AUSTIN (KXAN) — After Austin City Council signed off on the rezoning of a shopping center near South Lamar and the 360 Loop in late 2023 — which was set to become a small skyline in south Austin — the developer said it’s pumping the brakes on that project.
“With the challenging market we’re moving forward very cautiously,” Milo Burdette, the vice president of development with Barshop & Oles, told KXAN.
Burdette said Barshop & Oles doesn’t have a timeline for when construction would start or when that project may be complete. He said at this point, they’re not even sure if the general project idea brought forward to city council several years ago still stands.
“We don’t know if that design is going to be appropriate for that change in the market,” Burdette said.
According to city documents, Lionstone Investments was also a major part of that development during the rezoning phase and according to CoStar, a commercial real estate company, Lionstone’s parent company shut it down in 2024.
Burdette confirmed that they were no longer working with Lionstone — which has closed — and instead are partnering with Pennybacker Capital, an Austin company.
“It’s just going to take a little more time…we’re still very excited about it,” Burdette said.
What has the city of Austin heard?
In short, not a lot — and after talking to Burdette, that makes sense. After all, Burdette said they are still moving forward slowly on the design phase.
“I just heard back from our subject-matter experts, and we have no new information on that site,” said Robbie Searcy with the Development Services Department (DSD).
KXAN also looked on the city of Austin’s online portal for permits that have been filed through the city to start construction, and there aren’t any yet.
“We have not yet received new applications for this redevelopment. The type of permits required will depend largely on the details of the development and site plan application,” Searcy said.
There was also significant talk during the redevelopment process about the need for additional energy infrastructure to make the vision a reality, Austin Energy said it has not heard from the developer on that front either.
“We haven’t heard from the developer or new drivers for this project,” Matt Mitchell, an Austin Energy spokesperson said.
Credit: Source link
