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Development
Austin

Cielo’s ambitious renovation of Brazos street chugs along

The Austin-based developer file new site plan for the northern side of the block that includes a high-end hotel and residential tower

Cielo Property Group's Bobby Dillard and Tyler Buckler with 201 East Fifth Street in Austin (Cielo Property Group, Google Maps)
Cielo Property Group's Bobby Dillard and Tyler Buckler with 201 East Fifth Street in Austin (Cielo Property Group, Google Maps)

Cielo Property Group has filed an updated site plan for its stalled high-rise project.

The project, called Block 41 N, includes a hotel and residential tower with a 50,000-square-foot health club. The final square footage and height of the tower were not provided in the July 6 filing, although the Austin Business Journal previously reported that the site could accommodate more than 880,000 square feet.

The two high-rise towers are expected to replace the two-story, 40-unit Brazos Lofts condominiums at 201 E. Fifth Street, says Tyler Buckler, director of development and investments at Cielo. Though a partner has not been selected, Buckler says the current plan for the hotel includes 220 rooms and the residential tower will have 350 upscale apartments.

The Austin-based company bought Brazos Lofts for $55 million in early 2020, beating out The Sutton Company — which originally developed the condominium in 1999. Under the original terms of the deal, construction was intended to begin within the year. The initial plans were for two office towers, but the company signaled a change in direction in March.

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The dream of Cielo’s office tower — to be named “Perennial” — isn’t dead yet, however. In 2021, the company bought the southern half of the block between Brazos Street and San Jacinto Boulevard with plans for a 750,000-square-foot office development. The company received approval for the 46-story tower in March 2022 and is targeting a late 2025 completion.

Plans for the Perennial include a 30,000-square-foot sky garden, 500-person event venue, 37,000 square feet of commercial space, and a ground-floor plaza with a 28-foot waterfall.

“The downtown Austin office market is recovering faster than anyone imagined, but the more we studied the market and this site, the more we felt that a true, integrated mixed-use development on this block was better for the Perennial and the surrounding downtown neighborhood,” Cielo co-founder Bobby Dillard said in a March statement.

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[ABJ] — Maddy Sperling