With a wave of a piece of paper, the old Rosedale School property survived the first attempt to sell it off.
But what worked in 1981 may not work now. Legal covenants that shielded the 87 year-old school site from development as anything other than a school or single-family residences are under challenge from the Austin Independent School District. The district has sued 125 of its constituents in a bid to seal a $26 million deal that would erect a six-story luxury apartment building on the site.
Here’s how we came to this point.
April 1981
Deed restrictions stop closure threat
In April 1981, more than 200 Rosedale residents packed the school auditorium to oppose its closing, which an Austin Independent School District committee had proposed due to shifting student populations.
According to an account of the meeting by the Austin American-Statesman, one of the 40 who spoke in opposition was former teacher Maurine Morse. She was the original owner of a 1938 home 150 away from the school. She waved a copy of the deed restrictions at the school district representatives, saying the document bars the property from being used for anything but a school.
The matter was sent to the school board’s attorney. He said that while “school use” was a broad term, the restrictions could well prohibit the property from being sold for commercial use. The board let the matter drop, and later decided to convert the Rosedale Elementary School to a school for children with disabilities and specialized educational needs.
January-February 2022
AISD conducts listening tour for ‘repurposing’ Rosedale
Decades pass, the school ages, and AISD decides to replace it with a new, $50 million facility in the Allandale neighborhood.
As construction nears completion, the district conducts a series of four community meetings with Rosedale neighborhood residents to gather their thoughts on finding new uses for the old school site.
Meeting participants advanced a range of ideas. Most of them center around keeping a public purpose for the property, including teacher housing, senior housing, a community center, a planetarium, parkland, and cultural arts space.
Sources: AISD’s meeting notes for Jan 25, Feb. 12, Feb. 17, and Feb. 23, 2022, sessions.
February 2022
Rosedale School shuts down for the last time
After 83 years of service, the old campus closes for the final time. Students are transferred to the new campus (also called Rosedale) three miles north.
September 2023
AISD announces plan for affordable housing for teachers
AISD presents to the Rosedale and Allandale neighborhood associations its plan to put 50 single-family homes on the property, and sell them as affordable housing with priority given to teachers and AISD personnel. School district officials told the public they had listened, heard the neighborhood’s preferences for low-density housing, and were acting on it.
School officials described the deal as nearly done, with four out of five phases complete. The fifth and final, they told neighbors, consists of defining the site criteria and soliciting further community input. AISD would retain ownership, and lease the land to a developer, according to the plan.
Community residents are told to expect a vote to move forward in early 2024.
Source: AISD “Former Rosedale School campus update, Sept. 13, 2023
November 2023
AISD goes silent
AISD sends out the last known communication to neighbors on the low-density “housing for teachers” plan.
“There is a change in timing that is coming from the Austin ISD Board of Trustees,” wrote Jeremy Striffler, who was then the director of real estate for the district. “The district was planning to bring an action item to the Board of Trustees in November regarding the repurposing of the former Rosedale School campus. However, the Board chose to delay this item due to immediate priorities related to the ongoing superintendent search, onboarding the Texas Education Agency monitors, and continuing to implement the district’s comprehensive plan to transform how students and families experience Special Education in Austin ISD.
“The board wants to ensure the repurposing of Rosedale gets the proper attention it deserves and so we will wait until early 2024 to continue the conversation.
“It’s an important decision and the consequences of this decision are too important to be rushed … I look forward to reconnecting with you in the months ahead.”
December 2023 – October 2024
Crickets
AISD ceases communication with the community about the Rosedale School campus. Somewhere during this period, the district’s plans change. There is no attempt to inform or “reconnect” with the Rosedale neighborhood.
October 2024
Rosedale declared surplus property
AISD board declares the property surplus, directs the superintendent to find a development partner. Eleven companies submit bids. Rosedale residents are not informed.
March 13, 2025
School administration recommends selling to OHT
At a workshop meeting, AISD Superintendent Matias Segura tells the board he recommends they abandon the teacher housing idea and go for an outright sale due to AISD’s “severe budget constraints.”
“I did hear from the board, loud and clear, ‘Let’s get creative, figure out ways to increase revenue,’ ” Segura said. “…A capital injection really helps us buy time.”
Kathryn Whitley Chu, the elected AISD trustee who represents Rosedale, asks whether officials considered other factors besides price that could make this proposal “beneficial to the neighborhood.”
Yes, he answers. OHT stood out because “they really had a strong approach to how to work with the community.”
