An apartment complex has applied to purchase the 24th Street lot, which contains Starbucks and Smoothie King, and replace it with a multifamily development.

The City of Austin notified residents living within 500 feet of the 24th Street lot on Sept. 1 of the firm’s application for the site. According to the City of Austin website, Wuest Group, a civil engineering firm, applied to purchase the land in July.

Isabela Ocampo, a journalism and government sophomore, said she received the notification via mail last week because she lives within 500 feet from the lot. 

“I understand that the City of Austin obviously goes through a lot of development, and … West Campus is getting bigger and bigger. But, I think that spaces like these make West Campus more original,” Ocampo said. “It is also a shared space, it’s a Starbucks and Smoothie King, and a lot of students go there just to study or to chat with friends.”

Lillian K. Allen, a barista at Starbucks, said he had heard rumors of the land being purchased, but received no confirmation from management.

“When I confronted the manager about it directly, she said that she didn’t think our lease had an end date, which is interesting,” Allen said. “I’ve heard about this on and off for more than a year from other stores.”

Allen said the Starbucks union Twitter account received a direct message with information regarding an apartment application for plumbing in the lot, but he was unable to confirm the information. 

“There was a phone number listed for the firm on that form, so I tried to call them and they were like, ‘We can’t give out any information on projects unless you’re directly involved with the project,’” Allen said. 

Smoothie King employee Mia Campbell declined an interview with The Daily Texan, but said, “we don’t see that happening in the foreseeable future.”

Allen said because the Starbucks employees recently unionized, they would have more control over what would happen if the store closes. 

“As part of union negotiations, one of our things that we can do is we have a demand to bargain and a request for information that goes along with that, and they legally have to give us any information that they have access to that we request,” Allen said. “Part of our demand for a request for information is going to be, ‘Hey, are they going to tear down our store?’ Because that’s not something they can do.’”

Ocampo said she and others whom she spoke with were saddened at the potential closure because they frequently visit the Starbucks and Smoothie King.

“I did talk about this in one of my classes and with my roommates, and, in general, the reaction was like ‘No, why?’” Ocampo said. “Not a lot of people look forward to that space being demolished.”