Austin, Stratus Properties Settlement Going Before Public

AUSTIN-Austin City Council will hold public hearings Nov. 30 and Dec. 7 on a development settlement with Stratus Properties for a proposed 4,000-acre, multi-use project in southwest Travis County.

Meanwhile, Stratus has filed site applications for four office structures in the proposed Lantana Corporate Center. The four-story Rialto Park is being plotted as two 200,000-sf, class A structures with a complementary five-story parking garage. Lantana 5 and 6 will total about 80,000 sf in two-story designs.

The Nov. 30 public hearing will be held at Town Lake Center, 721 Barton Springs Rd. and Dec. 7′s will be at the Hancock Building, situated at the Lower Colorado River Authority, 3700 Lake Austin Blvd. The meetings begin at 6 p.m. and mark the latest round of hearings for the developer, who is ticketed to receive $6.3 million in reimbursable legal fees from the city under the settlement proposal for a municipal utility district dispute. In turn, the city gets an option on 46 acres adjacent to the nature conservancy at a price to be agreed upon pending final signoffs of the settlement pact.

The settlement requires Stratus to provide public access to Barton Creek from two public roads, dedicate an easement and install water quality ponds in exchange for a city waiver of storm water management fees. The commercial component calls for an ancillary sector for research and development, multifamily construction, resort and golf course and retail space. Structures positioned within 500 feet of Southwest Parkway are restricted to 28 feet high. The city is mandating a 100-foot buffer for most components.

If the settlement is approved, the city will sign off on the 452-acre Lantana, where 270 acres originally earmarked for single-family use will now be multifamily. The 535-acre Circle C West Phase II will be limited to single family, with up two acres deeded to the city for a fire station.