What's happening
City Council approved the 500 South Congress PUD, or planned unit development, Sept. 11. Related Cos.' redevelopment of Ego's bar and surrounding apartment and office buildings on a 6.5-acre site will include:
- 950 residences, with 800 apartments and 150 condominiums
- A 225-room hotel
- 600,000 square feet of office space
- 135,000 square feet of commercial space for retail, a restaurant and grocery store
Related's Texas President Mike Iannacone recently said the 500 South Congress PUD could be the new heart of the South Central Waterfront, which said is becoming a "mixed-use city of the future."
The project's commercial space will include 5,000 square feet reserved for a tenant at an affordable rate, where Iannacone previously said “the next incarnation of Ego’s" will be featured. As existing apartments are demolished, Related will pay relocation fees to current residents and contribute to Austin's affordable housing fund after construction.
Iannacone said the redevelopment will improve pedestrian and cyclist safety and connectivity in the district, and the property will feature a new public trail along Bouldin Creek.
While formal city approvals are likely months away, council members also considered plans for a 510-foot residential tower at the nearby Cidercade property on Lady Bird Lake in early September.
The nearby lakeshore project from Endeavor Real Estate Group would include 200 condominiums and 8,000 square feet of ground-level commercial space, replacing the arcade bar now operating at 600 E. Riverside Drive.
Plans for the nearly 50-story tower are required to move through initial city development assessments before official PUD rezoning. PUDs are typical for larger, complicated projects to grant more flexibility and building entitlements in exchange for public benefits like parkland, affordable housing or utility improvements.
PUDs are meant to be used for projects on 10 acres of land or more unless there are "special circumstances" on a particular property. Attorney and lobbyist Richard Suttle said the "challenging" 2-acre Cidercade lot fits that description given its more than 60-year-old waterfront structure and location between the lake and Blunn Creek. Endeavor is planning several environmental improvements through the PUD.
“You start with such an awful site that almost anything you do would be better than what’s out there now," Suttle said in August.
- Pedestrian-facing commercial space to "activate" the Riverside corridor
- The restoration of up to 10,000 square feet as a "floodplain forest" with various plant types
- New water quality treatment infrastructure for the tower, as well as some Riverside Drive runoff that currently drains into the lake
- Energy-efficient building standards
The Cidercade property sits back from a segment of the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike boardwalk. The construction of a dock near the trail was previously mentioned, but Suttle said there are no current plans for that kind of structure on the water, although the project could include a new boardwalk connection.
The approach
This summer's briefings about Endeavor's plans came through the required development assessment process ahead of formal PUD approval. Council member Ryan Alter questioned whether that step is needed given repetition between the assessment and PUD phases, which he said are too lengthy and expensive for developers.
Zoning Officer Joi Harden suggested initial assessments and related public reviews could be phased out in the future, while keeping some city PUD oversight in place.
"As you stated, it’s costly, it’s time-consuming, and these fees ... go to the future buyers. These fees add up," she said Sept. 9.
Zooming out
500 South Congress and the Cidercade redevelopment are among the many towers expected to extend Austin's skyline across the lake over the coming years.
Other projects now in the works around the South Central Waterfront include:
- The 19-acre "Statesman PUD" redevelopment with a series of lakeshore high-rises home to 1,400 residences, a 275-room hotel, more than 1 million square feet of office space and 150,000 square feet of commercial space
- A pair of office high-rises with ground floor commercial space at 200 E. Riverside Drive
- A high-rise at 311-315 S. Congress Ave. with almost 500 residences, offices and street-level retail
- The 490,000-square-foot One Lady Bird Lake offices at 151 S. First St.
Members of the South Central Waterfront Advisory Board, a resident body formed to oversee planning in the district, had previously noted the potential loss of public benefits without regulations in place. Former Chair Jim Stephenson previously said developers are "wiggling out" of city requirements for new affordable housing units—a key goal of the 2016 community vision plan—based on conflicting city PUD reviews outside of public view.
“The crux of the issue is I think there’s something going on at the city that is allowing developers to put through PUDs that don’t have an affordable housing component," he said in March. "I would like to set a baseline to be in compliance with the PUD requirements. And whether or not the site development reviewers necessarily recommend or not, I think we need to be consistent in our recommendation.”
The advisory board hasn't met in six months and is now at risk of being disbanded under city policy.
Although the push for formal development regulations stalled out before those towers build up, new district policies could still be coming through the city's $1.25 million Downtown Austin Plan update kicking off this year. That process will now reach beyond the historic downtown area to include the South Central Waterfront and University Neighborhood Overlay in West Campus.
