http://www.statesman.com/business/co...riverside.html
East Riverside to get new mixed-use project
Houston firm joins others as building boom spreads east
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By Shonda Novak
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
A Houston-based firm plans to build a mixed-use project on land near East Riverside Drive and South Lakeshore Boulevard, one of almost a dozen developments proposed for the area as the demand for urban living spreads east.
Grayco Partners LLC has purchased about 26 acres in Southeast Austin that include the existing Regatta, Shoreline and Brookhollow apartment complexes, a Jiffy Lube and the Town Lake Plaza Retail Center.
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The development would have residential and retail components, although Grayco has not decided on the type and number of housing units.
"We're studying various options," said Jeff Gray, president of Grayco, which specializes in building multifamily communities in major markets, including Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, South Florida and Southern California.
He said the company hopes to submit a site plan to the city in the next 60 days and is aiming for a mid-2008 groundbreaking.
It's not yet known whether a zoning change will be required. Ultimately, more than 1,000 square feet of the project would face Riverside, and 1,500 feet would front Lakeshore.
"We like the relationship of the site to the urban core of Austin, and the lake is also an attraction," Gray said.
The area has a large immigrant and student population amid taquerias, nightclubs, aging strip malls and apartment complexes — and one of the city's highest crime rates.
But city leaders have called East Riverside Drive a gateway to the city and are encouraging dense mixed-use development to help curb sprawl.
Proposed projects near Grayco's tracts include 375 apartments that AMLI Residential plans to build near East Riverside and Lakeshore and a $400 million to $500 million mixed-use development by Cypress Real Estate Advisors that would have up to 2,500 apartments, condominiums and townhomes.
Some of the new projects would replace existing apartment complexes, and hundreds of units would be razed. Some businesses and renters have already had to move.
"I don't think the area over time will resemble what it is today," Gray said. "There's a lot of fresh investment in the area, and we hope the city views that as a positive."
But not everyone shares the same vision. Some owners of nearby single-family homes say the city is disregarding a neighborhood plan that took three years to develop. It calls for preserving and enhancing the character of existing residential neighborhoods and the area's parks.
Some residents also want to build on the immigrant influence and would like to see more housing options for a mix of income levels.
James Hill, a real estate agent who owns two units in the Town Lake Village complex that was recently converted into condominiums, said that although the changes would require some people to move, they also offer an "exciting" opportunity to create a waterfront district.
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