Downtown Austin lofts, condos, apartments

Downtown Austin LEED Buildings

Jude Galligan | January 20, 2010 |

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59tABEZTazo]

Established by the U.S. Green Building Council and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute, LEED is the nation’s preeminent program for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED is shorthand for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

Legacy On The Lake is a downtown Austin apartment building designed by EDI Architecture that has been awarded LEED® Certification. They are the first residential multi-family building to do so.

How did they do it? 30% reduction of water use, 10% recycled material use, 43% of building materials sourced locally, 77% of construction waste recycled, use of low VOC interior finish materials, and 90% of interior spaces having access to daylight and views.

Several other items contributed to their LEED rating including: electric vehicle charging stations, bicycle storage and changing rooms, and water efficient landscaping. According to EDI, “Legacy on the Lake achieved LEED Certification despite having a tight construction budget. Total upcharge to achieve certification was about 1 percent of the total construction hard costs.”

The LEED 2009 rating system is based on 100 possible base points plus an additional 6 points for Innovation in Design and 4 points for Regional Priority. There are four categories of rating:

* Certified – 40-49 points
* Silver – 50-59 points
* Gold – 60-79 points
* Platinum – 80 points and above

Other downtown buildings that have achieved a LEED rating:
1) Whole Foods (LEED Certified)
2) Austin City Hall (LEED Gold)

Of note, Gables Park Plaza is a candidate for LEED certification, the Austin W Hotel and Residences (aka. Block 21 Residences) is expected to be LEED Silver ~~Austin’s first LEED Platinum building~~. Also, the under-construction Federal Courthouse is being built to achieve a LEED Silver rating.

The Shore Condos Closeout

Jude Galligan | January 11, 2010 |

Perhaps in light of the upcoming Sabine auction, The Shore Condos is aggressively working to closeout their sales program. We just received a note from sales office: eight units remain and discounts range from 10-25% off of original asking prices. A large 1bd + study on the 18th floor can be purchased for $243,750. This same unit would have been offered at $325,000 in late 2008.

A pdf of the remaining units and pricing can be downloaded here.

DAB readers will recall that 2009 was a great year for the Shore, as they quietly discounted and sold nearly 75 units over this past summer. In fact, in November, we closed on our new space at the Shore [we’ve leased our beloved 1bd at the Sabine]. The construction quality is outstanding, and the proximity to Rainey Street and the trail cannot be beat.

Auction Planned For Downtown Austin Condo – Sabine On 5th

Jude Galligan | January 6, 2010 |

*** UPDATE: Sabine auction results ***

A selection of the remaining units in downtown Austin’s Sabine On 5th building will be auctioned on February 28th. A lawsuit filed by residents against CWS, the developer of the Sabine On 5th, and the building’s condominium association (which was under CWS’s control) has been withdrawn as the parties have reached a settlement agreement. The lawsuit was filed last year as residents grew tired of lack of action by CWS regarding “persistent and major problems” relating to elevator repairs, amongst other problems.

The HOA has been turned over to the owners, which is unusual in buildings where less than 50% of the units are sold. The specific terms of the settlement agreement have not been released. Scott Dixon Smith, president of the Sabine On 5th HOA, indicated that “there will be major renovations to the building to alleviate the concerns of the lawsuit.”

Greg Miller, vice president of investments at CWS, has confirmed that steps are being taken to prepare the Sabine for the auction. 27 of the remaining 44 units will be available for bidding.

During the litigation no units were available for sale, and CWS’s loan had twice been posted for foreclosure by Compass Bank. The first time in September, when Compass Bank granted CWS an extension to remedy issues. Then in December, it was reposted for January’s courthouse auction. CWS was able to restructure the debt and is expected to offer most of the remaining inventory for sale via an auction this February.

There were several condo auctions in 2009, and when the Sabine goes to auction, it will be the second major development in downtown Austin to do so. The first, Brazos Place, was auctioned last year by Kennedy Wilson. Brazos Place is frequently compared to the Sabine on 5th since both structures are located east of Congress Avenue and are adaptive re-use condo conversions

Originally built as an office building in 1981, and converted into condos in 2007, the Sabine is located along the west bank of Waller Creek, on Sabine St between 5th and 6th Streets. With the success of developer discounts at 360 Condos and the Shore Condos, the Sabine is the last “attainably” priced building with new inventory left.

Email jude [@] downtownaustinblog.org, or send me a note, to inquire about the Sabine auction and the status of Waller Creek.

