Chic East Austin cocktail bar to close after nearly 3 years

Twin Oaks Shopping Center, whose future has been in limbo since H-E-B bought it a decade ago, now has firmer redevelopment plans. Developer SomeraRoad plans to turn the 10-acre property at South Congress Avenue and Oltorf Street into a low-rise retail and dining destination targeted for an initial opening in summer 2028.

The 90,000 square feet will be divided among shops, restaurants, wellness concepts, and service businesses, according to SomeraRoad’s announcement. Landscaped walkways and green gathering areas will thread through the center, which will have more than 250 parking spaces. Rue, which has handled retail leasing at Music Lane, will oversee leasing, although no tenants have been announced.

SomeraRoad says the new Twin Oaks development, slated for 2028, will be walkable and pedestrian friendly. Rendering courtesy of SomeraRoad

Headquartered in New York and Nashville, SomeraRoad has some other recognizable Austin investments, including the repositioning of the former St. Elmo Public Market and the WeWork office building at 801 Barton Springs. The developer says Twin Oaks will reflect the center’s midcentury character while creating a pedestrian-friendly public space. Gensler and Oro Design are leading the design work.

This new announcement follows a much denser mixed-use proposal pursued by Trammell Crow Company in 2023. Conceived as a transit-oriented development beside a planned Project Connect Orange Line station, it included 959 homes, a 175-room hotel, 150,000 square feet of offices and 125,000 square feet of retail before Trammell Crow abandoned the project.

SomeraRoad has yet to file a new site plan with the City of Austin and has provided few additional details. Current zoning could allow buildings up to 120 feet, but the developer has not said whether it intends to use that height.

H-E-B maintains ownership of Twin Oaks, which consists of two roughly five-acre parcels at the front and back of the property. Travis Central Appraisal District records value the property at a combined $60.3 million for 2026, up from approximately $36.6 million in 2022, when construction began on the new South Congress and Oltorf (SoCo) H-E-B.

Twin Oaks opened in 1954 as a modern open-air shopping center built for about two dozen businesses. In 1957, H-E-B opened across the intersection at 2400 South Congress Avenue.

For half a century, the Twin Oaks Branch Library operated in the center. The new Twin Oaks Branch building opened in 2010.

H-E-B acquired Twin Oaks in 2016 while weighing options for its South Congress store. In 2019, it decided to rebuild at the store’s original location rather than move permanently to Twin Oaks. A temporary H-E-B opened inside the former CVS in January 2022 and operated until the replacement store opened across the intersection in December 2024.

Light rail is still planned nearby. Austin Light Rail Phase 1 would terminate beside Twin Oaks at South Congress and Oltorf. Nearby residential construction includes the seven-story Leland development farther north on South Congress, planned for 265 condominiums and approximately 20,000 square feet of retail.