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The South Congress Food Trailers Have to Leave by May 25

Marissa Barnett for KUT News

It was perhaps the most well-known food trailer park in Austin, but now the mobile food vendors on the 1600 block of South Congress have been given a date by when they’ll have to leave: May 25.

SOCO ATX Development notified vendors last week. The company plans to build a three-story hotel on the lot, according to documents filed with the city. The building will include space for retail and a two-story underground parking garage. 

“We originally signed a three month lease almost three years ago. We didn’t expect to be on that lot more than three months when we first moved in," said Sam Raver, owner of the Wurst Tex trailer. 

"It kind of feels to use that we’ve been living on borrowed time anyway down there, because you look around in Austin and everything’s being developed," he said. Raver says he's hoping to find another lot elsewhere on South Congress. 

A petition on the website Change.org urging SOCO ATX Development to rethink its construction plans has garnered more than 9,000 signatures. 

Nathan Bernier is the transportation reporter at KUT. He covers the big projects that are reshaping how we get around Austin, like the I-35 overhaul, the airport's rapid growth and the multibillion dollar transit expansion Project Connect. He also focuses on the daily changes that affect how we walk, bike and drive around the city. Got a tip? Email him at nbernier@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @KUTnathan.
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