3228 E 5th St, Austin, TX 78702

Located in the heart of East Austin, 3228 E 5th Street offers a rare opportunity to own an industrial-style property with exceptional visibility and access. This corner-lot site spans 15,246 square feet and features a 3,700-square-foot metal warehouse, currently operating as an auto repair shop. Zoned GR-MU-NP, the property allows for a wide range of commercial and mixed-use possibilities, making it ideal for investors, owner-users, or creative operators looking for flexibility and long-term potential in one of Austin’s most dynamic areas.

The building sits just minutes from Austin’s urban core—approximately 2.5 miles (about 8 minutes) to Downtown Austin, 2.5 miles (about 7 minutes) to Springdale General, and 6 miles (around 12 minutes) to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The location combines the energy of the East Side with convenient access to major roadways, making it highly accessible for business operations or customer traffic.

Surrounded by East Austin’s growing mix of industrial, creative, and culinary destinations, the property is steps away from local favorites like Pueblo Viejo and nearby coffee trucks such as Fleet Coffee’s mobile setup at Cosmic Saltillo—adding to the property’s authentic neighborhood charm and walkable vibe.

With its generous lot size, versatile zoning, and proximity to downtown, 3228 E 5th Street stands out as a prime East Austin property offering both utility and future development potential.

A 0.35-acre corner site about 8 minutes from Downtown Austin is rare in East Austin, and 3228 E 5th St turns that kind of access into a real business advantage. In East Austin, 3228 E 5th St, Austin, TX 78702 sits on roughly 15,246 square feet of land with a 1980-built metal warehouse currently operating as an auto repair facility, giving buyers a clear mix of existing utility and long-range flexibility.

Priced at $2.27 million, the property works out to about $614 per square foot based on the reported 3,700-square-foot building size, a useful benchmark for anyone comparing East Austin commercial inventory. The listing is categorized as Commercial Sale - Office, but the current industrial-style improvements and GR-MU-NP zoning create a much wider conversation around office, showroom, service, creative, mixed-use, or redevelopment potential. That matters in this part of Austin, where demand is driven as much by location and entitlement flexibility as by the building itself.

The setting is one of the strongest parts of the story. East Austin places you in the East Austin corridor near East 5th Street, Airport Boulevard, and Interstate 35, with fast connections to the central business district, East Cesar Chavez, and the broader east side employment base. Springdale General is about 2.5 miles away, or roughly 7 minutes by car, and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is about 6 miles away, typically around 12 minutes depending on traffic. For businesses that rely on client access, deliveries, or staff commuting from different parts of the city, those are practical numbers, not just marketing points.

This stretch of East Austin has changed from light industrial fringe to one of the city’s most active commercial districts. Nearby names like Pueblo Viejo and Cosmic Saltillo help ground the location in places Austinites already know, while the surrounding mix of warehouses, studios, offices, and food concepts continues to push land values higher. School district information is not listed here because this is a commercial property, not a residential listing, but the Travis County and Austin address signals still matter for search visibility and for buyers tracking east side growth patterns.

After 138 days on market, 3228 E 5th St stands out as a site where lot size, zoning, and road access do more of the talking than polished finishes. In a part of Austin where usable land keeps getting tighter, this is the kind of address that can support today’s operation and still make more sense five years from now.

East Austin is the only neighborhood in the city where you can walk from a James Beard Award-winning restaurant to a converted warehouse gallery to a live music venue to a craft cocktail bar without ever getting in your car. That walkability, combined with a building boom that has reshaped the housing stock over the past decade, makes East Austin the most dynamic real estate market in Central Texas.

East Austin stretches from I-35 on the west to Highway 183 on the east, with Lady Bird Lake forming the southern boundary and roughly MLK Boulevard marking the northern edge of the 78702 core. The 78722 zip extends the identity further north and east. Downtown is immediately across I-35 - five minutes by car, 15 by bicycle. East Cesar Chavez, East 6th, and East 7th serve as commercial corridors, each with its own personality. East Cesar Chavez leans toward taquerias and family shops, East 6th trends cocktail bars and restaurants, East 7th mixes galleries with newer retail.

Modern townhomes and duplexes make up about 35% of sales activity, concentrated on infill lots. Original shotgun bungalows and Craftsman homes account for 25%, mostly on quieter streets east of Chicon - typically 800 to 1,200 square feet on generous lots with ADU potential. Contemporary custom homes represent 15%, with architects like Bercy Chen and Alterstudio producing some of the most interesting residential design in Texas. Unrenovated bungalows start in the mid-$400s. Renovated historic homes with ADUs land between $700,000 and $1 million. New townhomes cluster around $600,000 to $900,000. Custom builds cross $1.5 million.

East Austin falls within Austin ISD. Zavala Elementary and Blackshear Elementary handle early grades. Martin and Kealing Middle Schools are the primary options, with Kealing's magnet program drawing students districtwide. Eastside Memorial High School serves the area, though many families opt for LASA, private schools, or open-enrollment options. The school landscape is more complex than in neighborhoods with a single feeder pattern, and specific addresses matter.

The lifestyle is what people picture when they think of modern Austin. Morning starts at Cenote or Fleet Coffee. Franklin Barbecue's line forms early, but locals order ahead. The dining concentration is remarkable. Suerte does modern Mexican with in-house nixtamal. Nixta Taqueria won a James Beard Award. Launderette turns a converted laundromat into one of Austin's best brunch spots. Canje brings Caribbean cooking to Holly Street. Kemuri Tatsu-Ya fuses izakaya with smokehouse. Via 313 has been making Detroit-style pizza since before the current boom. The Butler Trail, Boggy Creek Greenbelt, Roy Guerrero Park, and Mueller Lake Park provide outdoor options.

East Austin offers urban density and walkability unmatched outside downtown, at prices that undercut the west side significantly. Compared to South Congress, it provides more housing variety and better value per square foot. Compared to Mueller, it trades master-planned orderliness for more character. The main concerns are the pace of change and the east-west infrastructure divide, which has narrowed but still shows in some areas.

East Austin is for buyers who want to live in Austin's cultural energy rather than commute to it. It fits people who eat out frequently, bike to work, and value diversity of experience. It works for investors who see ADU potential in the generous lots. If you need a large lot, a quiet cul-de-sac, or a top suburban school, look elsewhere. But if you want to walk out your front door and feel the pulse of what makes Austin different from every other Texas city, there is no better address.