Stonelake Reaches for the Sky in Austin
The developer plans to break ground on a 50-story mixed-use tower early next year in the city’s central business district.
A Stonelake Capital Partners affiliate has announced plans to develop a 50-story tower in downtown Austin, comprising residential and Class A office space. Temporarily dubbed 5th & Colorado, the high-rise is set to include 318 units and a 100,000-square-foot commercial component. Construction is estimated to start early next year, with completion scheduled for 2025.
Located at the southeast corner of West 5th Street and Colorado Street, on a 0.5-acre lot, the project is within walking distance of the Texas Capitol. Apartment floorplans for the 465,000-square-foot project will average 1,150 square feet, while office floorplates are set to total 20,000 square feet. Plans also call for four stories of amenity space, including two sky lounges on the last two levels of the building.
The development team includes Ziegler Cooper Architects and Harvey Builders as general contractor. Stonelake also tapped Garza EMC for civil engineering.
Change of plans
According to the Austin Business Journal, Ryan Cos. announced in May 2020 that it intends to build a 41-story office tower on the 0.5-acre parcel in the metro’s central business district. Later, Stonelake took over and negotiated to receive the plans and permits for what was initially supposed to be Tower 5C. The developer is now working to revise the permits and start work without any equity partners.
According to a CBRE Q4 office report, the end of 2020 saw the Austin development pipeline drop below 6 million square feet for the first time since the second quarter of 2019. However, the metro continues to be a magnet for tech companies looking to relocate from expensive areas such as northern California. Following similar moves from Hewlett-Packard and Oracle, Digital Realty recently announced it was moving its global headquarters from San Francisco to Austin.
