downtown Austin's real estate and neighborhood blog
Remember La Vista On Lavaca?
Remember it was rebranded as the Fondren?
Remember when construction stopped?
Remember when it was posted for foreclosure?
Now, YOU can buy a mini-Intel-like-shell for $10.325MM. Google Street View Map
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Located at 3rd Street and West Ave, surrounded by chain link fence, the fate of Austin Energy’s eye sore of a building is all but sealed. Constructive Ventures and Trammel Crow are partnering up to develop the site. According to the Statesman article…
The lead developer, Austin-based Constructive Ventures Inc. , would build the $220 million project on a 1.7-acre site that is currently home to the Austin Energy Control Center.
The City Council is set to vote today to authorize the city manager to sign a development agreement with a partnership of Constructive Ventures and Trammell Crow Co. to buy the tract for $14.5 million.
Construction couldn’t begin until 2013, at the earliest. Then it’s unknown if the capital markets will be there to provide viable financing terms. In summary, this is definitely progress and a step in the right direction, but there is still a long way before we see a new building.
Based on my experience and observations, downtown does not have many families with teenagers, however we have lots of families with infants and toddlers. Many downtown Austin residents are making important decisions about their children’s education.
Fortunately, downtown feeds into one of the City’s best schools, an exemplary school: Mathews Elementary. Built in 1916, and located on West Lynn, the current boundaries for feeding students includes the UT graduate student housing on Lake Austin Blvd. This is the primary reason for Mathews’ diversity of cultures and backgrounds.
Right now Mathews only serves a dozen or so students from the downtown core. But, it’s just a matter of 2-4 years before a wave of downtown toddlers enter the AISD school system. Downtown Austin families with infants, that have moved here in the past few years, can sleep well knowing that [by good fortune] their children will have access to an exemplary elementary school.
Lot’s of news coming out of downtown Austin.
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
