AUSTIN | W MLK & Nueces | 434 & 407 FT | 36 & 34 FLOORS

[Urbannizer]

Austin approves density bonus for two downtown towers planned near UT

As Austin’s pipeline of new towers is drying up, the Austin City Council voted to approve a proposal to build two 400-plus-foot structures in downtown Austin.

The city council voted on March 26 to grant additional entitlements to a redevelopment project that proposes two new towers near the University of Texas campus. The project would be on a city block with frontage on West Martin Luther King Boulevard that is bounded by Rio Grande and Nueces streets. The additional entitlements granted allow for a maximum building height of 445 feet. They also allow larger floor-to-area ratios for the project's towers. The entitlements were granted through Austin’s Downtown Density Bonus Program.

The proposed project would add two towers to the site with a range of uses. The north tower calls for a 287-room hotel, 61 condo units and roughly 5,000 square feet of retail space. The south tower is being planned for 318 apartments with another 5,000 square feet of retail space.

The city council voted to give the tower project the full height it sought. Some council members said it’s not the time for Austin to be limiting the size of projects.
“We want to go high on these buildings,” said council member Jose “Chito” Vela, during the meeting. “Big buildings like the one being proposed, not only do they pay big density bonus fees to the city, they also write big property tax checks to the city. So when I look forward and I think of sustaining our public safety, providing funds for our libraries and our parks, I just think it’s absolutely critical that we move forward with these types of projects.”