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Downtown Living Tour

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Tour downtown Austin’s condo and apartment buildings this Sunday with the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association, as part of their annual Downtown Living Tour (aka “DLT).

Jamie Lagarde, President of DANA, shares with us, “the purpose of the event is for people to get an overview of what it means to live, work and play in  downtown Austin.”  He continues, “People drive by downtown, and see a lot of things have changed, or they come down for dinner but they don’t really get a feel for what it means to live, and experience downtown on a daily basis.”

Buildings on the tour include: W Hotel Residences, 5 Fifty Five, 904 West, Austin City Lofts, Brazos Lofts, Gables Park Plaza, Brown Building, Brazos Place, 360 Condos, Red River Flats, Gables West Avenue, Spring Condos.

Click here to reserve your ticket.  Tickets are $15 ($25 day of).


Shoal Creek Walk Office Tower Rezoning Approved By Council

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Council has voted to approve the zoning change request by Schlosser Development, according to a report by InFactDaily, for the proposed Shoal Creek Walk office, residential, retail tower.  Though not out of the fire yet as this was only a first reading and council member Laura Morrison dissenting (shocker!), it’s a good indicator that Schlosser will receive the requested zoning change from downtown mixed use (DMU) to downtown mixed use central urban development (DMU-CURE), a change that is necessary to increase the height limit from 120 feet to 350 feet. Much of the property is encumbered by a Capitol View Corridor.

Schlosser has been making the rounds, and building stakeholder support for this project, for a couple of months. The new development would replace the surface level parking lot just east of Whole Foods. What’s interesting about this zoning review case is that Schlosser is not requesting more density, as measured by FAR (floor to area ratio); rather, they are seeking more height in part of the building, to compensate for the CVC restricted height in another part of the building.

Taking the wind out of the politcal sails of anti-growthers, Schlosser offered up an affordable housing proposal. This is interesting because they are not seeking more density, and therefor have zero obligation to subsidize affordable housing, or pay a fee-in-lieu of affordable housing.

Another office tower was recently announced, next to Gables Park Plaza, not far from Schlosser’s site.

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DAB STATS – Downtown Apartment Occupancy

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Checkout the occupancy rates (as of Tuesday) for downtown Austin apartment buildings.

Monarch @ 94% or 287 out of 305 units
Legacy On The Lake @ 92% or 172 out of 187 units
Ashton Austin @ 87% leased, 83% occupied or 214 out of 258 units
Gables West @ 92% or 220 out of 239 units
Gables Park Plaza @ 38% out of 188 units

And, it’s a very safe bet that AMLI Downtown (220 units) and AMLI on 2nd (231 units) are hovering between 95-98% occupied.

Our empirical data suggests that lease rates at apartment buildings are hovering in the ball park of $1.75 per rentable foot, on average, net of incentives.  MLS statistical reports for year-to-date downtown Austin condo leases corroborates this, reporting $1.88 per foot, on average, and ranging from $1.00-$2.40psf.  In 2008, before many of our new apartment buildings were completes, lease rates were even higher.  With no new projects on the horizon, and a strong demand for the urban life style, expect downtown lease rates to remain stable.

-Jude

Pfluger Bridge Extension

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Elliot at Austin On Two Wheels shares with us that construction has begun on the Pfluger Bridge Extension.  This might not sound like “big” news, but we’re very excited by the potential for an improved pedestrian experience on the north side of Cesar Chavez.  The retail space under Gables Park Plaza should complement the foot traffic nicely.

More info at http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/publicworks/pflugerbridge_design.htm

Downtown Austin LEED Buildings

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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.

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