43-Story Apartment Tower Rising in Downtown Austin

High Street Residential, MSD Partners and River Street Partners say construction has begun on the 43-story, 500-ft-tall 700 River at River and Rainey streets on the southeastern edge of downtown Austin, Texas, the Austin American-Statesman reports. Containing 377 high-end apartments in various sizes, 3,400 ft² of retail and more than 30,000 ft² of amenities, 700 River will have direct access to the Ann & Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail, protected views of Lady Bird Lake and views of the downtown Austin skyline. It is the latest tower to rise in the red-hot Rainey District, a formerly working-class neighborhood just off East Cesar Chavez Street and Interstate 35 known for its bars and restaurants. The district has seen “successive surges of high-rise development. . .since the city rezoned it for high-density uses in the mid-2000s,” the source says. Notably, it will become home to the tallest tower in Texas — the 74-story Waterline — slated for completion in 2026.