An aerial view of the intersection of West Sixth and Guadalupe Streets, with the site of the unnamed Ryan Companies tower project outlined in red. Click for a larger view. Image: Bing Maps / James Rambin
A mixed-use apartment and office tower by national real estate firm Ryan Companies is in an early planning phase atop a nearly half-acre land assembly on the southeast corner of West Sixth and Guadalupe Streets in downtown Austin — making the as-yet-unnamed project the second tower now planned at this intersection, joining the 6 X Guadalupe development already preparing for construction at the northwest corner.
Looking towards the BBVA retail bank at the southeast corner of West Sixth and Guadalupe Streets, where an apartment and office tower project is planned.
The two adjacent tracts assembled for the project include the corner lot at 321 West Sixth Street currently occupied by a BBVA drive-through retail bank, and the smaller property housing Maiko Sushi Lounge directly to its east at 311 West Sixth Street. Together, the properties comprise an approximately 0.47-acre site, and though the planned tower’s expected size is currently unknown, the location is unencumbered by Capitol View Corridors or other related height restrictions.
Directly to the east of the BBVA bank is a smaller property containing Maiko Sushi Lounge. This site will also be developed as part of the tower project, according to its developers.
Ryan Companies will act as both developer and builder for the project, according to the firm’s regional vice president Rich Leisy. The tower, which is currently expected to break ground in late 2020, will contain approximately 360 apartment units and an undefined amount of general office space — along with what the developers call a “continued retail bank presence” for BBVA, likely on the structure’s ground floor.
BBVA USA provided this statement regarding the tower plan:
“BBVA USA corporate properties are vital assets, and just like BBVA evaluates other assets, it wants to ensure it is using its properties in a way that provides the greatest benefit to customers, employees and other stakeholders. BBVA remains steadfast in its commitment to Austin, and to the employees who call it home.”
According to Leisy, Ryan Companies expects to issue an official press release and renderings of the tower by late December or early January, which could provide our first details of its height and other features. This isn’t the developer’s first rodeo in downtown, with its mixed-use apartment and hotel tower project at Fifth and Brazos already roughly a year along in its construction — the firm’s also behind the forever-expanding Oracle campus in the booming Lakeshore district of southeast Austin.
The site of the planned tower is untouched by Capitol View Corridors, the paths of which are seen here in red. Image: Google Maps
Between this new project and the 6 X Guadalupe tower already underway on the northwestern side of the intersection, it’s worth noting that the only low-rise corner left untouched at West Sixth and Guadalupe Streets is the shuttered and very bland post office on the southwest side — a site also unconstrained by height limits and seemingly primed for a tall tower development, though it’s sat unoccupied now for the better part of a decade. Could someone please build something here too?
[widget id=”dsidx-listings-10″]
Leave a Reply