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Quick answer: On Oct. 16, 2026, the City of Austin issued building permits for 110 new apartments at 8801 McCann Drive in ZIP 78757, replacing the existing Crossroads Apartments. According to ATX Things analysis of city and state records, the city's own financing papers put 105 of the 110 units at or below 50% of median family income, backed by an $11.7 million public loan. Every one of the five permits lists $245,000,000 as its value. That is not the cost, and here is why.
Austin Local Team is a sister site of Austin Texas Things. Both draw on the same Zabalist public-records database. Austin Local Team is brokered by All City Real Estate, ltd. Co. (TREC #9003633). Its About page links the TREC Information About Brokerage Services and the Consumer Protection Notice.
What did the city permit at 8801 McCann Drive?
Our copy of the City of Austin permit data (synced Oct. 18, 2026) shows five building permits issued Oct. 16 for the site, all to contractor Swinerton Builders Inc., all tagged "SMART Housing," the city's affordable-housing label. Two are the buildings. Three are dumpster enclosures.
| Permit | What the record says | Value on the permit |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-136577 BP | Four-story building, "Fire Area 1": 90 new dwelling units, leasing office and learning center | $245,000,000 |
| 2026-136578 BP | Four-story building, "Fire Area 2": 20 new dwelling units | $245,000,000 |
| 2026-136579, -136580, -136581 BP | Three dumpster enclosures | $245,000,000 each |
Source: City of Austin permit records via Zabalist, synced Oct. 18, 2026. We could not load the city's own permit portal this morning, so we have not re-read these against it.
Ninety plus 20 is 110 units, which matches the "approximately 110 family apartment units" in the site-plan application and the 110 in the city's council papers.
Don't add the column. Five permits carrying the identical figure points to one project-wide number stamped on every permit, and $245 million for 110 apartments would be about $2.2 million a unit. We can't tell whether it's a placeholder or a typo. Our own database has already added the five up: its project record for this address reads $1.225 billion. We're not using that either.
We've seen this before. The 26 SH 71 permits that each read $1 million and the four Convention Center permits that each list $418.6 million are the same trap. When a valuation repeats across sibling permits, read the description instead.
The only dollar figure here with a document behind it is a state one: a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) accessibility registration for the leasing office and learning center, filed Dec. 8, 2025, estimates that piece at $1.25 million for 4,856 square feet.
What was there before, and who is behind the rebuild?
The city's records say a 92-unit complex stood here. A demolition permit issued April 16, 2026 describes the "total demo of 81574 SF brick and frame circa 1973." A separate demolition site plan, SP-2025-0295D.SH, was approved and released Nov. 21, 2025.
The names on the paperwork don't all match, and we haven't confirmed how they relate:
- Permits: contractor Swinerton Builders Inc.
- TDLR registration: owner Crossroads Mutual Housing Corporation; design firm FGM Architects.
- City site plan: the demolition case lists Crossroads Mutual Housing Corp as owner.
- City financing: an Austin Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) item named "FC Crossroads Housing, LP, or an affiliated entity" for the loan. The same document says that in 2009 the AHFC board authorized a loan of up to $900,000 to Foundation Communities, Inc. to refinance debt on the property at 8801 McCann Drive.
How is the rebuild being paid for, and who can rent the units?
The public numbers come from the AHFC agenda item for Sept. 25, 2025, and the city's housing news page confirms the board approved it. The loan is for up to $11.7 million: $7.5 million from 2022 general obligation bonds and $4.2 million from the North Burnet Gateway fund. The city had previously put $900,000 of 2006 bond money into the property.
The affordability terms, as the city wrote them:
| Income limit (share of median family income) | Units |
|---|---|
| At or below 30% | 22 |
| At or below 50% | 83 |
| At 60% | 5 |
The affordability period is 99 years for the 14 units at 30% that got earlier AHFC money, and 40 years for the other 96. The city lists the project in Council District 7.
The agenda item is public. It's file 25-1865 on the Sept. 25, 2025 AHFC agenda, and the Recommendation for Action is the two-page document with the numbers above.
Where does the paperwork stand, and what's next?
Don't read "permits issued" as "construction has started." A permit lets work begin. It doesn't show that it did.
