Environmental Commission ponders new South Central PUD

Another South Central Waterfront planned unit development proposal has officially commenced, with real estate development attorney and City Council regular Richard Suttle stopping by the Environmental Commission last week for preliminary negotiations.

If realized, the project will bulldoze the defunct Texas Department of Transportation headquarters at 200 E. Riverside to make way for two 410-foot high-rises with 1.38 million square feet of office space and 29,318 square feet of ground-floor retail. Suttle says the development will feature 0.87 acres of pocket parks and open space and a potential Blue Line rail station, and will significantly raise the environmental and community amenity specs at a site presently engulfed by dormant pavement.

“Right now this thing is covered in concrete,” Suttle said. “As we get through the design phase, I think you’ll see publicly accessible green space where you can hang out and not be on concrete. As we move forward we will provide the programming of those spaces, but right now we’re in the block diagram phase.”

The proposal comes at the tail end of the grueling Statesman PUD debacle, which has finally secured Council’s approval after months of debate over environmental and affordability concerns. Taking cues, developers are hoping to sweeten the deal at 200 E. Riverside with myriad “superiority elements” including public green space, green water and rainwater harvesting controls, dual piping, extra landscaping and vegetation, and a commitment to a 3-star Austin Energy Green Building rating. The team also pledges to participate in the Art in Public Places program and to provide free community meeting space on the ground floor.

Still, Environmental commissioners are holding on to their leverage, challenging the project to dig deeper in its commitments. Further suggestions include more reflective glass to protect bird populations, Dark Sky measures to reduce light pollution, and electric vehicle charging stations, all of which commissioners argue will help to justify the significant departure from the zoned height maximum (96 feet per the Waterfront Overlay South Shore Central Subdistrict requirements).

“Austin has a reputation of being a can-do city and being on the forefront, and I’d like to see this building fall into that category,” Commissioner Richard Brimer said. “I think you can do better than 50 percent on green water and rainwater harvesting, and I want to see how much better you can do … we have a lot of creativity in this town and I’m sure someone could do a lot without a lot of trouble and expense.”

Commissioners also pressed developers on the issue of housing, noting the project’s location along a planned railway stop as a prime opportunity to locate market-rate and affordable units to advance the city’s transportation goals. 

“If we’re going to build something that’s taller than the code allows for, and it’s on the Blue Line, why are we just using it as office space?” Commissioner Haris Qureshi asked.

Suttle said while there are currently no plans for housing on the site, that could change as the project moves forward. Only time will tell, but those interested can expect further details to take shape when the project makes its next stop at the South Central Waterfront Advisory Board.

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Posted In: Planning, District 9