Developer plans two 30-story towers for Town Lake

Constellation Property Group is under contract to buy 3 acres of land in the Southeastern portion of Downtown Austin. The developer plans to build a 30-story condominium tower, 30-story luxury hotel tower, an 8-story office building and street level retail. The $250 million project will be located at the former planned site of the Vignette Corporation Campus which was never built after the techology bust.

The site is bounded by Waller Creek to the west, Cesar Chavez Street to the north, Willow Street to the South, and Red River Street to the east. The City of Austin and Travis County are in negotiations about building a flood diversion tunnel below Sabine Street that could open up property along Waller Creek for more development.

The area could turn into something similar to San Antonio's famed Riverwalk, with residential, hotels, restaurants and sidewalk cafes and street level retail as well as along the creek. Constellation Property Group's project, tenatively called 'Red River' will have one and two bedroom units starting at $350,000 to $500,000 with penthouse units ranging from $1.5 to $2 million.

The architect said the towers will be slender "point towers" so they can afford views in the area. The project does not need zoning approval as Vignette Corporation had already achieved that for it's project. Constellation Property Group said it could break ground in mid-2007. Construction is expected to take 3 years.