Developers plan Loop 360 office building

Developers have begun the process of trying to build on the Marshall tract in Lost Creek.

The vacant, undeveloped 37-acre property is currently zoned for houses only, but now Atlanta-based Cousins Property Inc. is beginning the process of asking the city of Austin to rezone it. Developers said they are interested in building an office complex and possibly selling part of the land for an assisted living center or to the city of Austin for a fire station as part of the citys annexation plan.

Cousins Property has filed a formal development assessment, the first step in the rezoning process. The developer is estimated to file site plans in October, and the Austin City Council is expected to vote on the rezoning and project early next year, city spokeswoman Sylvia Arzola said.

The land is currently owned by Dan Marshall, and Cousins has it under contract, said Tim Hendricks, Cousins senior vice president.

Lost Creek Neighborhood Association president Jenn Lamm said the association is alarmed at the developers request for a variance that would allow the proposed building to be up to 122 feet, or seven stories.

All other office buildings in the area are four stories or fewer, and they sit at lower elevations, Lamm said. At the sites elevation the highest elevation along South Capital of Texas Highway even a four-story building would look like a mother ship at night, considering both the height and if any lights stay on all night.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind comes to mind, Lamm said.

The tract also encroaches into Lost Creeks residential area, and such a height contrast between the homes and a seven-story office building would be stark and incompatible, Lamm said.

Hendricks said Cousins has so far taken that into account by proposing a plan that includes one seven-story office building nearest to Loop 360 and one five-story office building on the southern edge of the property. He added that the planning process is still very early.

One of the real goals of our efforts has been to develop the site, taking into consideration the uniqueness of the neighborhood but to also keep traffic off Lost Creek Boulevard, Hendricks said.

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Developers plan Loop 360 office building