Austin’s St Johns Multifamily Project To Cost $58M

A long-dormant development site in Austin is a step closer to breaking ground.

Construction will begin next month on the residential buildings of the St. Johns site, a mixed-use project which Greystar is developing in conjunction with the City of Austin, according to filings with the state.

The five buildings that make up the multifamily portion of the project will cost an estimated $58.3 million, amounting to about $111,000 for each of the community’s 526 units, the filings show. Work is scheduled to begin this June and end July 2028. Texas construction project filings are preliminary and subject to change.

The St. Johns site spans about 19 acres northeast of the intersection of St. Johns Avenue and I-35, just south of where the interstate crosses Hwy 183. The land covers two commercial lots which formerly accommodated a Home Depot store and a Chrysler dealership. Using funds from a $58.1 million bond package approved by voters in 2006, the City of Austin bought the 13.8-acre Home Depot site in 2008 and the 5.2-acre Chrysler parcel in 2013, according to a city memorandum. The city signed a development agreement with Greystar in 2021.

The multifamily development will be privately funded, according to the project filings.

Under an agreement approved by the city on March 12, Greystar will divide the site into St. Johns South and St. Johns North. The South Congress Public Facilities Corporation will own both parcels and ground lease them to Greystar or its affiliates.

The new plan halves the project in order to access more funding in Austin’s challenging multifamily “market conditions,” according to the city. The two phases will draw financing from different equity partners.

Apartment rents have declined in Austin for 10 consecutive quarters following a supply boom during the pandemic, according to the Wall Street Journal. The city started the year with a 4.8 percent year-over-year decline in average rent, the greatest drop of any major metro in the country, CoStar found.

The St. Johns project will include 526 multifamily units, with more than two-thirds reserved for tenants earning below the area’s median family income. The development will also include retail space closer to the existing St. John Park, which abuts the east end of the land.