by Chad Swiatecki
Staff Writer, Austin Business Journal

Popular Rainey Street bar Lustre Pearl will close and move next spring to make way for a massive retail and residential development that will transform one of Austin’s most vibrant nightlife districts.

The development spearheaded by the Dinerstein Group of Houston will feature 250 apartments with a ground floor restaurant, totaling about 250,000 square feet on more than 2 acres bounded by Rainey and Driskill streets and the southern frontage road of I-35.

Developers have submitted a site plan that is being reviewed by city officials, so exact details are still unknown, but Brian Dinerstein, president of the development firm, said he hopes to break ground by the second quarter of 2014.

“We love the area and we’ve had our eye on that market for some time but it was challenging trying to assemble a tract that was big enough for what we envisioned,” he said. “We’re new urbanists and like less emphasis on traffic and congestion to make a place as vibrant and dynamic as possible.”

Sale of the nine parcels closed in December 2012 and Dinerstein said the development, which will likely be called Millenium Rainey, will be LEED certified at least at the silver level. He said rental rates are still being determined.

Click here for the original article on biz journals.com.