BY BRITTANY ANDERSON
Offering input
Highpoint 2222 traffic impact
Resident traffic concerns
2222 CONA and Karlin have had 18 meetings together over the last three years regarding the property, and the neighborhood association has collected hundreds of resident survey responses so far, Bailey said. Traffic, development density and environmental impacts top the list of community concerns, which Bailey said are “inevitable.” Part of 2222 CONA’s request to Karlin includes having new lanes and traffic lights completed first, as nearly 18,000 daily vehicle trips could be added as a result of the development, per a recent traffic impact analysis, or TIA. Fourteen intersections spanning 5 miles were sur- veyed and graded on an A-F scale as part of the TIA, and nearly 50% of CONA survey respondents ranked the RM 2222 and River Place Boulevard intersection as needing the most urgent improvements. “Certain tenants are going to produce more traffic,” District 10 council member Marc Duchen said. “Certain developmental land use code changes may impact the density and traffic in that property, and thus impact what happens in that community.”
An A rating indicates less than 10 seconds spent at a traffic signal, a C rating 20-35 seconds, and an F rating more than 85 seconds.
A total of 528 residents participated in one of 2222 CONA’s recent community surveys about the project. How concerned are you about traffic on RM 2222 due to the redevelopment?
Morning
2035 performance with upgrades
RM 2222 intersection
Current performance
Very concerned: 86.6%
Bullick Hollow Road and RM 620
Somewhat concerned: 11.2%
E
F
Not concerned: 2.3%
River Place Boulevard Sitio Del Rio Boulevard McNeil Drive Afternoon
D
E
B
B
What were respondents' top concerns about traffic and access?
F
F
Congestion on RM 2222
498
Bullick Hollow Road and RM 620
E
F
Completing intersection improvements first 327 Requiring connector road between McNeil Drive/ River Place Blvd. 223
River Place Boulevard Sitio Del Rio Boulevard McNeil Drive
C
C
A
A
C
C
SOURCES: 2222 CONA, BOE CONSULTING SERVICES/COMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCE: 2222 CONA/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Highpoint 2222 insight
Diving in deeper
Major takeaways
How familiar were respondents with the project proposal?
Highpoint 2222 has the largest amount of avail- able office space in the Northwest Austin submarket at 1.18 million square feet, per Aquila Commercial’s second quarter 2025 market report. The report includes other notable developments, such as Preserve at 620 with 45,000 square feet available and River Place Corporate Park with over 296,000 square feet available. However, preleasing office space has slowed overall in the last couple of years, Aquila Senior Vice President Max McDonald said. Pivoting to mixed-use is in line with Austin’s climbing land values and construction prices, which cause developers to have to “get creative,” McDon- ald said. Pairing office footprints with in-demand components, such as multifamily units or hotels, gives developers flexibility to make the property more desirable. “It’s not this guessing game as to whether a tenant will come along, which we saw a lot more of in the 2018 and 2019 run-up before COVID,” McDonald said. “The vacancy rates were so low in Austin that you could justify the pending demand for an office building to be built speculatively. That doesn’t exist anymore.”
According to 2222 CONA officials, the association will next present a summary of the survey results and other comments collected from the September open house to Karlin, Duchen and city staff. Another community session is being planned for early 2026 to report on project progress; share negotiation updates regarding traffic phasing, environmental safeguards and development density; and gather additional community input. As 2222 CONA and Karlin continue to make progress on Highpoint 2222, the River Place area is being reimagined with other mixed-use developments. Brandywine Realty Trust officials could seek to amend a zoning code at River Place Corporate Park, which would replace two of the buildings and allow for up to 330 multifamily units and outdoor recreational uses such as pickleball courts and a play area. The Austin Zoning & Platting Commission approved the zoning request July 1, but Brandywine officials requested to indefinitely postpone the rezoning item at a Sept. 11 Austin City Council meeting.
Somewhat familiar: 56.8%
Not familiar: 32.2% Very familiar: 10.9%
What were respondents’ top 3 priorities for the site?
Preserving traffic safety
416
Lower-density residential 263 Protecting green space 254
SOURCE: 2222 CONA/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Preserve at 620 is also meeting mixed-use demand by leasing office space and facilities such as pickleball franchise The Picklr, and offering other community amenities.
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