The City Council today approved the City’s acquisition authority for eight privatelyowned parcels of land to support the mixed-use revitalization of a key Austin intersection.

The .79-acre site at the northwest corner of Chicago and Laramie avenues includes five vacant lots: a vacant, one-story building; and the 14,340 square-foot Laramie State Bank Building, a designated Chicago landmark.

The Department of Planning and Development (DPD) issued a request for proposals (RFP) to redevelop the site in August. The chosen respondent to the RFP will fund the site’s acquisition costs. The City’s acquisition authority would only be utilized in the event a selected developer is unable to finalize a purchase agreement with the site’s private owners.

The Community Development Commission approved the City’s acquisition authority this summer as part of the INVEST South/West initiative 

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