Austin Light Rail Project Moves Forward While Businesses and Homes Face Displacement

Despite a scaled-down vision for Austin’s light rail project, the approved rail line will still have a significant impact on local properties. Austin Transit Partnership (ATP) expects to take 84 acres across 308 parcels, including 64 business and four single-family home displacements for the impending project.

While ATP’s Environmental Impact Statement did not include a detailed list of affected properties, KUT’s analysis of the project schematics (available here and here) suggests which businesses and residences may lie along the rail line’s route.

Renderings courtesy of Austin Transit Partership

Who Will Be Affected by Austin’s Light Rail?

Most property owners have been notified, but some tenants—particularly renters—may still be unaware of the potential impact since the displacements were first identified in spring 2024.

In addition to properties directly affected by the rail line, other structures will be acquired for supporting infrastructure, including park-and-ride facilities, electrical substations, and a 62-acre operations and maintenance facility. The single largest concentration of commercial displacements at Airport Commerce Park near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport will be cleared for the maintenance facility, which will house and service trains overnight. An estimated 24 businesses—about a third of all commercial displacements—will be affected in this area alone.

The impacted residential properties will be removed to accommodate a shared pedestrian and bicycle trail along Riverside Drive east of Montopolis.

Austin Light’s Rail’s Property Acquisition Timeline

ATP cannot begin acquiring properties until it secures approval from the Federal Transit Administration via a Record of Decision (ROD), expected in late 2025 or early 2026. If approved, eminent domain proceedings could begin as early as 2026.

With construction slated to begin in 2027 and conclude in 2033, business owners and homeowners in the project’s path should start preparing now. If you are facing displacement or land shrinkage due to Austin’s light rail, it is crucial to understand your legal rights and options.

For more information or legal guidance, contact the eminent domain and condemnation attorneys at Barron, Adler, Clough & Oddo, PLLC today.

Resources:

KUT: ATP wouldn’t say which businesses would be pushed out by light-rail. So we found out.