Lamar Union

Greystar redeveloped the nine-acre Lamar Plaza, a single-story 1960s strip center at South Lamar and Treadwell Street, into roughly a million square feet across three buildings. BOKA Powell was architect and interior designer of record with Michael Hsu Office of Architecture as design architect, DWG on landscape and Big Red Dog on civil engineering. Alamo Drafthouse and the Highball stayed through the rebuild and were expanded by 15,684 sq ft, six renovated theaters plus three new ones. Cable Partners leases the 86,377 sq ft of ground-floor retail as Lamar Union Plaza, whose tenants include Shake Shack, Caffe Medici, Lick Honest Ice Creams and Orangetheory. The City of Austin, the Urban Land Institute’s Austin chapter and the Texas Society of Architects each cited the project as a model for responsible urban redevelopment. Plans run from a 391 sq ft studio to a 1,218 sq ft two-bedroom, and two studio plans are income-restricted. Embrey, a San Antonio owner-operator, now leases and manages the apartments.