downtown austin apartments

Ashton Austin Pricing

Jude Galligan | May 12, 2009 |

Pricing for the downtown Austin apartment building, the Ashton Austin, is available – Jude Galligan, 512-226-3414, judegalligan [@] gmail.com. DAB has been covering the Ashton’s obfuscated marketing for months (click to read all posts). It appears the building is almost ready for prime time. One-bedrooms are large, ranging in size from 940-1029 ft. A pdf of the pricing can be downloaded here. For a limited time, the developer is offering two months free on a 12 month lease which effectively reduces the monthly rent by at least $333 per month.

As of today the model units are not open. Judging by the landscaping and the tone of their communications I think it could be as early as this weekend that the model/sales center opens. Expectations are high from tenants who have grown tired of starkly appointed downtown Austin lofts. The photos show a high end finish out, the floor plans are large, and the views are certain to be spectacular… unless you end up staring into 100 Congress. Stay tuned!

-Jude

New Ashton In Austin Website Teases Us

Jude Galligan | April 17, 2009 |

Austin Ashton - Clubhouse Rendering — Austin Ashton - Living Room

Checkout the new website. As of this posting you won’t find pricing, floor plans, or availability – stuff you want to know 🙁

For that, you should stay tuned to Downtown Austin Blog as we continue to share the inside info on the Ashton.

-Jude

p.s. Send me an email me with your contact info and I’ll respond with a draft copy of the floor plans.

Downtown Austin Apartments: 404 Rio Grande

Jude Galligan | March 21, 2009 |

[youtube = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keuJmAFHb0o]

Continuing this week’s theme of apartment reviews…

404 Rio Grande is the oft neglected apartment complex in the core of downtown Austin. (Gmap) It doesn’t evoke the same reaction as the Monarch or AMLI on 2nd. Still, 404 Rio Grande, at the corner of West 5th and Rio Grande, has one of the best locations in downtown Austin. The rents are cheaper, too. Unlike the new high rises parking is included for you and your guests.

Don’t expect the finishes to be similar to Monarch, its next door neighbor. It would be easy to frown upon 404 Rio Grande’s faux-hardwood-laminate flooring and white appliances while paying a substantial rent. Washer and dryer are not included. Still, the loft style design of AMLI is not preferred by everyone, and 404 Rio Grande’s units are cozy – ultimately you are paying for location.

So, if your budget or desires don’t call for a 24-hour concierge or loft-like design, you might consider 404 Rio Grande. After incentives, which constantly change at every building, one-bedrooms begin around $1300 and two-bedrooms around $1900. The biggest challenge for a renter interested in 404 Rio Grande is availability. 404 Rio Grande has been fully occupied for a couple of years so, unlike the new high rises, availability depends on someone moving out.

If you are considering a move downtown, feel free to give me a call!

Jude Galligan, Downtown Austin Realtor
judegalligan [@] gmail.com
(512) 226-3414

Downtown Austin Condos: Build or bust? Fact or editorial disguised as fact?

Jude Galligan | November 28, 2008 |

by jude galligan

does the statesman use dirty headline tactics? — "At last?"

The Austin American Statesman is one of two local papers (the other being the Chronicle) that reach Austin’s masses. These newspapers set the agenda and guide the discussion on topics of their choosing. The words printed on the pages of the Statesman, Austin’s most widely read newspaper, have the power to affect the home values and lives of thousands of Austinites. With that power comes responsibility.

Wednesday morning I picked up a Statesman at Jos Coffee and in big bold black letters “Condos caught by crisis at last”, “Breakneck rate on sales of units, construction slows as credit and capital dry up”.

Curiously, neither of those dramatic headlines exist in the online version of the article. In the print edition, immediately to the left, in much smaller font, was the news – the government is injecting $800MM to expand the credit markets.

Shonda Novak is a staff writer at the Statesman and wrote the above article. Shonda has been reporting on Austin real estate for years. If Shonda writes that the sky is falling on Austin real estate, then 100k+ Austin readers look at their spouse and say “Hon, did you see that article in today’s paper about Downtown condos? I’m telling you, Babe, those developers will never sell all those condos! Just wait and they’ll be selling them at twenty cents on the dollar!”

I read and re-read the article. Seeing the print edition headline, I expected catastrophe. Instead, I found nothing at all particularly newsworthy.

Is it possible that the Statesman’s headline was overly sensational?

Taking a similar approach to how I dissected this article, after the jump, I’ve cut/pasted a handful of quotes from the article, and then I explain if that quote is, generally speaking, true, false, or if the quotes are generalizations or simply editorial in nature.