that is likely or encouraged to redevelop into a different land use should NOT be designated as civic; and ‐ 6. Civic uses that are permitted throughout the city, such as day care centers and religious assembly, should not be limited to only the civic land use designation. 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 15 of 29 PROPOSED LAND USE: Mixed Use - An area that is appropriate for a mix of residential and non‐residential uses. Purpose 1. Encourage more retail and commercial services within walking distance of residents; 2. Allow live‐work/flex space on existing commercially zoned land in the neighborhood; 3. Allow a mixture of complementary land use types, which may include housing, retail, offices, commercial services, and civic uses (with the exception of government offices) to encourage linking of trips; 4. Create viable development opportunities for underused center city sites; 5. Encourage the transition from non‐residential to residential uses; 6. Provide flexibility in land use standards to anticipate changes in the marketplace; 7. Create additional opportunities for the development of residential uses and affordable housing; and 8. Provide on‐street activity in commercial areas after 5 p.m. and built‐in customers for local businesses. Application 1. Allow mixed use development along major corridors and intersections; 2. Establish compatible mixed‐use corridors along the neighborhood’s edge 3. The neighborhood plan may further specify either the desired intensity of commercial uses (i.e. LR, GR, CS) or specific types of mixed use (i.e. Neighborhood Mixed Use Building, Neighborhood Urban Center, Mixed Use Combining District); 4. Mixed Use is generally not compatible with industrial development, however it may be combined with these uses to encourage an area to transition to a more complementary mix of development types; 5. The Mixed Use (MU) Combining District should be applied to existing residential uses to avoid creating or maintaining a non‐conforming use; and 6. Apply to areas where vertical mixed use development is encouraged such as Core 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 16 of 29 Transit Corridors (CTC) and Future Core Transit Corridors. Yes Yes Imagine Austin Decision Guidelines Complete Community Measures Imagine Austin Growth Concept Map: Located within or adjacent to an Imagine Austin Activity Center, Imagine Austin Activity Corridor, or Imagine Austin Job Center as identified the Growth Concept Map. Name(s) of Activity Center/Activity Corridor/Job Center: • South of the MLK Neighborhood Center • South of the E. 12th Street Activity Corridor Yes Mobility and Public Transit: Located within 0.25 miles of public transit stop and/or light rail station. • Bus routes on Rosewood Ave and N. Pleasant Valley St. • 1.2 miles south of the MLK TOD Station Yes Mobility and Bike/Ped Access: Adjoins a public sidewalk, shared path, and/or bike lane. Yes Connectivity, Good and Services, Employment: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles to goods and services, and/or employment center. Yes Connectivity and Food Access: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles of a grocery store/farmers market. • 0.4 miles from Quick Stop Grocery • 0.8 miles from Cedar Corner Store Yes Connectivity and Education: Located within 0.50 miles from a public school or university. • 0.3 miles from Oak Springs Elementary School • 0.4 miles from Eastside Early College High School • 0.5 miles from ACC Eastview Campus Yes Connectivity and Healthy Living: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles from a recreation area, park or walking trail. • 0.1 miles from Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex • 0.3 miles from Rosewood Neighborhood Park • 0.6 miles from Delores Duffie Recreation Center Yes Connectivity and Health: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles of health facility (ex: hospital, urgent care, doctor’s office, drugstore clinic, and/or specialized outpatient care.) • 0.5 miles from Lone Star Circle of Care at Oak Springs, 3000 Oak Springs Dr., STE Lone Star, Austin, TX 78702 No Housing Affordability: Provides a minimum of 10% of units for workforce housing (80% MFI or less) and/or fee in lieu for affordable housing. Yes Housing Choice: Expands the number of units and housing choice that suits a variety of household sizes, incomes, and lifestyle needs of a diverse population (ex: apartments, triplex, granny flat, live/work units, cottage homes, and townhomes) in support of Imagine Austin and the Strategic Housing Blueprint. • Applicant says there is a possibility of approximately 20 multifamily residential units or 10-15 townhomes to be built on a portion of the property. Yes Mixed use: Provides a mix of residential and non-industrial uses. • Applicant states the proposed development will include office, retail, restaurant, multifamily residential uses. No Culture and Creative Economy: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles of a cultural resource (ex: library, theater, museum, cultural center). Yes Culture and Historic Preservation: Preserves or enhances a historically and/or culturally 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 17 of 29 significant site. • Applicant states they are researching the historic nature of the property and plan to register the property under the National Register of Historic