 "Photo: Kari Rosenfeld/The Daily Texan")
The Austin City Council postponed the third and final hearing on Grayco Partners’ proposed retail and residential community to be built at Lady Bird Lake until December.
The Council delayed the hearing to give the applicants time to finalize details of the affordable housing aspect of the complex, said Stephen Rye of the City’s Neighborhood Planning and Zoning Department.
Houston-based Grayco Partners plan to build the complex, which will include buildings up to 90 feet tall, under an exception to the normal zoning rules that limit buildings to a height of 60 feet.
“[Grayco Partners] applied for a Planned Unit Development, which allows them to build denser, taller buildings in exchange for benefits to the community,” Rye said.
Benefits would include a pond to collect rainwater and parking for the Austin CarShare program, according to the reading’s summary sheet.
In order to qualify for the PUD, the company must be able to demonstrate how its project is superior to normal zoning, Rye said.
One way to prove superiority is to build affordable housing in the complex, Rye said.
“The Council is trying to hammer out what the applicant is proposing and see if it’s good,” Rye said.
The complex would include condominiums, retail shops, restaurants and a cocktail lounge and would be built on the land bordered by South Lakeshore Boulevard, Riverside Drive and Tinnin Ford Road.
There is no date set for the beginning of construction, as that choice lies with the development company, Rye said.
Grayco Partners did not return calls before press time.
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