By Alex Geiser
DAILY TEXAN STAFF

Despite the protests of neighbors and other Austin activists, Austin City Council passed, on first read, a developer’s plan for a 20-acre construction project along Lady Bird Lake Thursday night.

The development, proposed by Grayco Partners, a Houston-based real estate firm, could be the first to be approved by the City Council as an exception to the height building limitations near the water, causing concern among local activist groups such as Save Town Lake and the East Riverside/Oltorf Connection Neighborhood.

5-2 vote is first of 3 approvals required for project to go forward.

By Marty Toohey
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

The Austin City Council gave preliminary approval Thursday to a proposed development on East Riverside Drive. The 5-2 vote was the first of three approvals required for the project to go forward.

Grayco Partners, a Houston-based developer, wants to build four towers, three up to 90 feet high, on 30 acres at Riverside and South Lakeshore Boulevard, about 300 feet from Lady Bird Lake. The buildings would house up to 1,200 apartment units.

By Melissa Pan
DAILY TEXAN STAFF 

The Austin City Council will consider a controversial proposal presented by developer Grayco Partners today to build upscale high-rises around the East Riverside Drive and South Lakeshore Boulevard area. The public hearing, meant for Aug. 28, was initially postponed.

Houston-based Grayco Partners plans to ask the council for a special exception that will allow the firm to build 50 percent higher than allowed by the Waterfront Overlay, restrictions established for developers who intend to build around Lady Bird Lake.

Council members so far reject absolute limits along Lady Bird Lake.

By Marty Toohey
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

In a compromise that defused a politically charged situation but left key points unresolved, the Austin City Council unanimously approved rules Thursday that limit the height of new buildings along Lady Bird Lake.

The limits are intended to prevent what neighborhood activists fear could become overdevelopment that ruins the lake, which meanders in an east-west line through the central part of the city.