Austin City Council Proposes Major East Riverside Development

News Summary

The Austin City Council is considering a significant rezoning proposal for a property at 200 E. Riverside Drive to facilitate a 500-foot-tall office and commercial development. This ambitious project includes plans for two high-rise buildings with over 1.3 million square feet of office space and ground-floor retail. Local concerns have been raised about the impact on the community, but support from city officials indicates the project may advance. The council is scheduled to discuss the proposal again on March 27.

Austin – The Austin City Council is making significant steps in the development landscape of East Riverside Drive with a proposed rezoning for a property located at 200 E. Riverside Drive. The project, spearheaded by attorney Richard Suttle representing The Garwald Company Inc., seeks to transform the area from Lake Commercial-Neighborhood Plan (L-NP) zoning to Planned Unit Development-Neighborhood Plan (PUD-NP) zoning. The objective is to pave the way for a towering 500-foot-tall office and commercial development spread across nearly four acres.

What Happened

The proposed development is notably ambitious, as it includes two high-rise buildings planned to contain approximately 1,377,787 square feet of office space along with 29,318 square feet reserved for ground-floor commercial and retail uses. Notably, the design aims to integrate a Project Connect rail station into the overall layout. The initial review of the proposal received a favorable first-reading approval from the Council in December of the previous year, indicating early support for the project.

Who Is Affected

The proposed rezoning and subsequent development could have significant implications for local residents, neighboring businesses, and the wider community in Austin. A neighboring property owner expressed concerns and attempted to delay the Council’s decision by seeking postponements for subsequent readings. The community residents have a stake in how this large-scale development could alter the character of the neighborhood and possibly affect local traffic and services.

Official Response

Mayor Kirk Watson has publicly backed the project, motioning for the zoning approval during the second reading and indicating favorable views towards the fee-in-lieu payment associated with affordable housing commitments by the developer. The required payment of $9 per square foot proposed by Suttle’s clients exceeds the current expected rate of $8 per square foot. The developer faces some contention regarding a 60-foot-wide private access easement referenced earlier, which Suttle has indicated the client does not intend to utilize.

Impact

The implications of this project’s approval are multi-faceted. The proposed site currently features a 92,892-square-foot two-story vacant office building, constructed in 1970, along with surface parking space. The planned development will necessitate allocating between 9,000 to 11,000 square feet for essential services, specifically for the Austin Fire Department and Austin Travis County EMS. Moreover, failure in advancing the rezoning may compel the developers to construct a shorter building, capped at 96 feet, which would consequently bypass the fee-in-lieu program entirely.

What’s Next

The next steps are critical as the Council plans to deliberate on the matter again, with a target date set for March 27 for the third reading of the zoning request. Thomas Suttle has pointed out that the slow progress of these proceedings poses risks for the planned initiatives, notably the affordable housing commitments. The Austin Transit Partnership remains engaged with the development, focused on securing essential right-of-way and station specifications; however, more clarity regarding the station’s location is still required.

As preparations continue for upcoming sessions of the Council, the community and stakeholders alike are poised to monitor how this significant development will shape the future of the East Riverside area.

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HERE Resources

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Additional Resources

• Austin Monitor: Anderson Square Rezoning
• Wikipedia: Zoning
• Community Impact: Austin’s Industrial Zones
• Google Search: Development in Industrial Zones
• Austin Monitor: Montopolis Rezoning
• Google Scholar: Rezoning Impact
• Community Impact: East Austin Mixed-Use Project
• Encyclopedia Britannica: Mixed-use Development
• Forbes: Austin Zoning Changes
• Google News: Austin Zoning Changes