-Jude

Shoal Creek Walk Concept

Jude Galligan | December 11, 2009 |

Schlosser Development is proposing a new mixed-use complex in the parking lot to the east of the downtown Austin Whole Foods. The following renderings and description were recently submitted to the City of Austin Design Commission and will be presented on Monday, December 14th. The status is currently conceptual.

The Shoal Creek Walk, a proposed development project from Schlosser Development, will be a true mixed-use building complex located at the corner of West Sixth and Bowie Streets in downtown Austin, Texas. The project will closely conform to the constraints of the site which include a capital view corridor over approximately one half of the property and the Shoal Creek floodplain elevation.

These site limitations create a specific and very limited area where building improvements can be made on the site, by restricting both the building height and the overall footprint of any buildings on the site. Within those limitations, two buildings will be situated along Bowie Street, as the eastern portion of the site is within the floodplain. The high-rise building, at 350′ tall, will be located on the north portion of the property with a total of approximately 490,000 sq. ft. of office, retail and residential uses. The low-rise building will be situated at the corner of West Fifth and Bowie Streets, with primarily offices above the first level retail component for a total of about 100,000 sq. ft.

The two buildings together will provide more than 450,000 sq. ft. of office space, which is of a size able to attract a major employer and will likely be built in phases, to allow accommodation of a variety of tenant sizes. This flexibility will greatly enhance the feasibility of the project moving forward. The larger building will also have a residential component of about 90 units located above the office in what will be a narrower, residential footprint. The residential component adds to the feasibility of the larger building and is consistent with the downtown plan preference for vertically integrated structures.

The parking will be entirely within structured parking garages, both above and below grade, possibly with several surface ADA and drop-off parking adjacent to the building. Materials for the building will be of durable quality and wi ll be consistent with the architecture represented in the Market District.

Kanye West Purchasing Austin Loft? Perhaps, But Not The Austonian Penthouse

Jude Galligan | December 3, 2009 |

I love to see effective guerrilla marketing in action.

Earlier this month it seemed as if every Austinite on twitter was sharing rumors that hip-hop fashionista Kanye West purchased the top floor of the Austonian. Skeptical, as is my nature, I was doubtful – I had just toured the top floors. The Austonian is the furthest you’ll get from a proper “Austin loft“. The rumor propagated with Kanye’s lyric “New crib-LOFT IN- where its at-AUSTIN-where is that-Texas!!!”

I was scratching my head, and thinking “really?”. Pushing down my gullible pride, I bashfully confirmed with the Austonian. The rumor, of course, is 100% false, but it resulted in discussion and intrigue. This was cunning guerrilla marketing. 🙂

Think about it. Eventually, perhaps this year, a buyer will emerge for the Austonian penthouse. There are a handful of buyers that have their eye on this space, but are biding their time, waiting to see if the fierce competition among the luxury towers will further soften prices across the board. These towers are already negotiating, very discretely, behind closed doors. But, for the buyer that has their eye on a product with no substitutes, one day soon, they could wake up to real news that what they desire is no longer available.

Below, I’m reposting a comment I shared in another thread

Jude Galligan wrote:

The current market for these buildings [Spring, W, Four Seasons, Austonian] works like this: There are buyers right now paying for a specific view, or floorplan, or the flexibility of combining units. We’re negotiating hard, and seeing deals with 10-15% discounts from asking. More or less depending on the specific space and the buyer’s desire for customizations. At this level, buyers often just want a shell space and the ability to bring their architect into the discussion. There are other buyers waiting patiently for better negotiating posture in a softer market – they are less concerned about having a specific space.

Until each building receives a certificate of occupancy, and we can observe the velocity of closings on the existing contracts, it’s challenging to gauge a market for a product that Austin is unfamiliar with (i.e. luxury urban condos).

I don’t expect they will sell out before they open, unless they soften their prices in a blanket fashion come springtime. However, I don’t expect you will see auctions (with the possible exception of the attainably priced Sabine) as the financing for the Austonian, W, and Spring give them a couple of years from construction completion before they need to repay the debt.

Grapevine stories:
http://austinist.com/2009/11/04/kanye_probably_wont_be_at_the_runwa.php
http://modernmanmusic.wordpress.com/2009/04/13/gotta-loft-inaustin

Reltated posts about penthouse living:
https://downtownaustinblog.org/2009/10/09/pros-and-cons-of-living-on-the-top-floor/
https://downtownaustinblog.org/2009/06/12/the-downtown-austin-penthouse-part-one-economics/