Yesterday, DAB commenter Chop Chop reminded us that Aquaterra isn’t dead. Back in February the ABJ’s Jacob Dirr had word from Rhode Partners that the project, long forgotten, was gaining new traction.
Sure enough, we found the permits.
Liz Rau, an architect with Rhode Partners filed a new permit application on April 6th. Simultaneously, general contractor Lyda Swinerton pulled permits for plumbing, electrical, mechanical. The original and approved 20 story (163 unit) site plan expired on April 20th, so it’s possible we could see some changes.
With over $1B in debt, the developer, Crescent Resources, went through a bankruptcy in 2009. From what we can glean from the news, the lenders took over the company. With limited residential product coming to market, and construction crews looking for projects, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a project announced soon, and it might be Aquaterra [possibly rebranded].
Located at 210 Barton Springs Rd, next to the Hyatt, Aquaterra would have one of the best views of downtown Austin in the city. Back in 2007, when the Aquaterra sales center was firing on all cylinders, they were seeing reservations for more than $500psf. With the existing tier one buildings coming online, that would be a difficult price point to compete near over the next couple of years.
-Jude
I think downtown Austin needs more commercial buildings than residential. With so many residential buildings already constructed and so many in pipeline, I can clearly see downward pressure on the prices. We need more commercial buildings, so even if a small percentage of the people working in those buildings want to live downtown, that would keep the prices up.
Manhattan residential prices are what they are today because of all the businesses around and not just because of the views. Florida residential prices are again what they are today because they are not supported by business.
Just a question. Now that we see this building may have been brought back from the dead I decided to check out their website. Their old site liveaquaterra.com no longer exsists and it redirects back to this blog. Why is that?
That website died in 2008. While researching the status of this project I was a bit surprised that the domain name had been discarded and not renewed. Anyhow, I bought it on godaddy a couple of days ago.
I think downtown Austin needs more commercial buildings than residential. With so many residential buildings already constructed and so many in pipeline, I can clearly see downward pressure on the prices. We need more commercial buildings, so even if a small percentage of the people working in those buildings want to live downtown, that would keep the prices up.
Manhattan residential prices are what they are today because of all the businesses around and not just because of the views. Florida residential prices are again what they are today because they are not supported by business.
Jude – I’m told Aquaterra is going to come back as rental product, but it’s always possible they could change their mind if the market warrants condos at a future date.
Interesting… that makes a lot more sense. As apartments, they should do very well. Thanks for the heads up, Blake!