Real Estate

Downtown Austin condos: do the math

Jude Galligan | February 24, 2009 |

OK. We did the math. Below is DAB’s analysis of the inventory of condos in Downtown Austin.

776 residences were delivered in 2008
670 +/- units have sold
106 unit surplus.

This is a net absorption of over 600 units in one year. The 360 Condominiums has only 2 units left.

789+/- units under construction in downtown Austin
+/- 350 of the 789 units are under contract

545 +/- units remain in downtown through at least 2013.

There are no projects coming online that are not already under construction. It takes 2-3 years to build a project and it is unlikely a developer will get construction financing for another 12-18 months.

To put things in perspective, Miami area is delivering approximately 60,000 high rise condominiums during this development cycle. Miami MSA is approximately 2,387,000 people. That is a ratio of 1 condo for every 40 Miami MSA residents.

The Austin area is delivering approximately 1565 high rise condominiums during this development cycle. Austin MSA is approximately 1,600,000 people… that is a ratio of 1 new condo downtown for every 1,022 Austin MSA residents. A single project in downtown Miami is larger than the entire number of units being delivered in downtown Austin over a 6 year period!

360 condos retail space for sale

Jude Galligan | February 23, 2009 |

According to Taylor Andrews of Andrews Urban, via the Statesman, the nearly 14,000sf of retail space below 360 condos is for-sale, coincidentally for about $360psf. Royal Blue just moved in. Mulberry is super-cool. Haven’t been to Blu Cafe, yet.

From the article… “The space, totaling about 13,700 square feet, is almost all leased. Tenants already open or coming soon include Garrido’s, a restaurant from former Jeffrey’s executive chef David Garrido; Mulberry and the Lara Reynolds art galley.”

Proposed Federal Court House Discussion

Jude Galligan | February 22, 2009 |

Over at Austin Contrarian we can find some interesting thoughts on the [poor] location of the proposed Federal Court House. Specifically, I give it up to Miggy for this simple, yet significant, observation:

“Taking a one-block by one-block square of valuable downtown land largely unencumbered by the capital view corridors off the tax rolls permanently doesn’t help Austin at all. This is where density should be targeted and this building is far from helping that goal. Also to say that the bunker-on-three-sides structure is pedestrian unfriendly would be an understatement.”

Also, Miggy brings up another concern about moving the post office to Red River.

“On a final note – the moving of the Post Office to over near Club de Ville and Red River makes no sense to me either. How many office workers will find that location convenient? And how will that dead retail streetfront (or worse-yet – similar suburban parking lot and drive-thru) help the still nascent Red River entertainment district which is already threatened by any number of other forces. I don’t know what the reasoning was but just based on my surface knowledge – they should have kept in the bottom of the Ovation building as planned.”

Andrews Urban and the Post Office own the block of land across from Stubbs. The post office was going to move there in order for Andrews Urban/Novare to build Ovation where the current post office is located. IMHO, Ovation has ZERO chance of being built within the next five years, so hopefully Miggy’s point is moot.

Day five, becoming a model urban neighborhood: what does Downtown Austin need?

Jude Galligan | February 19, 2009 |

Each day this week I am serving up one item, with non-politically correct candor, that Downtown Austin needs to become a model of re-urbanization, as I see it.

Politicians love to talk, form task forces, and spend time doing everything except for making decisions as they are needed. So, this is an appeal to Downtown Austin stakeholders that know how to get things done: the residents, developers, retailers, and land owners.

Improved landmark protection, design standards, and enforcement

This is an average landmarked building on East Sixth Street. Here is another – note the beautiful brick archwork accented by a plywood sign! The building owners, tenants, and the city should be embarrassed. So much of Austin’s history exists in those buildings. Any building that has a landmark plaque should be respected and preserved.

The city may say “we don’t regulate ugly”. They should. The city must better leverage the Historical Landmark Commission and Heritage Society to protect the facades, awnings, and cleanliness of our historic buildings.. Unless the city begins to affect positive change, we will continue to see the warehouse district disappear and East Sixth Street deteriorate. It appears that voluntary compliance by landlords to maintain an expected (or expressed) standard doesn’t work and the city must begin to enforce regulations.

BTW, the owners of landmarked buildings get significant tax breaks.

Four Seasons update from developer

Jude Galligan | February 19, 2009 |

Just received this update from the Four Seasons Residences. It pretty much confirms what I’ve been saying about the strength of the downtown Austin condo market – the sky is not falling.

“As we enter 2009, Four Seasons Residences Austin is nearly 50% sold. Understandably, the last quarter of 2008 was slow, but sales activity in 2009 has picked up considerably. In the last week we signed a new contract for a 2,700 square foot residence and have a number of additional contracts in process.”
…
“Figures for the condominium market in downtown Austin are very encouraging. Of the 800 units delivered in 2008, over 90% have already closed. Furthermore, several planned projects have been put on indefinite hold due to a lack of financing which will reduce the amount of future supply for years to come.”