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Newsroom
10/10/2007
The City of Austin's Planning Commission has voted down a request for a variance that would have allowed CWS Capital Partners to build three new high-rise condo towers 150 feet from Lady Bird Lake. The company owns two existing apartment complexes within a few dozen feet of the shoreline, but is offering to remove them if it is allowed to build taller structures farther away from the shore. However, the proposed distance of 150 feet from the shore would still be closer than the 200 foot distance established under current ordinances.
"We are trying to offer a choice," said Greg Miller with CWS. "The choice to take what is seven acres of private land and re-develop the land with a public benefit." The city could then use the land closest to the shore for an extension of the Town Lake hike-and-bike trail while the company builds new structures farther back than the existing apartment complexes. "They have a choice to provide a public benefit, and if they don't value that then we can build the project without the trail. We will not be able to remove these valuable buildings from within 20 feet of the lake if we don't get a variance."
But the prospect of a 17-story tower anywhere near town lake mobilized neighbors, who formed a group called SaveTownLake.org to fight the proposal. "It's the aesthetics, and what it does for the lake," said Tom Cooke. "You create a canyon effect. You don't create open spaces, you create a shadow over the lake."
Some members of the Commission thought the proposal from CWS was worth considering, but the group voted unanimously against the request in the face of stiff community opposition. "There is no vote that is going to make me feel good. I think it really is a lose-lose situation," said Commissioner Mandy Dealey. "I hope the developer can come back to us with a proposal we all can embrace."
The company has the option to appeal the case to the City Council, or it can re-build on the site of the current apartment complexes at 222 East Riverside Drive and 300 East Riverside.
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