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Mixed-use development fills up empty lot on South Congress

It's called Hummingbird and will be home to retail and office space, including a one-suite hotel on the top floor.

AUSTIN, Texas — Tucked in between Vespaio and South Congress Books, sits an empty lot normally filled with pop-up vendors on the weekend. Now, it's being filled with a mixed-use development, Hummingbird.

The three-story building will be home to retail and office space, including a one-suite hotel on the top floor. The renderings show a pool on the rooftop. 

Credit: Fazio Architects
Rendering of the Hummingbird development on South Congress Avenue. Rendering courtesy of Fazio Architects.

Austin developer Gary Sharpe owns the property. CBRE, a real-estate and investment firm, is marketing the property. Fazio Architects is the architecture firm on the project.

"It's good to have a uniformity of a street experience," said Eric DeJernett, a senior vice president with CBRE. "There are a lot of creative people that are here and want to come here and they'll find a place." 

Tenants are still in the process of being locked down, but right now the plan is to have tenants that are local and will bring jobs to SoCo. 

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"It will create jobs, there's no doubt about it," said DeJernett. "It's actually been important to a lot of the people that we work with to keep the culture of Austin – and the soul of Austin so to speak – alive even as the city grows and develops."

This project is the most recent in a string of construction projects underway now. 

Music Lane is a mixed-use development going up on the corner of Academy Drive and South Congress Avenue.

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Some nearby neighbors of the popular strip have noticed the change for years. 

"I recognize the neighborhood is changing," said Sandra Kelley, who has lived in a neighborhood next to 'SoCo' for 50 years. "These buildings over the years have housed so many different things without changing the outside appearance."

RELATED: South Congress Avenue has been steadily changing for 30 years – and there are more changes to come

While she says she understands that growth and change is going to happen, she hopes the development can somehow keep the "old Austin" feel.

"I just wish that more of what was being built would reflect what this neighborhood has always been like," said Kelley. 

The building is expected to be up by spring of 2020. 

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