What's happening?
Manufacturing and tech company 3M, now operating out of Parmer Austin, previously occupied a 57-acre campus off Research Boulevard, "Duval," that was later rezoned to allow for mixed uses.
3M also previously occupied a campus off River Place Boulevard, which was purchased by Karlin in 2021, renovated in 2024 and is now known as Highpoint 2222.
Members of the 2222 Coalition of Neighborhood Associations, or 2222 CONA, say Karlin could seek more than 50 new land use types to build out the rest of the Highpoint 2222 property.
2222 CONA has led the charge in working with Karlin on Highpoint 2222 development plans and held an open house Sept. 16 that culminated in a project survey that garnered 528 resident responses.
“The community wants certainty and the developer wants flexibility, so where do those two things meet?” 2222 CONA President Linda Bailey said.
Other redevelopments shaping the River Place corridor with mixed-use spaces include River Place Corporate Park, a 48-acre property spanning seven buildings, and Preserve at 620, which features creative office and retail space for lease.
The features
The 154-acre Highpoint 2222 property already includes the renovated campus, which features over 1 million square feet of available office space.
Representatives for Karlin declined to comment as they are still in the planning process, but the development’s website states the campus has infrastructure to support tech and life science tenants.
On the rest of the property, Bailey said the community has responded positively to Karlin’s plans to build retail space, and both they and Karlin are interested in having a variety of housing options.
Negotiations with Karlin regarding specific features of the development are still ongoing, which Bailey said will conclude with both parties signing a legal agreement outlining land uses.
2222 CONA could ask Karlin for other community incentives such as additional trails, parks or other benefits through the agreement, Bailey said.
“We have the terms defined, but we don’t have an agreement yet,” Bailey said. “We have about half of the terms agreed on, and we still have about half to go.”
Developers are seeking a variety of mixed-uses at Highpoint 2222, which could include:
- 1.1 million square feet of office and lab space, already delivered
- Up to 65,000 square feet of retail possible
- Up to 1,250 multifamily homes reaching 4 stories possible
- Up to 9 acres of green space possible
2222 CONA and Karlin have had 18 meetings together over the last three years regarding the property, and the neighborhood association has collected hundreds of resident survey responses so far, Bailey said.
Traffic, development density and environmental impacts top the list of community concerns, which Bailey said are “inevitable.”
Part of 2222 CONA’s request to Karlin includes having new lanes and traffic lights completed first, as nearly 18,000 daily vehicle trips could be added as a result of the development, per a recent traffic impact analysis, or TIA.
Fourteen intersections spanning 5 miles were surveyed and graded on an A-F scale as part of the TIA, and nearly 50% of CONA survey respondents ranked the RM 2222 and River Place Boulevard intersection as needing the most urgent improvements.
“Certain tenants are going to produce more traffic,” District 10 council member Marc Duchen said. “Certain developmental land use code changes may impact the density and traffic in that property, and thus impact what happens in that community.”
Diving in deeper
Highpoint 2222 has the largest amount of available office space in the Northwest Austin submarket at 1.18 million square feet, per real estate company Aquila Commercial’s second quarter 2025 market report.
The report includes other notable developments, such as Preserve at 620 with 45,000 square feet available and River Place Corporate Park with over 296,000 square feet available.
However, preleasing office space has slowed overall in the last couple of years, Aquila Senior Vice President Max McDonald said.
Pivoting to mixed-use is in line with Austin’s climbing land values and construction prices, which cause developers to have to “get creative,” McDonald said. Pairing office footprints with in-demand components, such as multifamily units or hotels, gives developers flexibility to make the property more desirable.
“It’s not this guessing game as to whether a tenant will come along, which we saw a lot more of in the 2018 and 2019 run-up before COVID,” McDonald said. “The vacancy rates were so low in Austin that you could justify the pending demand for an office building to be built speculatively. That doesn’t exist anymore.”
Major takeaways
According to 2222 CONA officials, the association will next present a summary of the survey results and other comments collected from the September open house to Karlin, Duchen and city staff.
Another community session is being planned for early 2026 to report on project progress; share negotiation updates regarding traffic phasing, environmental safeguards and development density; and gather additional community input.
As 2222 CONA and Karlin continue to make progress on Highpoint 2222, the River Place area is being reimagined with other mixed-use developments.
Brandywine Realty Trust officials could seek to amend a zoning code at River Place Corporate Park, which would replace two of the buildings and allow for up to 330 multifamily units and outdoor recreational uses such as pickleball courts and a play area.
The Austin Zoning & Platting Commission approved the zoning request July 1, but Brandywine officials requested to indefinitely postpone the rezoning item at a Sept. 11 Austin City Council meeting.
Preserve at 620 is also meeting mixed-use demand by leasing office space and facilities such as pickleball franchise The Picklr, and offering other community amenities.
The mixed-use rezoning of 3M's other former campus, the Duval site, also better reflects Austin’s economic and community needs, District 6 council member Krista Laine said in an email to Community Impact.
Once slated for millions of square feet of office space, preliminary plans for Duval now call for 30,000 square feet of commercial space and up to 1,200 multifamily units.
