LV Collective targets site of Creole-style building resi tower near UT

Company filed documents with city though it’s unclear if it owns the property

504 West 24th Street (Google Maps, Getty)
504 West 24th Street (Google Maps, Getty)

A 30-story student housing development on the site could be going up right next to UT.

LV Collective — a multifamily and student housing developer formerly known as Lincoln Ventures — filed documents with the city to build the project. However, a spokesperson for the company told the Austin-American Statesman that it was “too premature to share further details or comment further right now.”

The property at 504 West 24th Street is owned by an entity called 504 W 24 LLC. Its appraised value is about $1.95 million, according to the Travis Central Appraisal District.

The lot is currently occupied by a two-story, Creole-style building complete with an ornate wrought iron balcony. It’s currently home to a Starbucks and a Smoothie King, but a few decades ago the property was home to Les Amis, a café that was a favorite gathering spot for students, and the famed Inner Sanctum Records. Several scenes from the 1990 film Slacker were shot in Les Amis.

LV Collective recently said it has completed what it calls the tallest student-housing tower in the West Campus area — a 30-story building called Waterloo Tower. The high-rise, at 2400 Seton just off the Drag, has 241 apartments, nearly 800 beds and is fully leased. LV Collective’s other Austin student-housing apartment projects include the Ruckus, the Ruckus 2.0 and Moontower

High-rises have been popping up all over the Texas capital in recent years, but many locals are happy with the current space.

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Sophomore Abbie Lowrance, who enjoys studying outdoors at the Starbucks and regularly meets there for bible study, said “it would be sad for it to be turned into another high-rise.”

Jack Wagner moved to Austin about a month ago from Chicago and is looking for a job in the tech field. Wagner says the building “reminds me of New Orleans.”

“It’s nice to have a gathering place that’s really nicely designed like this.”

Perhaps LV Collective will find a way to incorporate the Creole-style facade into its plans.

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— Maddy Sperling