A three-tower mixed-use development is ready for liftoff in Central Austin.
El Paso-based Hunt Companies got the green light from city council last week to redevelop 200 East Riverside Drive, a 4-acre property at the intersection of Barton Springs Road, the Austin Business Journal reported. Plans call for 1.3 million square feet of office, nearly 900 residential units, a 513-key hotel and 32,000 square feet of retail space.
The city approved heights of 500 and 600 feet, meaning the tallest building could approach 60 stories. The costs, designs and construction timeline haven’t been disclosed. Hunt controls the site through a ground lease with Austin-based landowner Garwald Company.
The project will integrate part of the site with Austin’s future light rail line, a feature that helped win city support despite broader questions about timing and high vacancy rates. Austin’s apartment vacancy rate stood at 15.5 percent in April, according to ApartmentData.com, and office vacancy hovered near 25 percent, according to CBRE’s first quarter report.
Buildings on the site include a 93,000-square-foot, 1970s-era office building that’s sat vacant for years. Hunt previously pitched the redevelopment as an office project but pivoted to mixed-use over several iterations to better match evolving market dynamics, the developer’s attorney Richard Suttle said.
“This reflects how much the real estate environment in Austin has shifted,” Suttle said. “What started as a commercial tower concept has morphed into something much more balanced.”
The approval sets the stage for one of several large developments planned on the south side of Lady Bird Lake. The site is part of Austin’s South Central Waterfront Plan, a fast-changing district that’s drawn heavy hitters in real estate development.
Endeavor Real Estate Group is planning to redevelop the former Austin American-Statesman site, with a 480-foot tall building at 311-315 South Congress Avenue and two mixed-use highrises at 200 East Riverside Drive.
— Judah Duke
Read more
Hot tract draws mysterious development on South Congress
Endeavor’s Statesman redevelopment plan hit with another lawsuit
Another mixed-use project proposed near Endeavor, Related sites