Places. Creative Economy: Expands Austin’s creative economy (ex: live music venue, art studio, film, digital, theater.) Workforce Development, the Economy and Education: Expands the economic base by creating permanent jobs, especially in industries that are currently not represented in particular area or that promotes a new technology, and/or promotes educational opportunities and workforce development training. Industrial Land: Preserves or enhances industrial land. Number of “Yeses” Not known Not known No 11 Proximity to Imagine Austin Activity Centers and Corridors 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 18 of 29 Proximity to Public Transportation 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 19 of 29 Proximity to Public Parks IMAGINE AUSTIN GROWTH CONCEPT MAP Definitions Neighborhood Centers - The smallest and least intense of the three mixed-use centers are neighborhood centers. As with the regional and town centers, neighborhood centers are walkable, bikable, and supported by transit. The greatest density of people and activities in neighborhood centers will likely be concentrated on several blocks or around one or two intersections. However, depending on localized conditions, different neighborhood centers can be very different places. If a neighborhood center is designated on an existing commercial area, such as a shopping center or mall, it could represent redevelopment or the addition of housing. A new neighborhood center may be focused on a dense, mixed-use core surrounded by a mix of housing. In other instances, new or redevelopment may occur incrementally and concentrate people and activities along several blocks or around one or two intersections. Neighborhood centers will be more locally focused than either a regional or a town center. Businesses and services—grocery and department stores, doctors and dentists, shops, branch libraries, dry cleaners, hair salons, schools, restaurants, and other small and local businesses—will generally serve the center and surrounding neighborhoods. Town Centers - Although less intense than regional centers, town centers are also where many people will live and work. Town centers will have large and small employers, although 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 110 of 29 fewer than in regional centers. These employers will have regional customer and employee bases, and provide goods and services for the center as well as the surrounding areas. The buildings found in a town center will range in size from one-to three-story houses, duplexes, townhouses, and rowhouses, to low-to midrise apartments, mixed use buildings, and office buildings. These centers will also be important hubs in the transit system. Regional Centers - Regional centers are the most urban places in the region. These centers are and will become the retail, cultural, recreational, and entertainment destinations for Central Texas. These are the places where the greatest density of people and jobs and the tallest buildings in the region will be located. Housing in regional centers will mostly consist of low to high-rise apartments, mixed use buildings, row houses, and townhouses. However, other housing types, such as single-family units, may be included depending on the location and character of the center. The densities, buildings heights, and overall character of a center will depend on its location. Activity Centers for Redevelopment in Sensitive Environmental Areas - Five centers are located over the recharge or contributing zones of the Barton Springs Zone of the Edwards Aquifer or within water-supply watersheds. These centers are located on already developed areas and, in some instances, provide opportunities to address long-standing water quality issues and provide walkable areas in and near existing neighborhoods. State-of-the-art development practices will be required of any redevelopment to improve stormwater retention and the water quality flowing into the aquifer or other drinking water sources. These centers should also be carefully evaluated to fit within their infrastructural and environmental context. Job Centers - Job centers accommodate those businesses not well-suited for residential or environmentally- sensitive areas. These centers take advantage of existing transportation infrastructure such as arterial roadways, freeways, or the Austin-Bergstrom International airport. Job centers will mostly contain office parks, manufacturing, warehouses, logistics, and other businesses with similar demands and operating characteristics. They should nevertheless become more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, in part by better accommodating services for the people who work in those centers. While many of these centers are currently best served by car, the growth Concept map offers transportation choices such as light rail and bus rapid transit to increase commuter options. Corridors - Activity corridors have a dual nature. They are the connections that link activity centers and other key destinations to one another and allow people to travel throughout the city and region by bicycle, transit, or automobile. Corridors are also characterized by a variety of activities and types of buildings located along the roadway — shopping, restaurants and cafés, parks, schools, single-family houses, apartments, public buildings, houses of worship, mixed-use buildings, and