AUSTIN, Texas — Another affordable condo development is going up in East Austin, but this one is a little different. It will be a completely carless community, and each resident will receive a free e-bike.
The development is the second phase of The Chicon, which was completed in 2018. Originally, The Ivory was only going to have 22 units, but thanks to Austin City Councilmember Natasha Harper-Madison (District 1), developers were able to expand it.
With the implementation of the Affordability Unlocked Development Bonus Program, they were able to build twice as many units, move from three stories up to five and make the community carless. It will now have 53 residential condos and three commercial spaces to house local businesses.
Following with the city of Austin’s Climate Protection Plan, the building will be all electric and powered by solar, except for one corner unit on the first floor for the local restaurants.
“We've modeled the solar to be about 95% of all the electric demand, and so everybody's going to get a rebate back on their electric bill every month for all their electric usage,” said Sean Garretson, the board president for the Chestnut Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation. “It’s a huge savings in not having to own a car and the electricity.”
The smallest unit will go for around $220,000, whereas the market price is $450,000. Forty units in the building will be available to households earning at or below 70% Median Family Income and the other 13 will be sold at market rate.
“We decided to push the envelope on affordability,” Garretson said. “A lot of folks think about affordable housing as the price of a home or the price of your rent, but we added to that, and we also look at the cost of transportation.”
A new CapMetro station will also be going up right in front of The Ivory for residents to use. For further transportation needs, the development will have two e-vehicles on-site for only the residents to use. Residents will get three free rides a month, then $6 for any additional rides.
The name of the development, The Ivory, has a significant meaning. It’s named after Scottie Ivory, a long-time advocate for the East Austin community.
“It was important to us and really blessed us by allowing us to have her namesake for the building,” Garretson said.
Ivory was at the groundbreaking on Saturday morning, along with her whole family.
“She has impacted their lives and the lives of their children, the lives of their grandchildren, and that is an effect that she will have for generations,” Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said.
The Chestnut Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation, the nonprofit dedicated to creating affordable housing solutions in East Austin, estimates The Ivory will be completed by next June, and residents will start moving in July and August.
The Ivory currently has 10 more workforce units and four market-rate units available. You can find more information on its website.
Boomtown is KVUE's series covering the explosive growth in Central Texas. For more Boomtown stories, head to KVUE.com/Boomtown.