| Modern housing is on the rise in Austin, making it | | | | Architect", and has been designing and preserving |
| easier for the modernist to move into a brand new | | | | some of Austin's best structures for the last twenty |
| home, instead of waiting for a mid century A.D. | | | | years. Also, KRDB has a set of homes going up after |
| Stenger to come on the market. Six miles east on | | | | quickly becoming one of the hottest design/build |
| Martin Luther King Blvd, the Agave residential | | | | firms in the city, with their Cedar Avenue houses |
| development is finishing up its first round of homes. | | | | gracing the cover of Dwell Magazine. The Casa Bella |
| Touted as "Austin's premier contemporary residential | | | | Architects have been in business since 1989, and also |
| development," all of Agave's 160 homes will be built | | | | have their hat in the ring, after many environmentally |
| with a modern flair. | | | | friendly, and beautifully modern buildings, such as the |
| Agave is actually the third phase of Sendero Hills, | | | | award-winning Ullrich WaterTreatment Plant, and |
| with the first two set up for low to middle income | | | | Austin's soon-to-come recycling center. |
| homeowners, with Agave geared towards the middle | | | | Though the concrete and cedar siding homes, with |
| class. In so doing, Agave has qualified for the city's | | | | their bamboo floors, European designed kitchens, and |
| S.M.A.R.T. (Safe, Mixed-income, Accessible, | | | | CAT-5 telephone wiring are large draws for some |
| Reasonably-priced, Transit-oriented) housing policy, | | | | new homeowners, Agave is not without its |
| which includes meeting the city's Green Building | | | | downsides. Though relatively close to downtown, |
| standards, and energy efficiency for their customers, | | | | there aren't many amenities along MLK, such as a |
| with amenities such as low E windows and tankless | | | | grocery store. And though East Austin is in a state of |
| hot water heaters. | | | | transition, low-income housing still makes up most of |
| Possibly the biggest draw for homeowners to the | | | | the region, and to some spending $300,000 on a |
| Agave Development is the chance to own a home | | | | home in the area may be a gamble. For those families |
| designed and built by some of the city's top | | | | with young children, the public schools would also be |
| Architects, without having to pay top dollar for the | | | | a concern, with the elementary schools not ranking |
| exact same house in the heart of the city. The list of | | | | as high as other parts of the city. And though each |
| architects includes Emily Little who has recently won | | | | home will be professionally landscaped by Floribunda, |
| the Austin Chronicle's Readers' Poll for "Best | | | | the development is void of large, mature trees. |