MDHA OKs Austin developer’s efforts related to two residential high-rises to join office building
The Metro Development and Housing Agency Design Review Committee on Tuesday approved the future use of materials related to two residential towers that will comprise Gulch Union and join existing office tower 1222 Demonbreun.
The three-building development will sit at the northwest corner of the intersection of 12th Avenue South and Demonbreun Street, with the recently opened existing office high-rise overlooking downtown’s interstate loop. The main address is 1200 Demonbreun St.
As the Post reported last July, a 16-floor luxury hotel component originally planned for the north tract of the mixed-use project’s site will, instead, be residential in function and join a 28-story residential tower on the south tract, according to a document submitted to MDHA at the time. MDHA’s Design Review Committee approved bonus height in 2020.
The site sits within MDHA’s Arts Center redevelopment district and, as such, DRC approval was needed. Austin-based development company Endeavor Real Estate Group, which owns the property, went before the MDHA DRC Tuesday to seek approval for the exterior materials and streetscape elements of the two buildings.
Dallas-based HKS is the project’s architect. Endeavor has applied for a grading permit for the first of the two planned residential towers. That building’s construction will include the addition of a turn lane from southbound 12th onto Demonbreun and the elimination of a pedestrian island at the corner.
The Gulch Union footprint is bordered by 12th and 13th Avenues on the east and west, respectively, and McGavock and Demonbreun streets on the north and south. It is being billed as a “gateway” site, centrally located between Midtown, SoBro, The Gulch and the North Gulch.
The aforementioned 1222 Demonbreun opened late last year and offers 329,000 square feet of Class A office space and 6,000 square feet of retail.
The 0.39-acre property is located in Metro Councilmember Freddie O’Connell’s District 19.