Along with the natural expansion of downtown Austin, a plan for a ‘Domain-style’ development has begun to emerge on East Riverside: Project Catalyst.
The project that has been germinating over the past few years will rezone a 97-acre site in Southeast Austin, adjacent to Oracle’s new campus. The site plans are composed of over 5 million square feet of space for thousands of apartments, hundreds of hotel rooms, dozens of shops and restaurants, and plenty of offices.
Due to the rezoning process of the project site not being scheduled for completion until sometime this year or within the next year, construction is not envisioned to begin before 2020. However, once approved by the Austin City Council, the development plans to be built in five phases over a 25-year period.
Nimes Capital, a Los Angeles-based investment firm, is the developer proposing the mixed-used development that will continue to transform Southeast Austin. Their initial goal surrounding the project is to build an “urban village.”
Given the current circumstances of congestion that are overwhelming the downtown districts, East Riverside Drive is the most logical and ideal location to expand into. Preliminary renderings of Project Catalyst show buildings, reaching 16 stories, that would be the tallest to occupy this portion of Southeast Austin. This “urban village” ultimately envisions to be a “third downtown“ – North Austin’s Domain and Domain Northside duo have already claimed the name of Austin’s “second downtown.”
Currently, the site consists of The Ballpark East apartment complex, comprising of 1,308 units for college students and working-class residents. Throughout the course of a few years, Nimes Capital has bought the apartment complex along with its adjacent land.
If the mixed-use development project proceeds as intended, it will neighbor Oracle’s new 40-acre corporate campus and an exponentially growing amount of nearby apartment complexes, retail establishments and office spaces.
Downtown Austin’s booming market is sure to continue to flourish in East Riverside, especially with Project Catalyst’s proposed plans for expansion.