AUSTIN – A development team has been chosen to undertake a $200 million redevelopment and expansion of the Rebekah Baines Johnson seniors housing project on Lady Bird Lake in Austin.
The developers have formed a development entity called Cesar Chavez Lakeview Village LLC and its proposal includes:
- 250 new units of affordable senior housing
- 250 units of renovated senior housing
- Approximately 340 units of mixed-income apartments and condos
- 25,000 square feet of commercial space
The site, controlled by the private non-profit Austin Geriatric Center, Inc., covers 18-acres of prime lake frontage in East Austin.
“This will provide significantly more high-quality housing for low-income seniors – and our team is excited to have the opportunity to create a vibrant community for all ages and incomes in a phenomenal setting that is uniquely Austin,” said Danny Roth, principal of Southwest Strategies Group, which will serve as the managing partner of the redevelopment team.
Opened in 1972 with the help of President Lyndon B. Johnson, the RBJ Center’s existing 16-story tower – containing 250 apartments – will be completely renovated. Two smaller senior living buildings will be constructed adjacent to the original tower, doubling the number of affordable units there currently.
“We want to create an environment that captures President Johnson’s vision for a residential community for lower income seniors that encompasses health and wellness programs along with supportive services, something akin to “affordable assisted living,” said DMA Development Co. President Diana McIver. “This hasn’t been done in Austin before, and to be able to do it in this beautiful setting is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Nearly 9 acres of the property would become a vibrant mixed-use community with up to 340 apartments and condominiums for people of all ages and incomes along with 25,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space.
The Austin-based developers working on the project are:
- Southwest Strategies Group serves as managing partner in the mixed-use redevelopment of the Seaholm Power Plant in downtown Austin and renovated the award-winning Penn Field mixed-use project in South Austin.
- Momark Development was a principal development consultant on the luxury downtown condominium high-rise the Austonian and has developed numerous high-quality projects in South Austin including Chestnut Commons, MacMora Cottages, Edgewick Condominiums and Denizen Condominiums.
- DMA Development developed Wildflower Terrace, the only high-density, vertical mixed-use, mixed-income senior housing community in Austin, located in the Mueller development. In addition to providing development consulting on more than 12,000 nonprofit-owned affordable units nationally, DMA has developed 25 properties and currently has a portfolio of more than 1,850 units.