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.
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.
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
-
$1,375,000
301 West Ave #1207
Austin, TX -
$420,000
507 Sabine ST #906
Austin, TX -
$549,000
1801 Lavaca ST #5D
Austin, TX -
$1,600,000
800 W 5th ST #1104
Austin, TX -
$475,000
1212 Guadalupe ST
Austin, TX -
$699,000
48 East Ave #2004
Austin, TX -
$11,990,000
200 Congress Ave #50T
Austin, TX -
$699,999
48 East Ave #1404
Austin, TX -
$804,450
300 Bowie ST #1301
Austin, TX -
$1,550,000
300 Bowie ST #3602
Austin, TX -
$529,900
360 Nueces ST #1112
Austin, TX -
$254,500
1800 Lavaca ST #A-702
Austin, TX -
$575,000
360 Nueces ST #1807
Austin, TX -
$585,000
40 N Interstate 35 Highway #10D2
Austin, TX -
$706,500
44 East Ave #1804
Austin, TX
-
Lot Size192 sqft
Home Size1,281 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
Lot Size131 sqft
Home Size877 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
Lot Size305 sqft
Home Size1,189 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
Lot Size554 sqft
Home Size2,337 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
Lot Size305 sqft
Home Size954 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths2 Baths
-
Lot SizeN/A
Home Size893 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
Lot Size349 sqft
Home Size5,050 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths4.5 Baths
-
Lot Size75 sqft
Home Size893 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
Lot Size105 sqft
Home Size1,038 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
Lot Size170 sqft
Home Size1,704 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
Lot Size131 sqft
Home Size812 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
Lot Size262 sqft
Home Size608 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
Lot Size131 sqft
Home Size852 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
Lot Size1,059 sqft
Home Size1,360 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
Lot SizeN/A
Home Size614 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
Leave a Reply