Renderings of the East Ninth micro-apartment project from back in 2018 — we believe the development now moving forward here four years later looks about the same. Image: Michael Hsu Office of Architecture / Sackman Enterprises
Roughly six years after the first appearance of the plan, a “micro-housing” apartment project by 70 Rainey developers Sackman Enterprises appears to be moving forward at 703 East Ninth Street, a 0.76-acre land assembly at the southwest corner of East Ninth Street and the I-35 Frontage Road stretching west to the edge of Waller Creek.
With its permit approved by the City of Austin last month and the a license agreement for the site currently in review, the project’s reappearance with active updates to its development timeline this year marked the end of a long period of inactivity — even prior to the pandemic, the wait for this plan was longer than usual due to the site’s location directly adjacent to Waller Creek, with the building apparently only able to be permitted by the city after the completion of flood control improvements including the famously troubled Waller Creek Tunnel.
Another view of the project from back in 2018, showing its connection to the neighboring Waller Creek and its upcoming greenway. Image: Michael Hsu Office of Architecture / Sackman Enterprises
Like the nearby 3Waller apartment project, the height of the unnamed development is limited by to a few floors by Capitol View Corridors passing overhead. These most recent plan updates appear to reference the building’s original design by the locals at Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, which features a particularly intense reminder of the height limitations imposed on the property by the CVC — its roofline directly follows the angled path of the corridor, descending from west to east:
Image: Michael Hsu Office of Architecture / Sackman Enterprises
Assuming the project hasn’t changed significantly since its first appearance in 2018, the community is set to contain 148 small efficiency apartment units ranging from between 380 and 700 square feet in size, alongside approximately 7,000 square feet of ground-level restaurant space. While the renderings of the project seen here date back several years and may not be completely accurate to the final look of the building, we presume either way that its landscape architects at local firm TBG Partners will enhance the building’s connections to Waller Creek considering the upcoming improvements for the area from those fine folks over at the Waterloo Greenway — pretty soon, having this creek in your backyard will be a genuine selling point.
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