St. John Site
About the Project
The St. John Site is located at the northeast corner of N. IH-35 and St. John Avenue within the historic St. John neighborhood. With a rich history dating back to the 1890s, the St. John Site has been a pivotal location in Central Texas’ African American community. In 2017, the Austin City Council directed staff to collaborate with the St. John Community in creating a new community vision, which was officially adopted by Council in 2020. Since 2020, the City has partnered with Greystar and Austin Housing Authority to redevelop the site into a mixed-use, mixed-income extension of the St. John neighborhood. Today the St. John Site is owned by Austin Housing Authority, under a Public Facility Corporation, with Greystar overseeing construction.
If you have questions, want more information, or want to connect with the project team, please email St.John.Site@austintexas.gov.
Banner image credit: TBG Partners
St. John Site
Community Vision
In 2020, after three years of outreach and engagement with the St. John community, council adopted the St. John Site Community Vision. On June 30, 2026, the partnership between the City of Austin, Austin Housing Authority (AHA) and Greystar reached a major milestone, advancing this vision and finalizing the sale of the 19-acre St. John Site to the South Congress Public Facility Corporation, a public facility corporation overseen by AHA. The partnership will deliver 526 units of mixed income housing, 15,000 square feet of community focused retail and a major expansion of the St. John Pocket Park. The park will grow from roughly 1 acre to nearly 4 acres and will feature new walking trails, a gathering pavilion and a splash pad.
Image Credit: Lemmo Architecture and Design
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- 10/05/2023: Council approved the proposed multi-family and commercial development at 800 E St John Avenue (formerly 7309 and 7211 N IH-35) under Texas Local Government Code Chapter 303 (Public Facility Corporations) and authorized options to repurchase the property after 60 years or to extend the tax exemption incentives related to affordability requirements. (October 5, 2023 Regular Council Agenda Item #2).
- 10/08/2022: Austin City Council approved four items related to the redevelopment of the St. John Site. These include Item #8 (Term Sheet and Concept Plan), Item #37 (Contract for legal services), Item #98 (Neighborhood Plan Amendment) and Item #99 (rezoning).
- 07/29/2020: Austin City Council passed Resolution No. 20200729-117, which affirmed the new community vision for the St. John Site and initiated a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) process that ensures the development will achieve community priorities, as well as initiated rezoning of the St. John Site.
- 12/07/2017: Austin City Council passed Resolution No. 20171207-058 directing the City Manager to work with the St. John community to create a new vision for the St. John Site that honored the history of the St. John neighborhoods while taking into consideration future opportunities for affordable housing, local business, recreation spaces, non-profit partnerships and governmental facilities.
St. John Site
Honoring St. John's History
The 2020 St. John Community Vision directs redevelopment to honor the neighborhood's history. To help make that happen, Financial Services partnered with the City's Austin’s Art in Public Places program in 2025 to create a public artwork. This artwork will be installed as part of the planned expansion of St. John Park. The artist was chosen through an open call that started in February 2025. A selection panel of local artists, St. John community members and people from the redevelopment team reviewed applications from artists residing in Texas. After the panel made its recommendations, the Art in Public Places Committee and the Arts Commission reviewed them and sent forward to Austin City Council for approval of the artist on May 21, 2026, as Item #2. As the artwork moves forward, the City will keep working with community members to shape the vision for this important cultural project. To learn more about the process, visit the St. John's SpeakUp Austin page.
Image credit: "St. John Community Pillar" by Damon Moseley
St. John Site
Boundary Map
The St. John Site consists of roughly 19 acres of publicly‑owned land in Council District 4 at the northeast corner of St. Johns Avenue and IH‑35. The property includes 800 and 910 E. St. John Avenue—known as the 13.8‑acre former Home Depot, and the 5.2‑acre former Chrysler dealership. Together, these two former commercial sites make up the 19-acre St. John Site identified for redevelopment. Additionally, the existing .79-acre St. John Pocket Park will be reprogrammed and expanded into a roughly 4-acre park that will stretch from Blackson Avenue to St. John Avenue—while maintaining existing access from the St. John neighborhood.
St. John Site
City Actions
The St. John Site was shaped by a series of City initiatives and Council actions, including the purchase of the properties through bond funds and ongoing efforts to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood in a way that honors its rich history. To learn more about past community and City milestones, visit the St. John Site's Documents and Resources page.
St. John Site
About the Development Agreement
On March 12, 2026, the Austin City Council approved Item #4, allowing updates to the 2023 development agreement that refined the concept plan, expanded affordable housing, and incorporated terms from the revised Term Sheet. On May 28, 2026, the City Council followed with approval of Items #2 and #3, authorizing payment of the remaining debt on the 19-acre site and approving a budget amendment that enables land proceed from the sale of the land to be reinvested into capital improvement projects within the St. John neighborhood. With these approvals in place, and the execution of the final Master Development Agreements on May 28, 2026, the public private partnership completed project permitting and the construction broke ground July 2026.
Image Credit: Lemmo Architecture and Design
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- 06/30/2026: City of Austin sells 19-acre St. John Site to the South Congress Public Facilities Corporation. Proceeds from the land sale are used to pay the remaining bond debt on the site.
- 05/28/2026: City of Austin, Greystar, and HACA executed the final Master Development Agreements to deliver a mixed-income, mixed-use development with expanded and improved parkland and community-focused retail.
- 05/28/2026: Council approves Items #2 and #3 authorizing payment of the remaining bond debt and a budget amendment to allow remaining proceeds to be invested in capital improvement projects in the St. John neighborhood.
- 03/12/2026: Austin City Council approves Item #4, allowing updates to the development agreement that refined the concept plan, expanded affordable housing, and incorporated terms from the revised Term Sheet.
St. John Site
Buying the Land
The City purchased the first parcel of the St. John Site in 2008 and the second five years later for a public safety facility using 2006 voter approved General Obligation Bonds. In 2017, Council directed staff to work with the St. John community to develop a new vision for the site, one that would address the needs of the adjacent St. John community. That community vision was adopted in 2020 and Council authorized negotiation and execution of an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement with Greystar in partnership with AHA in 2021.
Image Credit: Lemmo Architecture and Design