A set of three adjacent, mixed-use developments totaling more than 150,000 square feet is headed for a stretch of Manor Road between Airport Boulevard and the Mueller community. Developed by Austin-based Cumby Group, the projects will occupy more than a block of the corridor that runs along the southern side of Mueller (both the planned community and the former airport), an area that currently features a mix of legacy and newer small businesses, apartment buildings, and swaths of vacant land.
Austin-based development firm Cumby Group is heading up all three projects, which will ultimately feature more than 800 apartments, including 80 affordable units. The company purchased the six commercial properties, almost nine acres in total, for redevelopment in 2019 and 2020.
The group has begun construction on the first of the three projects: The Emma, located at 3219 Manor Road, will include 146 apartments, with 15 units reserved for renters who earn 60 percent or less of the Austin area median family income. The five-story complex will include ground-floor live-work space and an elevated courtyard pool. It’s scheduled to open in July of 2022.
Cumby Group is also in the permitting process for two mixed-use buildings it plans for 3115 Manor Road, next door to the Emma. The five-story complex will hold a total 450-500 apartments, with around 48 units reserved for households making no more than 60 percent of the area’s MFI. Those plans also include live-work and commercial space and a neighborhood gathering space that it envisions making available for food trucks, a makers market, and a farmers market.
The company is still working on plans for the 3303 Manor Road site but looks to build approximately 200 apartments, some affordable, along with parking, and a gathering area with the potential to host more food trucks on the property.
The Emma apartment complex will have a raised courtyard pool.Courtesy of Cumby Group
Rendering of the mixed-use building proposed for 3115 Manor RoadCourtesy of Cumby Group
According to a press release, the company worked with the JJ Seabrook Neighborhood Association as it moved ahead with development plans, incorporating neighborhood priorities such as onsite affordable homes and public green space that helps connect the Southwest Greenway to the properties' north and the JJ Seabrook Park to the south.
Melissa Brown, vice president development at Cumby Group, said the projects should bring a variety of much-needed housing to the central-city area. “Together these three projects will provide a significant amount of housing for people with a broad range of incomes near jobs and transit while also creating engaging spaces that bring people together,” she said.
