A Tower’s in the Works at Fourth and Brazos in Downtown Austin

The Brazos Hall event venue at the northeast corner of East Fourth and Brazos Streets, an early-1900s warehouse that could potentially be demolished for a tower project depending on the results of a historic preservation review by the city. The 1999 office structure seen on the right side of the image will not require review, and will also be demolished for the new tower’s construction. On the left side of the image, you’ll notice a crane for the Fifth & Brazos hotel and apartment project. Image: GarzaEMC

A new tower development could soon rise atop a half-block at the northeast corner of East Fourth and Brazos Streets in downtown Austin — a rising pocket of the central city blessed with quite a few prominent neighbors also planning towers of their own.

An aerial view of the half-block slated for a tower development at Fourth and Brazos Streets. Image: Bing Maps

Recent city filings for the .81-acre assembly of adjacent tracts at 204, 206, and 216 East Fourth Street, purchased in 2019 by entities associated with the family of former Austin Mayor Roy Butler, describe a mixed-use project with an associated parking structure. The exact uses aren’t indicated at this stage, and the height of the potential building isn’t yet disclosed — but the site is unencumbered by view corridors or other restrictions, meaning a large tower here isn’t just possible, but pretty likely.

The 1900s warehouse now home to event venue Brazos Hall at the northeast corner of East Fourth and Brazos Streets. This structure is set to be demolished for a new tower development here, assuming the plan passes historic preservation review from the city.

The site itself is currently occupied at the corner by an early-1900s brick warehouse structure repurposed as event venue Brazos Hall, along with additional retail space in the same building further east at 206 East Fourth Street.

The 1999 office structure on the eastern end of the block at 216 East Fourth Street. This building will also be demolished as part of the tower development here, but unlike the Brazos Hall building on the other end of the half-block it won’t need to clear historic review.

The remainder of the block, stretching to the northwestern corner of East Fourth and San Jacinto Streets, contains a brick office building dating back to 1999 at 216 East Fourth Street. A demolition application for the site indicates the developer’s intention to clear the entire half-block, but prior to any demolition or site plan approval the older Brazos Hall structure must pass a historic preservation review due to its age.

Along with the Butler-associated entity 4th & Brazos LLC, which owns the three assembled properties, the few current city filings related to the development name prominent local land-use law firm Armbrust & Brown and civil engineers GarzaEMC.

A map showing the location of the Fourth & Brazos tower project (outlined in red) and the tower projects planned for its surrounding blocks. Click for a larger view. Image: Bing Maps / James Rambin

The half-block of the Fourth and Brazos project is actually sandwiched between two other prominent potential tower sites directly to its north and south — on the north side is the Brazos Lofts building recently bought out by Cielo Property Group with a high-rise redevelopment in mind; and directly to the south is the western half of the Railyard condos, purchased in 2019 by Los Angeles investors Karlin Real Estate with pre-development filings for a massive tower project appearing earlier this month.

One block further north from Brazos Lofts is the hotel and apartment project at East Fifth and Brazos Streets, already pretty far along in its construction — and a little further south from here at East Second and San Jacinto Streets, you’ll find the Austin Convention Center-adjacent P.F. Chang’s potentially set for a tower redevelopment of its own, assuming the convention center’s possible expansion doesn’t change those plans. Doesn’t it feel like a new tower shows up around here nearly every week?

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