Plans for the Riverside area's tallest building yet are advancing, while technology company Oracle looks to expand its lakeshore headquarters with new mixed-use development blocks away.

Current situation

This spring, City Council cleared the way for a new residential high-rise at the intersection of East Riverside Drive and South Lakeshore Boulevard. The site on the edge of Riverside's South Shore district is currently home to a Baby Acapulco restaurant and 7-Eleven convenience store.

Council approved a zoning update in June that will allow the new tower to rise taller than most surrounding property. The planned high-rise will include almost 360 residential units and no commercial space.

Under a resolution from Mayor Kirk Watson, three properties covering less than 1.5 acres were removed from the East Riverside Corridor regulating plan—a local development policy generally capping buildings at 60-90 feet. The land can now be added to the adjacent South Shore planned unit development, or PUD, that's been built out with housing and retail. The move will allow construction up to 180 feet tall.

Land-use attorney Michael Whellan, who's representing property owners Grayco Partners LLC and Morrison-Moore Properties Ltd. in the process, said the project is expected to use its full height allowance. He also noted the neighborhood's tallest and densest housing project yet will be situated next to a station on the Project Connect rail line that'll run down Riverside Drive.

In his application to the city, Whellan said the PUD extension would benefit the area and support a transit-oriented project during a time of "macroeconomic turmoil."

"Austin has had to think outside of the box to manage its growth over the past several years. Now we're facing a different challenge: What happens when the music stops and everything slows down?" Whellan said in a statement. "There's a lot hinging on the Austin Light Rail's success—how are we going to get the housing we need around major rail stations when it is getting more and more difficult to finance projects? It's going to take projects like this to keep the Austin Light Rail moving forward."

Also of note

Nearby, a separate change to a neighboring PUD would allow Oracle to expand its campus with a new hotel and additional office space.

That development is planned at 1201 Tinnin Ford Road, formerly a condominium complex that was purchased by the technology company and since demolished. Oracle is also seeking to remove its property from the neighborhood regulating plan and add it into the Lakeshore PUD that covers the company's campus, allowing up to 120 feet of height.

According to city materials, Oracle's expansion would include:

• A 255-room hotel
• Nearly 290,000 square feet of office space
• A 50,000-square-foot fitness center, 10,000-square-foot event center and 5,000-square-foot conference center for the campus

Alongside that private construction, Oracle would also widen and extend a public pedestrian path connecting Lakeshore Boulevard and Elmont Drive through the complex.

The PUD update could negatively affect housing costs and affordability in an area that's already experienced significant demographic changes and seen vulnerable residents pushed out, according to city staff.

“Removing the Tinnin Ford property from [East Riverside Corridor regulating plan], which abets affordable housing through the density bonus, could set a precedent for development at increased heights being removed from the ERC in a way that is not aligned with [city] goals to prevent chronic displacement and ensure affordability," staff reported.

City Council will vote on the PUD update July 24.