offices. Along many corridors, there will be both large and small redevelopment sites. These redevelopment opportunities may be continuous along stretches of the corridor. There may also be a series of small neighborhood centers, connected by the roadway. Other corridors may have fewer redevelopment opportunities, but already have a mixture of uses, and could provide critical transportation connections. As a corridor evolves, sites that do not redevelop may transition from one use to 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 111 of 29 another, such as a service station becoming a restaurant or a large retail space being divided into several storefronts. To improve mobility along an activity corridor, new and redevelopment should reduce per capita car use and increase walking, bicycling, and transit use. Intensity of land use should correspond to the availability of quality transit, public space, and walkable destinations. Site design should use building arrangement and open space to reduce walking distance to transit and destinations, achieve safety and comfort, and draw people outdoors. BACKGROUND: The applicant proposes to change the future land use map from Civic to Mixed Use. The applicant proposes to change the zoning on the property from SF-3-NP (Family Residence district – Neighborhood Plan) to CS-MU-CO-NP (General Commercial Services district – Mixed Use combining district – Conditional Overlay combining district – Neighborhood Plan) for a mixed-use development to include office, retail, restaurant, and multifamily residential uses or the possibility of 10-15 townhomes. For more information on the proposed zoning, see case report for C14-2025-0049. PUBLIC MEETINGS: The ordinance-required community meeting was virtually held on June 17, 2025. The recorded meeting can be found here: https://publicinput.com/neighborhoodplanamendmentcases. Approximately 271 meeting notices were mailed to utility account holders and property owners who live within 500 feet of the property and neighborhood and environmental groups who requested notification for the area. Two city staff members from the Planning Department attended, Maureen Meredith and Mark Walters and three people from Armbrust and Brown, PLLC attended, who are the applicant’s agents, Richard T. Suttle, Jr., Kelly Wright, and Amanda Morrow. Eillen Wright and Kim Shipman from TOPO, the property developers, along with ten people from the neighborhood. Below are highlights from Richard Suttle’s presentation at the meeting: • There’s a charter school in the location now. • We want to make the zoning consistent with the zoning on Rosewood Ave, which is CS-MU-CO-NP. • We are requesting a FLUM change from Civic to Mixed Use. • The client, TOPO, wants to do an adaptive reuse of the site. It could be small shops, offices, restaurants, food and beverage, but the development will respect the existing building. • TOPO are developers who built Springdale General. They build human-scale developments. They don’t build tall buildings that are overwhelming. • The businesses in their developments are local and interact well with each other. Q: If approved, when would construction start for this development? A: If approved, we anticipate the beginning 2026, or mid-2026. We are in the discovery phase of the historic research on the property. We want to save the existing building. We hired a Historic Preservation researcher. We want to get it registered as a historic place. We 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 112 of 29 want to create a local hub with office and retail. We want to get local, small businesses as tenants. Q: What about the municipal building near the property, the place where emergency vehicles park. Is that also going to be rezoned and that facility will move somewhere else? A: We are not associated with that property. Q: My family lives near the property, so we will be directly affected by the development. The school on the property has a rich history in the neighborhood. We are concerned if the development will increase our taxes. We want to make sure the development serves as a community space for the neighborhood. We want the shops to be used by the immediate community. A: TOPO is doing a deep dive into the historical aspects of the property. They plan to honor the historic nature of the site. We are seeking National Historic Designation through the Federal Government. They have no plans to scrape the site. It will be a gathering spot for all ages. Q: Do you know where the original Blackshear Elementary was located? A: No, we don’t know yet, we are still doing research. Q: I live on Sol Wilson Ave. I’m concerned about traffic through the neighborhood. We have two dead-end streets. People try to cut through the neighborhood and end up backing there cars into resident’s cars. I’m also concerned that the property owners will just sell the property once they get the property rezoned. I want to hear that we will be looked after. A: We will finish the historic research on the building, then we will refurbish the building and find new tenants that will continue to fit into the neighborhood. I realize some developers do rezone properties then immediately sell, but TOPO does not do that. TOPO has owned the other developments for over 10 years. We stay in the neighborhood and are a part of the community. We have done infill projects for over 30 years