A 65,000-square-foot indoor entertainment venue will anchor the first phase of River Park, a massive redevelopment project in the area around East Riverside Drive in Pleasant Valley.
The facility at the Northwest corner of East Riverside Drive and Crossing Place will have live shows, community events, and special events. The venue will anchor the first phase of River Park, a highly publicized mixed-use project that Swiss private markets firm Partners Group is developing with Austin's Presidium.
Presidium entered into an agreement with an undisclosed third-party developer and operator on the venue project with the intention of hosting "local and national performances, community programs, and special events that enhance the cultural offerings and community connections in the East Riverside neighborhood,” according to a press release.
The planned $4 billion River Park project encompasses 109 acres east of software company Oracle’s former headquarters overlooking Lady Bird Lake and is bordered by Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Metro Park, East Riverside Drive, Pleasant Valley Road, and Country Club Creek.
River Park will be built in phases and could eventually include 10 million square feet of new development with office, retail, hotel, entertainment, and residential uses. Capital Metro's Blue Line light rail is planned to run along East Riverside Drive.
Plans for the redevelopment's first phase show 370 apartments, more than 400,000 square feet of office space, and 12,000 square feet of retail space. It will be built on 15 acres east of Wickersham Lane, along Riverside Drive and looks to include a 2-acre park east of Wickersham Lane and adjacent to Country Club Creek. Presidium's plan also indicates more than 30 acres of publicly accessible open space, parkland, and urban trails leading into Roy Guerrero Park.
River Park is one of many planned and under-construction projects that have transformed the East Riverside corridor from IH-35 to Ben White Boulevard in the past two decades — part of a wider advance of development from west of the interstate to the east.
The planned removal of what is sometimes called naturally occurring affordable housing and redevelopment against a background of gentrification in the East Riverside area prompted protests and pushback against the project over the years.
A timeline for the music venue has yet to be determined. Buildout for the entire River Park development is expected to take 10 to 20 years.
