Fly in the milk
Plaza Saltillo developer wants to milk Far East Austin site for massive mixed-use project
A site in Far East Austin that houses a Borden Dairy plant might be transformed into a mixed-use development with three office buildings, 1,400 apartments, a 220-room hotel, and numerous shops and restaurants.
Endeavor Real Estate Group, an Austin-based real estate developer, wants to rezone the 21-acre property to make way for the mixed-use development. The site is at 71 Strandtman Cove, near U.S. Highway 183 South and Levander Loop. Endeavor’s request is in the early stages of the City of Austin rezoning process.
If the project comes to fruition, it would represent a big economic boost for Far East Austin’s Govalle neighborhood, which has seen little of the explosive development that the nearby East Riverside Drive corridor has.
The trio of office buildings proposed by Endeavor would encompass about 400,000 square feet of office space, while the 1,400 apartments would be spread across four buildings containing an unidentified amount of square footage, according to documents filed with the City of Austin. Aside from the 220-room hotel, the property would feature about 100,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.
The Borden project would add to Endeavor’s longtime reputation as a prolific developer in Austin. Among other former and current projects are redevelopment of the former Austin American-Statesman site just south of downtown, the Saltillo Plaza mixed-use development in East Austin, and the Domain Northside mixed-use development in North Austin.
In July, Springfield, Missouri-based Hiland Dairy Foods agreed to buy or lease all of Borden Dairy’s assets in Texas, including the Austin plant. Dallas-based Borden Dairy voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2020. Six months later, investment firms Capitol Peak Partners and KKR bought the company through a bankruptcy auction.