He continued, “They’ve really laid out a clear approach to how they will engage with the community to get input on the design and the scope of the project. … [T]hey really understood the neighborhood, they understood the history of it, they’re all local-based and so they knew how the community uses the playground even today.”
March 27, 2025
AISD blesses sale to OHT Partners
The board authorizes sale of the closed campus site and authorizes the superintendent to negotiate a sales contract with one of the developers.
OHT wins out over the others with a proposal to build a five-story mix of apartment and townhouses with 350 units – 35 of them affordable. It offers to preserve four heritage trees on the site and create an open, campus-like setting with ample setbacks from the surrounding single-family community. It offers to pay $23 million.
The vote is unanimous.
March-August 2025
New proposal negotiated, neighborhood amenities vanish
OHT’s initial proposal becomes the starting point for negotiations with AISD. Behind closed doors, the parties strike a new deal.
A much taller and denser development proposal emerges. Setbacks and green space shrink. By the end of the process, every vestige of what the community had asked for was discarded.
It grows from a 350-unit mix of townhouses and apartments into a 435-unit complex of all luxury apartments. It rises to six stories and its walls push out as close as possible to the property’s edge.
The new proposal is a “Texas Donut” style building that removes all affordable housing, adds two extra exits that will dump traffic into the neighborhood, and builds over all but four trees.
The changes to the original proposal which stripped out the neighborhood-friendly and affordability provisions, make it a more profitable deal for both parties. By increasing the size and scope of the project, OHT gets more apartments to rent and no affordable housing constraints. Cash-strapped AISD gets an extra $3 million added to the original deal, bringing the sale price to $26 million.
The contract contains one very unusual provision. In it, AISD agrees to sue its constituents to try abolish deed restrictions that limit the use of the school property. In 1938, the original residents agreed to let the school system use the lots for the school, but only if it stays a school. Otherwise, the original deed restrictions, which allow “a residence” per lot would apply. Those are the same deed restrictions waved in AISD’s faces in 1981.
In the contract, the district promises to “use good-faith, continuous, and commercially reasonable efforts” to get out from under the deed restrictions. Unless AISD wins in court, OHT can walk away from the deal. The contract sets Aug. 31, 2027, as the closing date.
Aug. 12, 2025
AISD superintendent signs off on $26 million contract
Superintendent Segura signs off on the $26 million contract with OHT. Because the AISD trustees had already voted to sell the land, and authorized the superintendent to negotiate with OHT, the elected officials never voted on the final, $26 million deal. It begins hurtling forward.
September 2025
School district seeks rezoning
AISD submits a rezoning request for the property on behalf of OHT Partners. It would reclassify the property from single-family (SF-3) to the high-density multi-family zoning possible.
October 31, 2025:
AISD sues 125 of the school’s neighbors.
As it promised in the sales contract, Austin Independent School District sues its own constituents. Case D-1-GN-25-009749 is pending in Travis County Civil Court. It seeks to throw out the deed restrictions that compel the board to either continue using the land for school purposes or be bound by the original deed restrictions of one residence per lot. As of April 2026, there is no court date assigned for the case.
November 2025
Neighbors served with suit and hire lawyer
Starting in November, process servers began showing up on the lawns of 125 Rosedale residents, serving them with notice that they are being sued in Travis County Court over the deed restrictions by their own school district. The lawsuit warns the defendants that failure to respond within 20 days will result in a default judgment against them.
In response to the lawsuit, many of the defendants hire attorney Renea Hicks to represent them.
December 2025
Historic Preservation Board OKs demolition
In the 1940s, the Rosedale School’s glass block windows and it use of light were considered revolutionary enough for it to be written up in Look magazine. But that’s not enough of an architectural feature to merit preservation, according to city staffers who evaluated it. The Austin Historic Preservation Board votes to approve the demolition of the site.
The city wrings one tiny concession: OHT agrees to try for a partial preservation of the glass blocks. The developer agrees to deconstruct the building’s glass blocks and incorporate a portion of them into the building’s facade, near where they are now.
March 17, 2026
Zoning and Platting Commission recommends the rezoning
The Austin Zoning and Platting Commission votes 9-2 to recommend the rezoning to the City Council.
May 7, 2026
First hearing before City Council
First public hearing on the rezoning application is set for May 7 before the Austin City Council.
September 2027
Design and permitting
OHT projects it will complete its design and permitting phase by September 2026.
September 2029
Development and construction
OHT’s initial plans project its building will be complete in September 2029.
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