A big mixed-use development is being planned in the St. Elmo District.
The development, known simply by its address of 4201 S. Congress Ave., would feature around 200,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and office space in multiple mid-rise buildings at the intersection of South Congress Avenue and Industrial Boulevard, according to a site plan application filed with the city.
The developer and owner of the property is an entity called 4201 S Congress Ave Owner LLC, the address of which matches that of California-based developer Redcar Properties, which is developing a creative office project farther south in the St. Elmo District. Redcar did not respond to requests for comment.
The eight proposed buildings carry a range of uses and sizes, according to the site development permit plans dated May 29. They include:
- Building one will have restaurant and office uses, and will be 10,500 square feet and will rise 29 feet.
- Building two will have restaurant, retail and office uses, and will be 67,763 square feet and will rise 60 feet.
- Building three will have 22,665 square feet of office space. The height was unspecified.
- Building four will have restaurant and office uses and will be 19,894 square feet. It's expected to rise 56 feet.
- Building five will have restaurant and office uses and will be 22,275 square feet. The building height was not specified.
- Building six will include a 494-car parking garage and will have 18,100 square feet of restaurant space.
- Building seven will have 23,541 square feet of office space.
- Building eight will have 15,718 square feet of office space.
The 5.5-acre property is already developed with three buildings, two of which will be demolished, according to city documents. One building, which is about 84,000 square feet currently, will be partially demolished.
The project’s architect is Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, the landscape architect is Campbell Landscape Architecture and the engineer is GarzaEMC.
Redcar Properties is already active in Austin and the St. Elmo District. There, the developer is building a 46,595-square-foot creative office project suitable for users ranging from 12,000 to 20,000 square feet.
“Redcar chose St. Elmo due to its growing appeal in the Austin market with respect to the walkable amenities and expanding residential and retail market,” Gavin Greenblum, head of investments and development at Redcar, said in an emailed statement in May. “The district is latching on to the adaptive re-use of what was an old industrial submarket that is now blossoming into creative retail and commercial product home to some of Austin’s most innovative and talented companies, like Saronic, Icon and Tesla.”
At the time, a Redcar representative confirmed the company had three other sites in Austin for creative office development, but declined to disclose further information about them.
This project is proposed to feature plenty of office space, but there isn’t much other office being built or developed for now.
Today, elevated vacancy rates in Austin’s office market — rates are upwards of 20%, according to various commercial real estate firms active in Austin — have caused many developers to back off of office space. That means there could be little to no new office construction in the metro during 2026.
For instance, Michael Piano, vice president of development at real estate firm Presidium, has said his firm is shifting away from office development at its River Park project on East Riverside Drive for now. As a result, the initial phase of that project will feature a mix of residential, hospitality, retail and entertainment uses.
Endeavor Real Estate Group LLC also confirmed it's backing away from office buildings as it plans the redevelopment of an old Borden Dairy factory in East Austin."
Source: Austin Business Journal
Written by: Cody Baird
Published: June 4, 2025
Posted by Grossman & Jones Group on
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