The Value Is In The Dirt
A quarter-acre of downtown Round Rock carrying the MU-L mixed-use zoning the City Council adopted in October 2025. The two-bedroom house standing on it needs major repairs, and the price reflects that — this is not a renovation play dressed up as a deal. What you are buying is 10,350 square feet of land inside a district whose development rules were rewritten less than a year ago.
At $350,000 the land basis works out to $33.82 per square foot. The MU-L code permits up to three detached principal buildings on a single lot, none larger than 2,800 square feet, within a 60% lot coverage cap — which on this parcel means as much as 6,210 square feet of building footprint. Height runs to two and a half stories. That is a materially different use than the single small house sitting there today.
The rear yard is deep and canopied by mature shade trees, with a stone outbuilding near the back line. This lot is represented as falling outside the Historic (H) Overlay, so demolition is not expected to require a Certificate of Appropriateness — one of the more expensive and unpredictable steps a downtown teardown can face. Buyer should confirm overlay status with the City before relying on it.
At a Glance
- 0.238 acres — 10,350 sq ft of land
- Mid-block, single frontage on E Austin Ave
- 6,210 sq ft buildable footprint at 60% coverage
- Existing 2 BD / 1 BA structure, major repairs needed
- Deep rear yard under mature shade trees
- Stone outbuilding near the rear lot line
- No Historic Overlay — no Certificate of Appropriateness to demolish
- Single-family development downtown is exempt from platting
What You Can Build
On October 23, 2025 the Round Rock City Council overhauled downtown zoning and rezoned 114 parcels — 40 of them into the new MU-L (Mixed-Use Limited) district. 704 E Austin Ave carries that zoning. MU-L is built to keep the residential scale and historic character of the east end of downtown while opening the door to small-scale commercial and multi-building residential. That is the whole thesis on this lot: the structure is past saving, but the entitlements underneath it changed less than a year ago.
- Detached principal buildings per lot
- Up to 3
- Maximum size, each building
- 2,800 sq ft
- Maximum height
- 2.5 stories / 35 ft
- Maximum lot coverage
- 60%
- Maximum footprint, this lot
- 6,210 sq ft
- Building form
- All detached
- Front setback, primary frontage
- 15–25 ft
- Minimum spacing between buildings
- 10 ft
- Roof pitch, minimum
- 4:12
- Parking, single-family
- 2 on-site
- Parking, non-residential
- None required
- Residential garage, maximum
- 625 sq ft
- Accessory structures (uncounted)
- ≤ 150 sq ft
- ✓Single-family detached †
- ✓Accessory dwelling unit (ADU) †
- ✓Downtown residential
- ✓Retail sales and services †
- ✓Wellness centers †
- ✓Live/work units †
- ✓Offices
- ✓Bed and breakfasts †
- ✓Parks
† Permitted with Supplementary Use Standards — allowed in MU-L, but subject to additional conditions in Sections 2-77 and 2-91 of the Zoning and Development Code. Confirm the standards for your intended use before you rely on it.
MU-L permits restaurants, event centers, enrichment centers and upper-story residential only on lots fronting Main Street or Georgetown Street. This parcel fronts E Austin Ave, so those four uses are off the table here — as are mobile food establishments, which carry the same frontage restriction. Plan around the list above, not the full MU-L use table.
Buyer and buyer's agent are solely responsible for independently verifying every figure, permission, and development assumption on this page before submitting an offer. That includes zoning and district designation, permitted and conditional uses, supplementary use standards, setbacks, height, lot coverage and buildable area, parking, driveway and access rights, platting or replatting requirements, demolition permitting, utility availability and capacity, easements, floodplain, impact and development fees, and any overlay, deed restriction, or covenant affecting the property. Nothing here is a representation or warranty by Migma LLC, Ron Natal, or Hart of Texas Realty as to what may actually be built, permitted, or approved.
Standards are summarized from the City of Round Rock Downtown Mixed-Use Zoning User Guide (v1.1, released February 5, 2026), which is itself a plain-language summary. The controlling documents are the City's Zoning and Development Code — including Sections 2-73, 2-77 and 2-91 — and the adopting ordinances from the October 23, 2025 downtown rezoning. Where this page and the Code differ, the Code governs.
Lot-specific figures, including buildable footprint, land basis, and square footage, are calculated from the reported lot size and have not been confirmed by survey. Acreage, lot lines, and legal description should be verified by a current survey and title commitment. 704 E Austin Ave is represented as falling outside the Historic (H) Overlay, meaning no Certificate of Appropriateness is anticipated for demolition or exterior work — buyer should confirm overlay status directly with the City, and note that all MU-L buildings must still comply with the City's Historic Design Guidelines for Residential Properties regardless of overlay status.
Direct all zoning, permitting, and buildability questions to City of Round Rock Planning and Development Services prior to offer. Buyer is encouraged to engage a licensed architect, engineer, surveyor, and land-use counsel to confirm feasibility. This page is offered for marketing purposes only and is not legal, engineering, tax, or investment advice.
Inside 704 E Austin Ave
Tap a photo to open · Swipe to browse
Downtown Round Rock
Round Rock spent the last decade turning its downtown from a place people drove through into a place they drive to. The city rebuilt the streets, added structured parking, and filled the historic core with restaurants and independent retail. The result is a walkable district with genuine foot traffic — the precondition any small-scale mixed-use project needs.
On October 23, 2025 the City Council rezoned 114 downtown parcels and put 40 of them into the new MU-L district, this lot among them. That is the part worth sitting with: the entitlements on this dirt changed less than a year ago, and the market has not fully repriced what the code now permits. Legally nonconforming buildings may remain, but any expansion has to meet the new standards — which is precisely why the teardown math works here.
The wider fundamentals are the reason Central Texas investors look north in the first place. Round Rock is the Williamson County seat of employment, anchored by Dell's global headquarters, served by Round Rock ISD, and roughly twenty miles up I-35 from downtown Austin — close enough to draw Austin rents, far enough to buy land at a basis Austin no longer offers.
Ron Natal
Ron works the Central Texas investor side of the market — reading the code before the comps, underwriting a deal on land basis and build cost rather than curb appeal, and telling you plainly when the numbers do not support the price. Bring your buy box and he will tell you whether this lot fits it.
Let's Start Writing The Next Chapter of Your
Real Estate Journey
A free, no-pressure home valuation from a local expert who knows your neighborhood. No automated estimate — a real analysis from Ron.
Ron has received your request and will be
reaching out to you shortly!