A rendering of the Guthrie development planned at 3300 Gonzales Street. Photo courtesy of Argyle Residential.
Gonzales Street is quiet, for now. It’s a sleepy path of single-family homes in far East Austin just north of the East Seventh Street bridge’s span over Tillery Street, and the elevation of Seventh Street in this area insulates nearby homes from most major traffic. The abundant trees on the un-and-underdeveloped lots at the intersection of Gonzales and Tillery Streets lend the block an oddly rural stillness, which helps to circumvent its actual geography barely more than two miles from downtown.
A swing hanging underneath the Seventh Street bridge near the intersection of Tillery and Gonzales Streets. Photo courtesy of Hatch Workshop / Red Swing Project.
Since this is Austin, the Govalle neighborhood that claims Gonzales Street at its center might be described as “the next big thing,” or “the crest of the wave” — the watershed point on a vertical swath of high-density real estate development slowly chewing its way eastward through aging single-family homes and light industrial warehouses, leaving behind apartment complexes and mixed-use midrises as it goes.
The site of the former Guthrie Lumberyard at 3300 Gonzales Street. Photo by James Rambin.
It’s here in Govalle, at the site of a former Gonzales Street lumberyard, that we find a new benchmark for the eastern spread of density: The Guthrie, a four-story multifamily development planned by Oden Hughes and Argyle Residential at 3300 Gonzales Street.
A north-facing elevation of the Guthrie project. Photo courtesy of Steinberg Design Collaborative.
The project — which gets its name from the lumberyard previously at the address a la The Arnold, The Chicon, The Leslie, and so on — will contain 310 apartment units, with 12 units at a secondary Guthrie II development at 3215 Gonzales Street, just across the road from the main site.
A southern elevation of the Guthrie II, designed as a live/work building. Photo courtesy of Steinberg Design Collaborative.
It’s not really the design of the building that grabs me. Judging by the available renderings, plans and elevations, it just sort of looks like the Triangle — in fact, it’s designed by the same architects. But two things are particularly noteworthy here:
• The units at the Guthrie II are designed as live/work space, with a commercial ground floor and two floors of living space up top. This is a feature for these types of buildings you just don’t see very often — it’s usually ground floor retail with apartments up above, and never the twain shall meet. Super interesting, even if the lack of current pedestrian traffic in the neighborhood means these spaces will inevitably end up as law offices or something.
• If I’m keeping score correctly, the Guthrie is the first multifamily development of its size to arrive in this section of Austin’s far east side by something like half a mile, at least on the East Seventh Street corridor and surrounding areas.
A map of the sites for the Guthrie and Guthrie II developments. Photo courtesy of Google Maps.
Further east on Gonzales Street, MX3 Homes has several projects in play, which makes me wonder if parts of East Austin closer to the highway are finally getting too expensive even for developers. Putting up 300-plus residential units is certainly a bold way to anchor future development in a slightly more remote section of the zip code.
Another rendering of the Guthrie project. Photo courtesy of Argyle Residential.
Between this Guthrie project, the East 5th Condos, and the Rail Spur Building located a bit further down Tillery Street, we’re seeing some genuine action in this bit of Govalle. The neighborhood remains one of my favorite parts of the city, but I’m not necessarily crossing my fingers for the area to receive the East Sixth treatment.
More density is inevitable, but awareness of your surroundings and neighborhood context is often overlooked by multifamily developers. Govalle has a quieter vibe that lends itself to industrial adaptive reuse projects like the Rail Spur Building or Austin Bouldering Project’s repurposed produce factory over brand new midrise development — which often seems to deliver buildings with no sense of time, place, or anything else, for that matter.
