Mopacs
Feb 14, 2007, 1:38 PM
2 proposed Fairfield condo towers next to Hyatt up for final vote at City council. See today's Statesman Article...
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/realestate/02/14/14fairfield.html (http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/realestate/02/14/14fairfield.html)
Condo towers up for final council vote
Project would be the biggest on Town Lake's southern shore since 1982.
By Kate Miller Morton
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
http://img.coxnewsweb.com/B/05/34/22/image_5122345.jpg
The Austin City Council could give final approval Thursday for two residential high-rises on Town Lake, greenlighting the most significant development on the south shoreline since the Hyatt Regency Austin was built in 1982.
The condominium towers proposed by Grand Prairie-based Fairfield Residential LLC. would rise up to 200 feet on the south and west parking lots of the 17-story hotel on Barton Springs Road between South First Street and South Congress Avenue.
Current zoning on much of the nearly 10-acre site allows that height but says no more than half of the land can be covered by buildings and other surfaces impenetrable by water. Fairfield bought the Hyatt property for $50 million in October 2005. The Hyatt was built before current waterfront setback and impervious-cover regulations were enacted. The new towers would be bound by the requirements.
Fairfield wants more flexible zoning that would allow more impervious cover on part of the site and allow it to spread construction of the two towers over several years. In exchange, it's offering to reduce the current total impervious cover by 2.3 percentage pointsto 65.5 percent, allow public access through the property from Barton Springs Road to the lake and comply with green building standards.
With Mayor Will Wynn absent, the City Council voted 6-0 to give preliminary approval in January. The Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Association, which represents nearby residents, does not oppose the project. The group negotiated with Fairfield for more than a year and won several concessions.
Fairfield backed off its original plans to build about 15 feet closer to Town Lake than city rules allow.
It also agreed to donate money to a yet-to-be-formed community development corporation for affordable housing only if it adds square footage to the hotel or builds higher than 60 feet on small parts of the site where that's the limit under current zoning. The new Save Town Lake organization, which is trying to stop the city from allowing variances to the setback rules, also doesn't oppose the project.
"It's a concern when you upzone property . . . and you end up having more buildable area than what the original base zoning allowed. But I think that looking at all the factors involved, we ought to be applauding what the Bouldin Creek folks were able to accomplish," Save Town Lake member Jeff Jack said.
Fairfield's plans have some detractors, including environmental advocate Mary Arnold and several nearby property owners. Arnold said allowing more impervious cover would defeat the goals Town Lake advocates tried to achieve when they persuaded the city to create special rules for lakefront development in the 1980s.
"It was a tradeoff (for the) 200 feet in height, and the tradeoff was: if you go that high you don't cover but 50 percent of the tract with your building," she said. "You leave open space. Even if it's concrete open space, at least it gives an opening to the lake and from the lake."
Fairfield isn't the only company seeking approval to build bigger projects along the lake than regulations allow. CWS Capital Partners is seeking a variance from the setback requirements to build three 18-story residential towers at 222 and 300 E. Riverside Drive.
Developers have won a variance from the Board of Adjustment that will allow them to exceed 50 percent impervious cover with the 20-story AquaTerra condo tower near the Hyatt. "I think we've gotten something very special to be proud of and to hang on to, and I don't like to see it destroyed piece by piece," Arnold said.
kmorton@statesman.com; 445-3641
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/realestate/02/14/14fairfield.html (http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/realestate/02/14/14fairfield.html)
Condo towers up for final council vote
Project would be the biggest on Town Lake's southern shore since 1982.
By Kate Miller Morton
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
http://img.coxnewsweb.com/B/05/34/22/image_5122345.jpg
The Austin City Council could give final approval Thursday for two residential high-rises on Town Lake, greenlighting the most significant development on the south shoreline since the Hyatt Regency Austin was built in 1982.
The condominium towers proposed by Grand Prairie-based Fairfield Residential LLC. would rise up to 200 feet on the south and west parking lots of the 17-story hotel on Barton Springs Road between South First Street and South Congress Avenue.
Current zoning on much of the nearly 10-acre site allows that height but says no more than half of the land can be covered by buildings and other surfaces impenetrable by water. Fairfield bought the Hyatt property for $50 million in October 2005. The Hyatt was built before current waterfront setback and impervious-cover regulations were enacted. The new towers would be bound by the requirements.
Fairfield wants more flexible zoning that would allow more impervious cover on part of the site and allow it to spread construction of the two towers over several years. In exchange, it's offering to reduce the current total impervious cover by 2.3 percentage pointsto 65.5 percent, allow public access through the property from Barton Springs Road to the lake and comply with green building standards.
With Mayor Will Wynn absent, the City Council voted 6-0 to give preliminary approval in January. The Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Association, which represents nearby residents, does not oppose the project. The group negotiated with Fairfield for more than a year and won several concessions.
Fairfield backed off its original plans to build about 15 feet closer to Town Lake than city rules allow.
It also agreed to donate money to a yet-to-be-formed community development corporation for affordable housing only if it adds square footage to the hotel or builds higher than 60 feet on small parts of the site where that's the limit under current zoning. The new Save Town Lake organization, which is trying to stop the city from allowing variances to the setback rules, also doesn't oppose the project.
"It's a concern when you upzone property . . . and you end up having more buildable area than what the original base zoning allowed. But I think that looking at all the factors involved, we ought to be applauding what the Bouldin Creek folks were able to accomplish," Save Town Lake member Jeff Jack said.
Fairfield's plans have some detractors, including environmental advocate Mary Arnold and several nearby property owners. Arnold said allowing more impervious cover would defeat the goals Town Lake advocates tried to achieve when they persuaded the city to create special rules for lakefront development in the 1980s.
"It was a tradeoff (for the) 200 feet in height, and the tradeoff was: if you go that high you don't cover but 50 percent of the tract with your building," she said. "You leave open space. Even if it's concrete open space, at least it gives an opening to the lake and from the lake."
Fairfield isn't the only company seeking approval to build bigger projects along the lake than regulations allow. CWS Capital Partners is seeking a variance from the setback requirements to build three 18-story residential towers at 222 and 300 E. Riverside Drive.
Developers have won a variance from the Board of Adjustment that will allow them to exceed 50 percent impervious cover with the 20-story AquaTerra condo tower near the Hyatt. "I think we've gotten something very special to be proud of and to hang on to, and I don't like to see it destroyed piece by piece," Arnold said.
kmorton@statesman.com; 445-3641