In a presentation to the Round Rock City Council on June 23, Justin Basie, senior vice president of Mark IV Capital, said the development, which was originally planned to bring 1 million square feet of office space to the area, may see that number double or even triple as the Austin-Round Rock office market continues to be one of the most active in the nation.
"Our tallest office building here [in the original project design] is now our shortest office building for the project that we are prepared to move forward with," Basie said. "That is a considerable change in all aspects in terms of dollars that us as a developer are willing to contribute as well as the infrastructure requirements that are projected to this level of density, this level of height, as well as complexity, will require."
The square footage on the project will increase across the board, Basie said, with retail and multifamily planned to be bigger than the original design, although specifics were not given. In order to achieve this, in some cases, building height has increased.
Construction of the project, which was last known to be on track for a summer 2021 groundbreaking, is expected to commence in July. Basie said a Hyde Park Bungalow has already been transported to the property in anticipation of being used as a "hipster coffee shop."
Given the change in scale and ongoing difficulties in construction, City Manager Laurie Hadley said the council can expect to receive and take action on an updated version of its economic development agreement during a July council meeting. According to the agreement that was first approved in 2019, Mark IV Capital is expected to develop at least 1 million square feet over the next 20 years and invest a minimum of $200 million into the project.