in Austin. Our developments are typically one- to two-story developments that fit into the surrounding neighborhoods. Q: How do you reassure the community members that they benefit from the inconveniences of the development or benefit from the spaces provided? A: Our plan to is to really understand the surrounding community, the ingress and egress of the site, etc. We look at the site and what it can offer for public spaces. We are early in the process. Q: Will you build onto the existing building, or will you only be working with the space the school occupies? A: The school was built over many different years. We will need to put in an elevator or two in the building to be ADA compliant. We will do the historic research, and make any changes that need to be in character with the existing building. Q: How many office spaces will you have, and would it have residential? What about parking? 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 113 of 29 A: We don’t know yet because we don’t know the number of tenants we will have, if they will be large or small. We are early in looking at possible residential uses on a portion of the site that that is vacant which we estimate could accommodate about 15 townhomes, but we are early in the process. Even if the City doesn’t require parking, we will provide parking. Q: These developments come into the east side of Austin which causes the property taxes to go up, which ends up taxing out the older residents. A: This a function of properties all over the City becoming more valuable. We don’t have an answer for this. Q: How would parking and traffic be handled? A: We will look at the impact of the development on parking and traffic. The development can’t be successful until we address these issues. Q: I want the parking on the streets to only be for the residents and none for the development. I’m also concerned about the possible residential units. We don’t want short- term rentals. A: Your neighborhood could look at the Residential Parking program. We haven’t discussed short-term rentals on the site. Q: About how long would construction last? A: About 12-18 months for construction. Q: Will the residential units, if built, be rental or for sale? A: We don’t know yet. Q: Are there any features with the property that you think might be a problem? A: We don’t know yet. Comments: • This development will be great for the community. I fully support the development. • I’m concerned about parking and traffic on the property. We don’t want people parking in our neighborhood and our streets can’t handle more traffic. I would like the profits from the development to go back into the community, like maybe a free resource center that people can use for people impacted the most from the development. • 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 114 of 29 Applicant Summary Letter from Application 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 115 of 29 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 116 of 29Letter of Recommendation from the Neighborhood Plan Contact Team (NPCT) From: Meredith, Maureen Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2025 1:23 PM To: Rosewood NPCT Members Cc: Tomko, Jonathan <Jonathan.Tomko@austintexas.gov> Subject: Rosewood NPCT Rec?: NPA-2025-0008.01_2406 Rosewood Ave Importance: High Dear Rosewood NPCT: Cases NPA-2025-0008.01 and C14-2025-0049_2406 Rosewood Ave are scheduled for the August 26, 2025 Planning Commission hearing. If your team would like to have a letter of recommendation included in our staff reports, please email it to me and Jonathan Tomko, the zoning planner, no later than 9:00 am on Thursday, August 21st. If we get it after this date and time, we can submit it to the Planning Commission as late material. The virtual community meeting was held on June 17, 2025. The recorded meeting can be found here if you would like to watch it: https://publicinput.com/n55666. Please let me know if you have any questions. Maureen Maureen Meredith (she/her) Senior Planner, Long-Range Planning Planning Department 512-974-2695 maureen.meredith@austintexas.gov Please Note: Correspondence and information submitted to the City of Austin are subject to the Texas Public Information Act (Chapter 552) and may be published online. Por Favor Tome En Cuenta: La correspondencia y la información enviada a la Ciudad de Austin está sujeta a la Ley de Información Pública de Texas (Capítulo 552) y puede ser publicada en línea. 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 117 of 29 Site 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 118 of 29 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 119 of 29 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 120 of 29 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 121 of 29 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 122 of 29 Agent’s Presentation at the Virtual Community Meeting 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 123 of 29 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 124 of 29 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 125 of 29 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 126 of 29 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 127 of 29 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 128 of 29 Correspondence Received None received as of August 20, 2025. 08 NPA-2025-0008.01 - 2406 Rosewood Ave; District 129 of 29