Govalle neighborhood homes for sale
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$520,000
1123 1/2 Gunter ST #2
Austin, TX -
$575,000
1011 Cherico ST
Austin, TX -
$649,000
3125 Govalle AVE
Austin, TX -
$325,000
734 Gunter ST SE
Austin, TX -
$199,000
MLS # 2611295
Austin, TX -
$579,000
1102 Tillery ST #2
Austin, TX -
$439,000
1102 Tillery ST #1
Austin, TX -
$795,000
3009 Kuhlman AVE
Austin, TX -
$589,000
1123 1/2 Gunter ST #1
Austin, TX -
$465,000
3005 Stokes DR #B
Austin, TX -
$424,900
2807 E 4th Street ST #B
Austin, TX -
$350,000
2905 Lyons RD
Austin, TX -
$625,000
3012 Webberville RD #A
Austin, TX -
$449,900
3008 Glen Rae ST
Austin, TX -
$395,000
2311 E 8th ST
Austin, TX -
$428,000
2716 Zaragosa ST
Austin, TX -
$350,000
3612 Govalle AVE
Austin, TX -
$424,900
2807 E 4th ST #B
Austin, TX -
$290,000
405 N Pleasant Valley RD
Austin, TX -
$795,000
4703 Milburn LN
Austin, TX -
$489,990
2912 Govalle AVE
Austin, TX -
$499,989
4803 Lyons RD
Austin, TX -
$319,900
303 Broadway ST
Austin, TX -
$595,000
4708 & 4706 E Milburn LN E
Austin, TX -
$364,900
2721 Francisco ST
Austin, TX
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$520,000Lot Size10,890 sqft
Home Size1,406 sq ft
Beds3 beds
Baths3 baths
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$575,000Lot Size8,886 sqft
Home Size1,680 sq ft
Beds3 beds
Baths2 baths
-
$649,000Lot Size5,488 sqft
Home Size1,969 sq ft
Beds3 beds
Baths4 baths
-
$325,000Lot Size7,143 sqft
Home Size840 sq ft
Beds3 beds
Baths1 bath
-
$199,000Lot Size3,746 sqft
Home Size528 sq ft
Beds1 bed
Baths1 bath
-
$579,000Lot Size10,672 sqft
Home Size1,792 sq ft
Beds3 beds
Baths3 baths
-
$439,000Lot Size10,672 sqft
Home Size1,080 sq ft
Beds2 beds
Baths3 baths
-
$795,000Lot Size6,577 sqft
Home Size1,849 sq ft
Beds3 beds
Baths3 baths
-
$589,000Lot Size10,890 sqft
Home Size1,773 sq ft
Beds3 beds
Baths3 baths
-
$465,000Lot Size3,223 sqft
Home Size1,068 sq ft
Beds2 beds
Baths2 baths
-
$424,900Lot Size1,916 sqft
Home Size985 sq ft
Beds1 bed
Baths2 baths
-
$350,000Lot Size6,577 sqft
Home Size1,104 sq ft
Beds3 beds
Baths2 baths
-
$625,000Lot Size5,227 sqft
Home Size1,826 sq ft
Beds3 beds
Baths3 baths
-
$449,900Lot Size11,499 sqft
Home Size1,485 sq ft
Beds3 beds
Baths2 baths
-
$395,000Lot Size5,880 sqft
Home Size1,000 sq ft
Beds2 beds
Baths2 baths
-
$428,000Lot Size6,272 sqft
Home Size922 sq ft
Beds2 beds
Baths2 baths
-
$350,000Lot Size7,405 sqft
Home Size672 sq ft
Beds2 beds
Baths1 bath
-
$424,900Lot Size1,916 sqft
Home Size985 sq ft
Beds1 bed
Baths2 baths
-
$290,000Lot Size5,183 sqft
Home Size1,196 sq ft
Beds3 beds
Baths1 bath
-
$795,000Lot Size19,122 sqft
Home Size2,074 sq ft
Beds3 beds
Baths2 baths
-
$489,990Lot Size3,920 sqft
Home Size1,696 sq ft
Beds3 beds
Baths3 baths
-
$499,989Lot Size16,247 sqft
Home Size1,145 sq ft
Beds2 beds
Baths1 bath
-
$319,900Lot Size4,573 sqft
Home Size598 sq ft
Beds1 bed
Baths1 bath
-
$595,000Lot Size16,901 sqft
Home Size1,536 sq ft
Beds3 beds
Baths1 bath
-
$364,900Lot Size7,971 sqft
Home Size672 sq ft
Beds2 beds
Baths1 bath
