Two Fulton Market towers headed to city's Committee on Design

New renderings released ahead of the first meeting of the city's recently formed Committee on Design reveal a first look at a 410-foot office tower and a 369-foot-tall apartment building planned for Fulton Market. The two-tower proposal from Texas developer Trammell Crow Company and Minneapolis-based ESG Architects is one of two projects listed on the agenda for the August 11 meeting.

The 26-story office project slated for 315 N. May Street replaces a single-story industrial building with 650,000 square feet of office space, 9,000 square feet of commercial retail, and 184 parking spaces. Across the street, Trammell Crow plans to redevelop the Ryder rental truck lot at 1112 W. Carroll Avenue into a twisting 33-story apartment tower containing 377 residential units, 96 parking spaces, and ground-floor retail. A roughly 30,000-square-foot public park will wrap around the site and bring "much needed green space to the community," according to the description on the agenda.

Trammell Crow filed a single zoning application for the two Fulton Market buildings in May, but no renderings were publicly available at that time. Releasing the images on the DPD's website a week ahead of the Committee on Design meeting represents a departure from the typical West Loop approval process. Usually, there's a series of closed-door meetings between developers, the DPD, and the area's various neighborhood groups, followed by a community-wide public presentation.

The city's Committee on Design was announced last month and consists of 24 urban design professionals selected by the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) to advise Commissioner Maurice Cox and DPD staff on "design excellence for key development projects and urban design initiatives," according to the city.

A list of committee members appears on the group's website. Members of the public can register to tune into the August 11 meeting as well as submit questions and comments. The group will also discuss plans to redevelop Austin's historic Laramie Bank Building and an adjacent vacant parcel into a new bank, a Blues Museum, and 76-units of mixed-income housing.