Here is what the records give us, with their ages:
- Site plan SP-2025-0186C.SH ("PSH - The Crossroads"), applied June 10, 2025: our last sync (Aug. 29, 2026) shows "Intake Pending." Building permits followed on Oct. 16, so that status is probably out of date. We haven't confirmed it.
- State filing: the TDLR registration lists a start date of March 1, 2026 and completion Nov. 30, 2027. Those are the registrant's dates, not an inspection result.
- Our reporting: we have not been to the site and have no photo of it. The images in this article are AI illustrations.
What should people near McCann Drive know?
The address is in ZIP 78757 and City Council District 7. Our project record files it under the North Burnet planning area; planning areas and ZIPs don't share boundaries, so check the street address. A permit record says what was filed, not what living next to it is like.
For scale, Austin Local Team's ZIP 78757 page (rollup generated Oct. 27, 2026) counts 2,396 construction permits issued in the ZIP in the past 12 months, including 95 new residential buildings, plus 13 site-plan applications and 20 TDLR project registrations. Those are counts of filings, not a verdict on anything. A postal ZIP is wider than any one block.
Three things you can do today:
- Look up the address yourself. Search 8801 McCann Dr in the city's Austin Build + Connect portal and read every folder, not just the biggest.
- Read the site plan the way a reviewer would. Local Team's field guide, How to Read Austin Site Plans, explains the case number, the boundary and which version you're holding.
- Ask the right office. For status, ask the city's development review staff about case SP-2025-0186C.SH. For the loan, ask AHFC about file 25-1865.
If you're researching a home or a rental in this part of town, Local Team puts the permits, site plans and TDLR registrations within 800 meters of a listing on one page. See its North Burnet area page or the home search. As of Oct. 27, 2026, Local Team publishes 47 ZIP pages and 134 neighborhood pages. Footprints are approximate, built from city planning boundaries and MLS subdivision names.
What locals should know
- 110 units are permitted across two four-story buildings, per permits 2026-136577 and -136578 (city data synced Oct. 18, 2026).
- $245,000,000 appears on all five permits. Treat it as a database field, not a price tag.
- $11.7 million in AHFC funding was approved Sept. 25, 2025. Of the 110 units, 105 are at or below 50% of median family income.
- The site-plan status we hold is two months old. We'll check it again against the city's portal.
- More on development: Coming Soon tracks pending bar and restaurant licenses, and our ZIP 78757 page has the neighborhood's civic data.
FAQ
How many apartments were permitted at 8801 McCann Drive? The two building permits issued Oct. 16, 2026 add up to 110 units: 90 in one building and 20 in the other. That matches the roughly 110 units in the site-plan application and the city's council papers. The city's data does not say when construction began or will finish.
Is the project really worth $245 million? There's no document that says so. All five permits, including three dumpster enclosures, list the same $245,000,000, which suggests a project-wide field rather than a cost. A state accessibility filing puts the leasing office and learning center at $1.25 million.
Who can live in the new apartments? The city's agenda item sets 22 units for households at or below 30% of median family income, 83 at or below 50%, and 5 at 60%. The affordability period is 99 years for 14 of the units and 40 years for the other 96. Ask the property operator how applications work.
What was torn down? A demolition permit issued April 16, 2026 describes the total demolition of an 81,574-square-foot brick and frame complex built around 1973. The city's council papers describe the site's existing property as 92 units.
Who runs Austin Local Team? Austin Local Team is a sister site of Austin Texas Things, brokered by All City Real Estate, ltd. Co. (TREC #9003633). Its home search uses Unlock MLS listings as distributed by MLS GRID, alongside public records from the Zabalist database.
Sources: City of Austin building permits and site plans via the Zabalist database (permits synced Oct. 18, 2026; site plans synced Aug. 29, 2026); City of Austin AHFC agenda item AHFC001 and Recommendation for Action, Sept. 25, 2025; City of Austin Housing Department news page; TDLR TABS2026007433 (registered Dec. 8, 2025, read Oct. 27, 2026); Austin Local Team ZIP 78757 page and site-plan guide (read Oct. 27, 2026). Austin Local Team is a sister site of Austin Texas Things. We'll re-check the site-plan status. Follow @austintexasthings for the update.
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