New tower for West Avenue between 8th & 9th Streets in downtown. The tower would be "250 feet tall" as the article states.
From the Austin American-Statesman
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/realestate/09/20/0920downtown.html
REAL ESTATE
New condo highrise planned but faces opposition
Developer seeks to build tower of 250 feet, higher than zoning allows
By Shonda Novak
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, September 20, 2007
A new condo high-rise is being proposed on West Avenue between Eighth and Ninth streets, but residents in the neighborhood on the western edge of downtown have registered their opposition.
David Cox, president of Austin-based Fortis Development, is seeking a zoning change to build a tower of up to 250 feet, or about 20 stories, in an area where office zoning now caps height at 60 feet. The project would have about 200 condominiums plus retail space.
The zoning request is scheduled to go before the city's Planning Commission on Tuesday, and the City Council would have the final say.
If all goes as planned, the project would break ground in the fourth quarter of 2008, said Cox, who also is a vice president with Cypress Real Estate Advisors Inc., which has provided some financing for Fortis, his new development venture.
Cox's proposed project would be within the boundaries of the Old West Austin Neighborhood Association, which represents about 400 households. Ted Siff, president of the group, said many residents think a tower that high wouldn't fit with the residential and historic character of the area, which includes a number of single-family homes that have been converted to offices.
The proposed site has three office buildings on it. The nearest single-family home is about three blocks away, Siff said.
Although residents are in favor of more residential development in the area, they're concerned that if market conditions were to change, Cox might switch the project to offices, for example. Siff says offices would generate much more traffic than a residential project.
Siff said no other sites in the area have the requested central business district zoning, which would allow tall buildings like those elsewhere downtown. Siff has written a letter to the city stating his group's opposition. Representatives of the group are scheduled to meet today with the developer's attorney, Richard Suttle Jr., to learn more about Cox's plans.
Cox said he has not seen the letter and preferred not to comment.
Siff said that in his meetings with neighbors, the most intense zoning they said they would support would be a category that limits height to 120 feet.
Cox's project is the latest among more than a dozen planned or being built in a residential building boom downtown. Mayor Will Wynn says he would like to see 25,000 people living downtown by 2015, up from about 5,800 now.
Because of ordinances that protect Capitol views and other building restrictions, Suttle said, only a limited number of sites allow for high-rise development.
"If we want more residential units downtown, we need to let those properties that are not impacted by view corridors to develop at a greater height," he said.
Cox's project is not related to a residential and retail development that Cypress plans at West Sixth Street and West Avenue. In 2005, Cypress envisioned the Lofts on Shoal Creek as a seven- or eight-story condo project, plus retail, but Cypress officials could not be reached for comment about whether their plans have changed.
More than 1,400 luxury condos are under construction downtown, and about 3,200 are planned in the next few years.
Developers say condos are selling well, and most don't think the downtown residential market is at risk of being overbuilt.
"Downtown Austin is the fastest-growing master-planned community that I know of," said Bobby Nail, a partner in the Austin office of Dallas-based CLB Partners. "About 1,000 people a week are moving to Austin."
CLB developed the Austin City Lofts and is about to open its second project, the 104-unit Bridges on the Park on South Lamar Boulevard.
In late October, CLB plans to break ground on a 33-story condo tower with 160 units at Seventh and Rio Grande streets, near Cox's proposed project. Units are expected to be priced from the low $300,000s, with the four penthouses of almost 5,000 square feet costing more than $3 million.
CLB anticipates a June 2009 opening for the $99 million project.
Prev
Linear Mode
