“Ferguson Drive should become a neighborhood mixed use district.”

Objective L.7: Establish Ferguson Drive as a neighborhood mixed use district.
Recommendation 131: Apply the neighborhood mixed use future land use designation to all properties along the south side of Ferguson Drive, between Motheral Drive and the Golfsmith property line.
Recommendation 132: Limit the types and intensities of the uses allowed along Ferguson Drive.

Since City Council unanimously approved the North Lamar Combined neighborhood plan in 2010, slow but steady progress has been made toward establishing the Ferguson Dr neighborhood mixed use district, without displacing existing residents or businesses:

• Construction of the 222-unit Lotus Village apartment complex on undeveloped land at 300 Ferguson Dr, stylistically connected to Chinatown Center. HUD-backed financing allowed these apartments to open targeting households at 80% of the metro MFI. The buildings have elevators meaning all apartments are visitable, which most older apartment buildings in our planning areas are not.
• Rehab of a vacant older house at 305 Ferguson into a treatment center for Community Medical Services.
• Development of a vacant site at 501 Ferguson as office and warehouse for Paul’s Home Fashions, a third-generation Austin-owned family business.
• Walnut Creek Optimists clubhouse continuing at 505 Ferguson Dr.
• Lease up of the final Chinatown Center building at 606 Ferguson, with restaurant, personal services, and retail uses.
• Initation of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) along North Lamar Blvd, in addition to Cap Metro’s high frequency local transit service. The groundbreaking ceremony for the BRT system was held at Chinatown Center.
• Addition of onsite housing for the nuns at Phap Hoa Temple (buddhist) on Provines Dr.
• Ongoing conversion of the former Golfsmith headquarters immediately east of Ferguson Dr to include warehouse jobs as well as recreation uses (pickleball and beach volleyball, with food and drink service), with office space still available for lease.

EQUITABLE TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT (ETOD)
Ferguson Dr is fully in the half-mile ETOD boundaries for the Chinatown Center station. Implementation of an ETOD overlay for our planning areas was postponed until 2025.

FERGUSON DR MIXED USE BACKGROUND
From the North Lamar Combined neighborhood plan, approved by city council in 2010:
“Lacking a unifying identity or character, the south side of Ferguson Drive contains a number of uses, including a vehicle impound lot, an auto repair shop, a number of vacant lots and several seemingly derelict or unused buildings. To create a more neighborhood-compatible area and serve as a transition between the Chinatown shopping center and residential area immediately to the south, stakeholders wish to establish the south side of Ferguson Drive as a neighborhood mixed use district.”

“Located across the street from the Chinatown shopping center, these properties could offer small-scale retail and/or living space for people wanting to live or work near this major commercial and cultural hub. Associating the south side of Ferguson Drive with the Chinatown shopping center could potentially provide a more unifying identity that the street currently lacks.”