21st Street Co-op

The 21st Street Co-op is a student housing cooperative in Austin, Texas housing 100 residents. It is part of the College Houses co-op system.Located at 707 West 21st Street, the house is just a few blocks west of the University of Texas at Austin campus and Guadalupe Street (the Drag). The 21st Street Co-op offers a combination of suites, walkways, balconies and landscapes.HistoryThe five new buildings of College Houses were still under construction in August 1974 prior to the fall semester. William Tamminga, a popular Austin architect of the 1970s, designed and built the complex. The funding was provided by a loan from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Michael McHone, now a local real estate developer, was primarily responsible for securing the funding.One hundred contracts for new members were signed and dropped off at the College Houses, Inc. offices located in the Ark Co-op. The Ark was 21st Street Co-op’s “big sister”, located 50-yards away. Room and board contracts were originally $245 per month for a single room and $135 for a shared room.With the fall semester of 1974 about to begin, all of the inaugural members began showing up, but the buildings were still far from being ready. Contracts had been signed, so College Houses, Inc. rented some rooms at the former Brownstone Apartments as temporary housing. The Brownstone was half a mile away, six blocks north on Rio Grande.Cold breakfast was available at the Brownstone. For almost two months everyone had to travel to the Ark for main meals. There were as many as 225 co-op residents coming to the Ark for dinner. Menus typically consisted of a vegetable, a salad, potatoes or pasta, a meat dish or meat substitute, and a dessert. Textured vegetable protein (TVP) was introduced as a cost-cutting measure.