Uprooted

East Austin plant store duo displaced by new supportive housing

East Austin Succulents will move this summer, followed by Tillery Street Plant Company at a later date.

East Austin Succulents/Instagram

East Austin Succulents, a plant store with long, dazzling rows of cacti and succulents, announced July 22 on social media that it'll be moving to accommodate new housing. Tillery Street Plant Company, a lush greenhouse and pottery store that shares the lot, will also have to move, but has a longer window to do so, says owner Jon Hutson in a phone call.

"I think we have at least until February," Hutson says, citing the developer's timeline. He explains that East Austin Succulents will need to move by August because the developer needs to run utilities through that side of the property.

East Austin Succulents did not immediately respond to a phone call, but the message posted on Instagram does confirm that it will move before Tillery Street Plant Company, and that the two stores will no longer share a space. The store also posted a picture of a sign confirming the new store will open August 1.

The succulent store already has a new address locked down in South Austin: 7310 Sherwood Rd. The South Austin address (west of South First Street and south of William Cannon Drive) currently houses a landscaper called Longhorn Lawns on a long lot. East Austin Succulents will stay open during the move, and after the move, it will keep its name.

Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation records confirm new construction at 701 Tillery St. — the adjacent lot to both plant companies' current space — on a 4-story, 120-unit permanent supportive housing project. It is called The Works III and will be managed by LifeWorks, an organization that supports young families and individuals, often who have experienced homelessness, with housing, counseling, education, and workforce services.

East Austin Succulents and Tillery Street Plant Company were allies in business for nearly 15 years, since 2010, and their selections shaped each other. What one store sold, the other wouldn't, and the two selections bled into each other to create one immaculately-stocked whole. The only difference for most shoppers was just the register they paid at.

"I'm hoping we [at Tillery Street Plant Company] have until through spring — just because the business we're in, that's kind of what we need," says Hutson. "We're really hoping to stay on the East Side. There's nobody else left on the East Side, but we haven't got that fully locked down yet."

Hutson says permitting issues with the city and prices being "insanely expensive" are making this goal challenging. Plus, it isn't easy to find enough land to house a nursery. He's holding out hope for word-of-mouth recommendations.

"It's just a sad thing because we really love that property, and we've grown attached to it," says Hutson. "But I mean, gosh, I'm an Austin native. I've seen this happen so many times now ... it just seems the way that things happen. We're sad to go, but we're hoping that we find a good spot that we can settle into for a long term also."

Finally, East Austin Succulents says in a comment that the cats on the property will stay with Tillery Street Plant Company until it's time to move. Then they'll move in at one of the plant stores' new locations.

For now, both companies are located at 801 Tillery St. and open daily. East Austin Succulents is open from 10 am to 5 pm, and Tillery Street Plant Company is open from 9 am to 6 pm.

gardening plants closings openings east austin

income analysis

This is the family income needed for one parent to stay home in Texas

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

The cost of raising a child has ballooned in major cities like Austin, forcing many families to weight the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas — not just Austin — that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support a stay-at-home partner and a child, the report found. If two parents worked in the household, necessitating some additional costs like childcare and transportation, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in Central Texas, however, is slightly more expensive. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $24,118 to raise a child in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts, where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report acknowledges ways families are working to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

texas income smartasset family