Redevelopment near Lady Bird Lake advances

AUSTIN – The redevelopment of a senior living facility in East Austin will move forward after receiving rezoning approval.

The 16-story Rebekah Baines Johnson Center (RBJC), also known as the Austin Geriatric Center, gained approval March 12 for mixed-use zoning, a necessary step before the facility can complete an anticipated redevelopment plan.

The site currently includes 250 units for senior housing along the Lady Bird Lake shore in East Austin. The facility opened in 1972 with the help of President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Redevelopment plans call for constructing two smaller buildings adjacent to the existing RBJC that would house 250 new affordable senior living units and 340 units of mixed-income apartments and condominiums as well as 25,000 sf of commercial space and indoor and outdoor gathering spaces.

Southwest Strategies Group, Momark Development and DMA Development Company LLC have teamed up to redevelop the area, which was zoned for multifamily use until Austin City Council approved new mixed-use zoning during its March 12 meeting.