A 43-story apartment tower is the latest high-rise to start construction in the booming Rainey Street area in downtown Austin.

High Street Residential, along with MSD Partners and River Street Partners, said started construction has begun on the tower, which will rise 500 feet at River and Rainey streets on downtown's southeastern edge. It will have 377 upscale apartments, ranging from studios to three-bedroom units and penthouses.

Called 700 River (initially River Street Residences), the tower will include 3,400 square feet of retail space and more than 30,000 square feet of amenity space, according to the developers. The high-rise is due to be completed in late 2024.

The project is part of wave of growth in the Rainey Street district, an area just off of East Cesar Chavez Street and Interstate 35 that is known for its bars and restaurants. The former working-class district has seen successive surges of high-rise residential, hotel and other commercial development since the city rezoned it for high-density uses in the mid 2000s.

The developers of 700 River are High Street Residential, the residential subsidiary of Trammell Crow Company, and MSD Partners, an investment firm that invests on behalf of Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell and his family and other investors.

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The 700 River project "represents another important step forward in MSD’s strategy to invest in the long-term growth of the Austin market through transformative real estate projects such as 601 W. 2nd Street downtown and Music Lane on South Congress," Jessica Leggett, Austin-based principal with MSD Partners, said in a written statement.

Matteo Pacifici, principal in High Street Residential's Austin office, said in the tower "benefits from remarkable protected views of Lady Bird Lake and the downtown Austin skyline, as well as ease of access to the best parts of central Austin."

The new tower will have direct acess to the Ann & Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail, its developers say. The development team is partnering with the Trail Conservancy (formerly the Trail Foundation) as a sponsor for the new Rainey Street Trailhead.

An estimated construction cost for 700 River was not disclosed. The project will be built on the site of two former bars and an empty lot. HKS is the architect for 700 River, collaborating with Lake Flato Architects. DPR Construction is the general contractor.

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The Rainey Street District will be home to the tallest tower to date — both in Austin and all of Texas — when the 74-story Waterline mixed-use project that recently broke ground is completed in late 2026. Lincoln Property Company and Kairoi Residential are developing Waterline at 98 Red River St. The Public Sector Pension Investment Board, one of Canada’s largest pension investment managers, is the main equity partner in Waterline, which will soar 1,022 feet on 3.3 acres on the eastern bank of Waller Creek near Lady Bird Lake.

Waterline will have 352 apartments, 700,000 square feet of office space and a 251-room 1 Hotel Austin.

Waterline is the third downtown Austin high-rise that Lincoln Property Company has co-developed and broken ground on in the past three years. A tower called Sixth and Guadalupe, also co-developed with Kairoi Residential, will open next year with 66 floors of residences, offices and ground-level retail. The Republic, a 48-story office tower adjacent to Republic Square Park, is due to open in late 2024. When completed, all three buildings will be taller than any high-rise on the ground in Austin today, Lincoln executives said.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: New 43-story tower breaks ground in Austin's Rainey Street district