An aerial view of the two Railyard tracts, each occupying a half-block on either side of San Jacinto Boulevard. From this perspective, the top site highlighted is the eastern tract and the bottom site highlighted is the western tract. Image: Bing Maps
After last year’s blockbuster $104 million sale of downtown Austin condo community the Railyard to Los Angeles investment firm Karlin Real Estate, we knew it was only a matter of time before the site’s redevelopment — in part simply because it’s a big piece of land downtown, roughly 1.6 acres of low-rise residential units spanning two half-blocks on both sides of San Jacinto Boulevard at 201 and 301 East Fourth Street.
But our fantasies for the future of this property were informed by its new owners themselves before they’d even had a chance to close on the deal, with a marketing brochure circulated last year from Karlin and commercial real estate firm CBRE promoting the possibility of twin towers atop the Railyard’s two tracts — bringing what was then described as a combined 1.7 million square feet of development to the site in a package potentially taller than anything the city’s seen before.
Image: Karlin Real Estate / CBRE
Image: Karlin Real Estate / CBRE
Image: Karlin Real Estate / CBRE
We still can’t be sure if the futuristic towers seen in the above marketing material actually indicate the direction of design for what will eventually rise here, but thanks to city utility filings from an unknown developer earlier this week we can now confirm that two towers of significant size are in the pre-development stage at the Railyard property. Though we don’t know their exact heights at this point, the square footages described in these documents imply towers of significant scale, potentially even reaching higher than anything built or planned in Austin at the moment.
Known only as ATX Tower East and ATX Tower West in current filings, the tower east of San Jacinto Boulevard is mostly residential in use, described as containing approximately 500 apartments, 300 condo units, and 15,000 square feet of restaurant space. The western tower contains approximately 884,000 square feet of office space and another 15,000 square feet of restaurant space.
These are obviously big numbers, particularly that total of 800 apartment and condo units in the eastern tower — the Independent, currently Austin’s tallest building at 58 floors, only contains 370 condos. It’s not easy to accurately estimate the height of these two structures from the few numbers we have now, but considering the scale of the development seen in the marketing graphics intended to show what could be built here, it’s a pretty safe bet that one or both of these towers will push the envelope on height — and even if it doesn’t end up the tallest in town, anything built here will represent a massive increase in space over the three-story buildings there now.
A current view of the Railyard condos. Image: Railyard Condos / Facebook
These square footages are the only concrete information we have at the moment regarding what to expect at the Railyard, but it’s enough to make us all sit up and pay attention, especially since this isn’t the only low-rise residential building bought out for a potential future redevelopment even in the last few months. As downtown’s remaining stock of undeveloped tracts dwindles, we’ll see more projects like this moving forward — and if you’re anything like us, that’s pretty exciting stuff.
Latest Downtown Austin Condos For Sale
-
$1,250,000
44 East Avenue #1607
Austin, TX -
$2,850,000
222 West Avenue #2901
Austin, TX -
$1,695,000
70 Rainey Street #1908
Austin, TX -
$719,900
48 East Avenue #2903
Austin, TX -
$649,900
603 Davis Street #604
Austin, TX -
$2,895,000
501 West Avenue #2103
Austin, TX -
$769,900
48 East Avenue #1608
Austin, TX -
$569,000
210 Lee Barton Drive #415
Austin, TX -
$724,900
800 Embassy Drive #401
Austin, TX -
$749,999
54 Rainey Street #713
Austin, TX -
$2,390,000
501 West Avenue #3504
Austin, TX -
$4,990,000
44 East Avenue #4804
Austin, TX -
$2,500,000
311 W 5th Street #803
Austin, TX -
$2,175,000
200 CONGRESS Avenue #15F
Austin, TX -
$3,500,000
202 Nueces Street #2101
Austin, TX
-
$1,250,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size1,221 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$2,850,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size2,227 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$1,695,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size1,434 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$719,900Lot Size17,904 sqft
Home Size641 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$649,900Lot Size214 sqft
Home Size1,136 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$2,895,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size2,822 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths4 Baths
-
$769,900Lot Size17,904 sqft
Home Size803 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$569,000Lot Size401 sqft
Home Size1,002 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$724,900Lot SizeN/A
Home Size1,214 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$749,999Lot Size305 sqft
Home Size1,164 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$2,390,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size2,009 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$4,990,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size3,234 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths4 Baths
-
$2,500,000Lot Size301 sqft
Home Size2,361 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$2,175,000Lot Size131 sqft
Home Size1,926 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$3,500,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size2,068 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths3 Baths
Leave a Reply