Jude Galligan

Whitley: Downtown Luxury Apartments

Jude Galligan | September 24, 2012 |

Developers of the Whitley have launched their marketing website for the forthcoming 16-story, 266 unit downtown Austin apartment high rise. AustinTowers broke the news in July that the apartment building, currently under construction in the Railyard District, would be branded as “Whitley” – a hat tip to the Whitley Paper company that used to occupy the site.

On the new website, we learn the 6th floor will host a mezzanine level pool deck. The website also reveals certain amenities that suggest the building is targeting luxury apartment renters, by including a “Dog Park with Artificial Grass and Dog Washing Machine”, “Guest Suites Available”, and “Oversized Private Garages Available”. Make sure the checkout the construction timelapse video.

The Whitley’s site plan includes 10,000ft of retail space at the ground level. CBRE is handling the commercial leasing with retail space being quoted at $36ft NNN.

Completion should be Q2 2013.

The address of the Whitley is officially:
301 Brazos Street (Brazos @ 3rd)
Austin, TX 78701

Underground: Let’s Walk The Waller Creek Tunnel (VIDEO)

Jude Galligan | August 30, 2012 |

As a member of the now defunct Waller Creek Citizens Advisory Committee and a past resident at the Sabine condos with a view directly over the excavation site, I’ve seen planning for Waller Creek evolve over the years.

Earlier this week, Matt Parkerson in Council Member Riley’s office, invited me to join them on a tour of the tunnel. I jumped at the opportunity.

The logistics of mining under a city is fascinating. The tunnel diameter tapers wide from 20 feet to 26 feet in diameter as it approaches the outlet at Lady Bird Lake. The pace of progress is about 15 feet per day. Dump trucks make somewhere around 75 trips per day.

We entered the tunnel between 4th and 5th Streets. Once inside the tunnel we walked to the end of their progress, currently, just below Iron Works BBQ.

Once the mining is complete, the exposed limestone will be coated with concrete. Cost to construct the tunnel: $105 million.

If you’ve ever seen Discovery Channel special on how NYC subways were bored, know this is not like that. There is no giant spinning disc cutting through the earth. Compared to Manhattan granite, this Texas limestone cuts like butter. Like an old dot matrix printer, the boring head cuts away limestone with each back and forth pass.

As an aside: everybody on the tour was thinking the same thing. Why couldn’t we do this for a subway? Well, we can. One of the contractors shared (off-camera) that Austin’s limestone is [actually] perfectly suited for mining a subway tunnel and wondered why the city has not pursued that with more enthusiasm. The length of Waller Creek tunnel is roughly the same length to get from I-35 to Lamar Blvd. An identical tunnel for similar cost could support a subway to traverse east-west through downtown.

Thanks to Council Member Riley and his staff for the invitation!

New Apartment Tower At 97 Trinity?

Jude Galligan | August 9, 2012 |

Based on conceptual plans filed with the City of Austin, national real estate developer Wood Partners could be entering the downtown Austin apartment market with a tower at the southeast corner of Trinity @ Cesar Chavez. Recently, it was announced that the one-acre site was sold from Hixon Properties to World Class Capital Group.

The plans refer to the project as “Trinity Place.”

Even with the Lakeside apartments to the south, a 6-9 story structured parking garage would allow clear lake views for most of a residential tower. Lakeside is an aging structure, so perhaps this is an opportunity for the City to partner with a developer to provide a modernized affordable housing component. Also, I think the Convention Center could be interested this site for future expansion. Either way, it’s exciting to see something happening on this site.

trinity_place_conceptual — Trinity Place conceptual footprint – Cesar Chavez @ Trinty (pdf)

BY THE NUMBERS (June): Downtown Austin Condo Sales

Jude Galligan | July 23, 2012 |

In June, we observed downtown Austin condo prices averaging $381/ft for resales and $590/ft for new-luxury sales. With no new projects planned, a chunk of downtown Austin’s condo inventory is removed every month.

Pricing in Austin’s urban core continues to trend up for three reasons:

1) Shrinking inventory emboldens sellers
2) Low interest rates – hovering at 3.40% – enticing buyers
3) Migration patterns into Texas, specifically Austin, more specifically downtown Austin

Combined sales of new construction and resales removed 41 units from inventory in June, representing $25,156,400 total sales volume.

Currently, there are 94 resales and 172 new construction units available for sale in the downtown Austin core.

June 2012 Resale Statistics

- # of resale transactions = 28
- avg price per foot = $381
- avg sales price to list price (SP/LP) = 91%
- avg days on market (DOM) = 17 days
- Total resales volume =  $12,829,900

June 2012 New Construction Statistics

- # of new construction transactions = 13
- avg price per foot = $590
- Total new construction sales volume =  $12,326,500

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The ONE & ONLY Way To Activate Downtown Austin Parks On A Regular Basis

Jude Galligan | July 8, 2012 |

Have you been to any of downtown Austin’s parks recently?

I walk near and around them almost everyday. Yet, they fail to draw me in.

Over the last couple of years, Republic Square Park has received a nice face lift. Smart people and private money ensured the auction oaks are preserved and cared for. Add to that good programming such as the Alamo Drafthouse’s Movies in the Park and the Saturday morning farmers market.

Republic Square is doing the best of the downtown parks. Still, most of the time downtown Austin’s parks are empty. That’s the unfortunate truth.

And, this is the reason:

During the week (daytime) Republic Square Park offers nothing to attract workers, visitors, or residents. It is neither a conduit nor a destination for most people.

Here’s how we fix it. [Read more…] about The ONE & ONLY Way To Activate Downtown Austin Parks On A Regular Basis