Alexandria Real Estate Equities is the force behind plans to transform a North Austin commercial campus occupied by Apple, the Austin Business Journal reported.
The redevelopment would convert four adjacent properties, at 12535–12565 Riata Vista Circle, into a mixed-use project with bioscience, residential, hotel and retail, according to a zoning application filed with the city.
Property records identify the site’s owner, Capital City Lucky Riata LLC, as an entity controlled by Pasadena, California-based Alexandria. The real estate investment trust owns roughly 44 million square feet nationwide, with major holdings in Boston, San Francisco, New York and in the Research Triangle in North Carolina. In Texas, the firm owns about 1.9 million square feet of commercial real estate.
The firm has aggressively expanded beyond its coastal cluster strategy into Sun Belt markets in recent years, including a 2023 acquisition spree in Austin. The North Austin play would be one of its most high-profile projects in the city to date, not only because of the Apple tie, but because it hints at Alexandria’s intention to seed another life-sciences hub in a market better known for big tech.
The proposed development, described as “upscale” by Alexandria’s land-use attorney in a letter to the city, would not involve demolishing the existing two-story structures.
To proceed, the company needs City Council approval to rezone the site from limited industrial to limited industrial–planned development area zoning. That would allow buildings up to 125 feet tall.
The City Council is scheduled to consider the request June 5. Neither Alexandria nor Apple have commented on the plans.
Alexandria is embroiled in a high-stakes lawsuit in New York over its Manhattan life sciences tower, where regulators are requiring the firm to help fund a $130 million seawall as part of the project’s environmental review.
— Judah Duke
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