Regulating plan for Austin’s South Central Waterfront could be adopted this year

The long-awaited regulating plan to guide development patterns just south of the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge could arrive just as a handful of massive new projects in the area move forward for approval.

A city memo released last week updates the status of the South Central Waterfront District Regulating Plan, spelling out that it could go before City Council for approval in December. That would give the city the basic regulations to guide development goals that were created seven years ago with the adoption of the South Central Waterfront Vision Framework Plan.

At the July meeting of the South Central Waterfront Advisory Board, members said the city currently has little control over building heights, density or component uses for new developments, unless a project wants to exceed what limits are included by right.

With substantial planned unit developments on the way in the district, including a 6-acre project on the southwest corner of Riverside Drive and South Congress Avenue, board members said the city is missing out on opportunities to push for maximum community benefits from developers.

“You can understand the urgency, because these developments are coming at us very quickly, and they far exceed the height and density that was obviously contemplated seven years ago. We need to be in the position of being able to extract the community benefits that are appropriate for South Central Waterfront,” Chair James Stephenson said. “The crux of the issue is that we’re still six to seven months away from a regulating plan, and then we have the adoption timeline, which is indefinite.”

The planned unit development (PUD) at South Congress and Riverside is expected to include 250 residential units and another 250 for rent, as well as a 250-room hotel, 200,000 square feet of office space, 90,000 square feet of retail, 30,000 square feet for restaurants and a grocery store up to 25,000 square feet.

That project follows the progress on the PUD at the former Austin American-Statesman site and a PUD near One Texas Center that could reach 545 feet tall.

Members of the advisory board have called for movement on the regulating plan for years, saying that the delay in its creation also slows the formation of taxing mechanisms that would potentially capture incremental property tax revenue increases to pay for infrastructure, such as roadwork throughout the district.

During the July meeting, members asked if there was a way for the city to prevent developers of the announced projects from trying to speed through their approval process before the regulating plan is adopted and adds another potential layer of regulation. There was also concern about the tendency for developers to offer some of the required affordable housing off-site from their projects to capture maximum value in the area with high real estate costs. Another factor in those considerations: Labor shortages and supply chain issues continue to push construction prices higher than what was spelled out in the 2016 vision plan for the district.

The memo also noted the progress on other long-range planning initiatives for the city, including the Palm District Planning Initiative, which was approved by Planning Commission in July and scheduled for Council consideration on Sept. 14.

Also, planning staff have identified a qualified firm to move forward with the Northeast Austin District Plan, according to the memo, with planning activities expected to begin this fall.

Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.

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Posted In: Development, Planning, District 9