LEED Silver Apartments Under Way in Austin

BOKA Powell L.L.C. has broken ground on RiverView, a 302-unit apartment development on Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake) near downtown Austin that will seek LEED silver certification.

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Austin, Texas—BOKA Powell L.L.C. has broken ground on RiverView, a 302-unit apartment development on Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake) near downtown Austin that will seek LEED silver certification. The property is slated for completion in the spring of 2013.

The property’s four buildings will range from five to 11 stories and be clustered around a landscaped courtyard and pool deck. Its amenities will include a fitness center, resident lounge, demonstration kitchen and business center.

Riverview’s green features will be water-saving plumbing fixtures, low-VOC finishes, local and recycled materials, and preferred parking for fuel-efficient vehicles. The property will also have access to the planned public Boardwalk Trail along the lake.

The Lady Bird Lake watershed is protected by putting the property’s parking in an underground garage and covering it with an unusually deep roof garden system that mixes plantings, filtration media and pervious hardscape elements, notes the developer. Storm water entering the site will be collected and stored in an underground cistern for irrigation of native plants.

The project’s density is also a sustainable feature. According to Eric Van Hyfte, project manager at BOKA Powell, the same number of residences built as single-family homes in a tract style of development would occupy about 80 acres. RiverView will occupy four acres all together.

BOKA Powell is no stranger to the Austin multifamily market. Previously it developed Barton Place Condominiums, Cole Apartments and the W Residences. Dallas-based CDK Realty Advisors L.P. provided the equity for the project—an unspecified amount—while Southern Cross Constructions is the construction contractor and the Whitworth Co. is providing project management services.