30-STORY TOWER SET FOR CHURCHOWNED SITE
Episcopal Church, Cielo Property Group set to partner on development.
Another high-rise development is destined for yet another downtown Austin block.
The Episcopal Church has selected Austin-based Cielo Property Group to partner in developing a church-owned block, with plans calling for a large mixeduse project, along with a permanent home for the church’s historical archives.
Cielo Property Group, a commercial real estate investment and development firm, released conceptual renderings of what a mixed-use project might look like on the site, known as Block 87 and bounded by Seventh, Eighth, Trinity and Neches streets.
A tower could rise somewhere in the 30-story range, with the mix of uses not yet determined, said Rev. Canon Lang Lowrey III, the asset manager for the property who is representing the church in its search for a development partner.
The project could include residential, office, restaurant and retail uses, Lowrey said.
“We wanted a partner who knew Austin and was trusted by the community,” Lowrey said. “Cielo is an Austin-based company led by people who really care about making the city a better place. This, combined with their vision and ideas for the property, made Cielo our top choice.”
The project will require approvals from the city of Austin, Lowrey said, and height on part of the tract will be limited by rules protecting views of the state Capitol dome.
Lowrey said the church hopes to break ground in 2018.
The land — one of the few remaining privately owned, undeveloped downtown blocks — is now used as a revenue-generating parking lot.
The church bought the block in 2009 with plans to build a national archives facility. The new