DGP presents: What’s up with Plaza Saltillo, ACUs and alley garden beds

Welcome to Darn Good Places, My name is Ryan Saunders, I am the founder of Darn Good Places and your narrator moving forward. We welcome you to join along on this journey as my goal is to provide this newsletter as a resource to learn more about your city, how to apply creative approaches to real estate and how to make a difference in your community.

Learn more: www.darngoodplaces.com

Ryan Saunders: ryan@latituderep.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-saunders-48621920/

Sneak peek from Founder Ryan Saunders upcoming article for EastSide magazine

Plaza Saltillo: A Failed Project or a Work in Progress?

Read the full thing here: https://www.eastsideatx.com/plaza-saltillo-district/

Other recent blogs:

What’s up with Live Music in 2026?

Inspired by my attendance to the SXSW Panel featuring All American Rejects where they discussed the House Party Tour they created a year earlier

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whats-up-live-music-2026-ryan-saunders-efuzc/

Community Engagement: Beacon Hill Style-

The story behind community engagement and grassroots efforts at work to create a linear park on land covering an underground stormwater tunnel below the neighborhood

https://www.darngoodplaces.com/blog/communityengagementbeaconhillstyle

A tour of Downtown San Antonio:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/darn-good-places-presents-street-scenes-san-antonio-ryan-saunders-br0lc

City

An overview of the major civic projects and initiatives happening in Austin, Texas

Two major resolutions passed City Council this past week:

Item 40

40. Approve a resolution initiating amendments to City Code Title 25 (Land Development) to create new zoning districts that will allow for a range of small housing types such as townhomes, cottage courts, and small-scale multi-unit residential uses (also known as “missing middle housing”) and new zoning districts that will allow for developments that mix residential and commercial or civic uses (also known as “mixed-use”); and to amend existing Land Development Code provisions and administrative barriers to better facilitate missing middle housing and mixed-use development.
Approved on Consent

Item 42:

42. Approve a resolution relating to the creation of a program that would expand economic opportunity for small businesses and initiate amendments to City Code Title 25 (Land Development) to update regulations that apply to neighborhood-scale commercial activity associated with residential uses (also known as “home occupations”), including allowing on-premises sales, authorizing exterior business activity, and establishing Accessory Commercial Units (ACUs) and Front Yard Businesses (FYBs).
Approved on Consent

Provide your thoughts:

City Budget Priorities 2026-2027

https://publicinput.com/budgetfy2026?fbclid=PAdGRleAQxKoxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAaeDnBAwUKpYTWwiFHHOqAdPnTQbI8ymBGsH54329PNGxRPvh0YpgAw8q2ERpA_aem_RGeVf3lN-pdeZds3hki9zg

Small Area Mobility Plans-Surrounding I-35

https://publicinput.com/Project/AccessCode?id=g7ovvHMqGxx1%2BTdFM5sdww%3D%3D&utm_source=eastcesarchavez.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=a-neighborhood-without-a-name-and-why-that-matters#tab-76008

E Cesar Chavez East of Pleasant Valley Mobility

https://speakupaustin.org/ColoradoRiverTrail#tab-73379

Community Engagement through 311:

Lesson Number: How to request a crosswalk in your neighborhood

First, Download the 311 app

Real Estate

An overview of the major drivers of Real Estate Development in Austin, Texas

Announced March 24, The Row retail scheduled to break ground in middle of 2026

Construction of the retail element of a major master-planned development in Southeast Austin will begin in the middle of this year.

The first phase of retail at The Row, a 314-acre mixed-use project formerly called Velocity, will include about 28,000 square feet of multitenant space. Weitzman has been selected as the exclusive leasing agent for retail at The Row. The project, located at the southwest corner of state highways 71 and 130 near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, will add thousands of homes, retail space, hotels and about 100 acres of green space upon completion. It has entitlements for around seven million square feet of space — about the size of seven Lakeline Malls.

Austin Oyster Co opens on East Cesar Chavez

https://austin.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/austin-oyster-co-opening/

Tesla files Site Plan for ecological “paradise” next to Gigafactory

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/tesla-files-site-plan-for-ecological-paradise-beside-austin-gigafactory/