South Shore Residences Opening in 2013, Retail Center Getting Underway

Anyone who has driven out towards the airport, past the AMLI South Shore apartments on East Riverside, must notice the massive piece of development prepping not far away.

That’s where Grayco Partners has started on its 20-acre South Shore development, where three residential developments, totaling 506 units for rent and sale are being built, with a project opening this coming spring.

Located just two miles from downtown Austin, more details are coming online now regarding the massive retail portion of the development, which will take up 700 feet of frontage along Riverside Drive. Not only is this important to making additional residential development along Riverside as success, but has the potential to serve portions of downtown as well. (More on that in a sec.)

The retail center is scheduled to begin construction this coming year, and a site plan was filed this month for a 46,000 square foot shopping district, encompassing five retail buildings. To make way, the existing 54,000-square-foot strip mall is being torn down.

Above: rendering of the South Shore shopping area

In addition, three more urban residential properties are approved and planned for future development. When finished, we could see a development that includes 8-story residential buildings, bringing the total to 1,200 multi-family units for rent and for sale, and more than 65,000 square feet of office and retail.
There is a lot planned for East Riverside, which you can read about in a recent post, but details on the planned retail component are important because it also serves downtown Austin, and has potential to serve Rainey Street development, in particular.

With the Sutton Towers and Skyhouse planned in Rainey Street, in addition to the current residences there, there is a strong demand for access to shops, but limited access to that neighborhood. The easiest option is jumping onto I-35, or the access road, but during the increasingly long rush hours, it’s almost not worth it.
However, when the Austin boardwalk completes in 2014, it will end on the eastern side right on the backyard of the South Shore development and retail center. That means Rainey Street residents – assuming it’s not 105 degrees – will be able to bike or walk onto the Lady Bird Lake trail, cross over at I-35, and jump on the board walk to access this shopping center.