By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News
A 269-unit apartment project called The Bridge at Lake Travis is proposed to be built at RM 620 near the Mansfield Dam.
The undeveloped land is owned by Lower Colorado River Authority. The Bridge at Lake Travis project would include two tracts of land located at 4504 RM 620 N., which is located in the city of Austin.
“It’s my understanding that LCRA has a buyer who has applied to us for zoning. If they achieve the zoning application, they will buy the land to develop,” said Mark Graham, the project manager for the zoning case with the city of Austin.
The applicant wants to have both the 12.72-acre parcel and the 3.51-acre parcel rezoned from development reserve or DR to multifamily — moderate density or MF-4, according to the application which was filed on Aug. 17.
“The property is currently under contract with a prospective buyer,” confirmed Clara Tuma, public information officer at LCRA.
Like all LCRA real estate sales, this transaction requires approval from the Lower Colorado River Authority Board of Directors. LCRA does not yet have a date for when the LCRA board will consider this pending contract.
“Until the board takes action on the pending contract, we are not in a position to discuss any details regarding this pending sale,” Tuma said.
in August, LCRA authorized Alex Clarke from JCI Residential, LLC to serve as the agent to sign the rezoning application on its behalf and submit it to the city of Austin.
Tract 1 is nearly 13 acres and would be for the apartments, proposed to have 21 units per acre.
It’s between a single family neighborhood on Mansfield Drive, which is in Austin’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, and the Travis County Water Control & Improvement District 17 Mansfield Water Treatment Facility, Graham said.
Tract 2 is 3.5 acres and to be “recreational/amenity area for Tract 1 residents”.
“The second parcel involved (Tract 2) is an amenity property that gives them (the residents) access to Lake Travis,” Graham said.
The two cases are still in review at the city level.
The application states that the estimated rental rates for the units are between $1,100 to $1,600. There are to be 245 units that are one-bedroom and 24 units to be two-bedroom.
The traffic impact analysis shared that the project is estimated to add 1,464 trips per day.
Residents within 500 feet of the proposed project were notified by the city about the two applications for rezoning. The letters were dated August 21 and 25.
The letter from the city of Austin in part states:
“The City of Austin has sent this letter to inform you that we have received an application for rezoning of a property that requires approval by a Land Use Commission and final approval by the City Council… The Commission may not take action on this application until a public hearing is held. You will receive a separate notice of the public hearing once it has been scheduled, which will provide the date, time and location of the public hearing.”
It could take months for the project to get through the zoning process, most cases do.
Graham said there are two other zoning cases to come up before The Bridge at Lake Travis cases, and he expects it will come up for review in either October or later.
Then there may be “response to comments if they contain something significant that has to be studied.” Next the applicant and/or owner would address what needs addressing and a second review would take place, Graham said.
This review would be in front of the city of Austin Zoning and Platting Commission.
