By: Will Anderson - Austin Business Journal

Velocity Crossing, a 390-acre mixed-use development near the airport with almost 2 million square feet of office space and hundreds of apartments planned, is expected to receive a zoning change Thursday from Austin City Council that would clear the way for work to begin.

The land is owned by local investors including Karl Koebel and Doug Launius. Austin Business Journal broke the news about the development in a March 2015 cover story about the booming Southeast Austin submarket.

The development will be off State Highway 71 east of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and have up to 410,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 1.5 million square feet of industrial space, 893 apartment units, a 10-screen movie theater, 1,200 hotel rooms and 26 acres of open space, the Austin American-Statesman reports. Construction is expected to wrap up in 2025 but no estimate was given for when it might begin.

City Council gave preliminary approval to the zoning change in March.

Southeast Austin has seen increasing development activity lately as investors and homebuyers flock to the open spaces and lower prices outside the urban core and the relatively built-out North Austin submarket. Projects in the area include Brookfield Residential's Addison and Easton Park master-planned communities plus the forthcoming Pilot Knob.

“It’s really all about transportation access,” Koebel told ABJ last year. “You can get to a job downtown in 15 minutes.”