Austin Real Estate Blog

Seymour Fogel Mural

The Starr Building located at 107 West 6th Street, Austin Texas, has been sold. CB Richard Ellis represented the owner in the sale of the roughly 77,000 sq ft office and parking garage. The building has been around Austin some 55 years and houses a famous (to art and architecture folks mostly) mural by Seymour Fogel.

The mural itself is very pretty. I hope that the folks who purchased it try and make the finances work without plopping another high rise in a downtown that already has enough “towerage”.

Kemp Properties purchased the property and has previously restored other buildings like the Brown building. I think that’s a beautiful building so we ca assume that the Starr Building is in good hands.

Take a look at some of the photos from the listing agents at CB Richard Ellis. It looks like it would be a perfect set for Mad Men!

Starr Building Interior

Starr Building Exterior

Downtown Austin thrives with incredible growth and opportunity. With the growth and development there comes constant conflict. The downtown historical locations are being lost by all of the development. At this time, not one building in downtown Austin has been submitted for historical protection or landmark status. Also perplexing, none of the local or national historic registers has listed the area, in whole or in part, as a place of value. One example of a future development that should concern local Austin historians is the recent permit obtained by what will become the Gables Republic Park, a 16 story apartment community. The demolition permit is intended to partially tear down the 1913 Nabisco warehouse. For the last fifteen years the location housed the Ginger Man company.

The local Preserve District Council has put forward some ideas and proposals to save at least part of Downtown Austin. The tools of the proposal made by the ROMA Design Group and HR & A advisers have created a significant and active debate among property owners and local groups like the Heritage Society of Austin and the Downtown Austin New Alliance. Also chiming in actively is the Central Texas Chapter of the Congress for the New Urbanism, the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association and the city of Austin’s design and planning commissions. ROMA’s recommendations were then presented in public on July 23. Until now, this issue is in hot debate, as many of the supporters of the concept do not support the specific idea’s laid out here: www.cityofaustin.org/downtown It will be debated and discussed in council again on the 24th. Members will provide policy direction and a vote may occur to direct a draft of the density bonus and applicable ordinances with specific warehouse district rules.

There will be much debate on how to balance historic preservation while still allowing for development to progress as needed. Before the council votes on the measure, and before they determine exactly what tools will be used, the community will need to voice their opinion. The public meeting will be held Sept 24th

Two new homes on Riley Road in Rollingwood have received kudos from Austin’s Green Energy Building Program. The first home was rated a five-star example of an eco-friendly home, while the second should meet the same requirements, once construction is completed over the next several weeks. Those involved with the project have worked to include many home features that will allow the home’s occupants to have as little contact with dangerous chemicals as necessary, protecting both their own health, as well as that of the environment.

Included in the features of these homes are efficient fixtures and appliances, such as toilets, washing machines, dishwashers and numerous windows, all of which cut the need for excess water and electricity. Both homes have private pools with special filtration systems that remove impurities from the water, without the need for chlorine or other chemicals.

They also feature induction stoves, rather than gas or electric models, further reducing the carbon footprint of the homeowner. The paint used within the models is as chemical free as is available, making the home safe for those who have problems with allergies or those who are sensitive to chemicals. The floors are made from sealed concrete that does not require the use of chemical cleaners and can be washed with pure water.

When shopping for a new home, buyers that employ the services of a Realtor can assure that their purchase has the “green” features that they want, without overpaying. A Realtor will work with the builder and buyer to develop a suitable agreement about what materials are used and what features are added to the home, preventing misunderstandings and unethical practices. A Realtor can help a buyer to make the right choices when selecting their home that will meet both their budget and their needs, leaving everyone satisfied, once the deal is complete.

Plans are in the works to develop a 1,000 acre area northeast of Round Rock near the new Seton Medical Center and the Higher Education Center. The land is owned by the Avery family and they have partnered with the Waterstone Development company to begin a mix use development project in the area.

The project, named the Avery Center, calls for as many as 1,200 single family homes and 5,500 rental units. Townhouses, student housing, and higher end homes are planned, along with a 132 acre retail area which will include stores, restaurants and professional office space. Open space is planned, with a lake, trails and park areas, with 100 acres being set aside for this purpose. The plans also include a church, school, and a child care center.

The developer is working with Round Rock city officials on a plan for bus service for residents of the development to Seton, Austin Community College, the State University, and other places of study and employment.

The project is expected to take 10 to 15 years to complete and add $1.6 billion to the tax rolls. This area of Round Rock is one that is doing well developmentally, in spite of financial troubles that have slowed or halted other projects. The national real estate and credit crisis that has affected so much of the markets hasn’t had the same impact in the central Texas area.

Robert Wunsch, chief executive officer of Waterstone, is being picky about who he chooses to build the homes and rental units. He wishes to stay close to the vision that the Avery family has for their land and intends to maintain a high set of standards for construction and design. The houses will range in price from $180,000 to over $1 million.

The Dallas based Trammell Crow Co. is heading a partnership to redevelop the five block area between Second Street and the Seaholm Power Plant and includes the Green Water Treatment Plant, right smack in the center of downtown Austin. Joining the partnership is Constructive Ventures Inc., based in Austin, and USAA Real Estate Company, from San Antonio.

This all-Texas team is looking at an ambitious project that will include 2.6 million square feet of office and retail space, for sale and for rent residential units, hotel and public spaces, as well as parking garage areas that will offer spaces for Austin Car Share and electric car recharge stations.

The partnership proposes major community improvements such as $500,000 toward improvements to Shoal Creek and a grant of public easement for completion of the trail running between Fourth and Fifth Streets. A pedestrian bridge is planned over Shoal Creek to connect the site with the Second Street District. Twenty-five percent of the rental residential units will be made affordable to lower income families. In addition, the group plans to fund public art and music programs and will create an endowment to fund a lunch time music series.

The project includes plans for local retail making up a bulk of the space in the Green Water Treatment Plant and Austin Energy sites. And the icing on this cake is that the firms are aiming for a sky high LEED Gold status for all the buildings, with designs that will reduce energy use up to 50 percent.

Construction is expected to begin in 2009.

Austin may have one of the most trend-defying markets in the country, growing steadily as the remainder of the nation declines, but that doesn’t mean you can assume success is inevitable. It’s not. You still have to put work into your commercial property before your investment can grow. If you don’t, your purchase won’t be an investment but a money pit, something that eats up your savings with no hope of return.

But what’s the smartest kind of work to do? You don’t want to waste valuable time and resources on projects that will net little to no profit. So think toward the future and features that appeal to the residents of your region.

Right now, the people of Austin are interested in commercial structures that combine their residential and business needs. They want businesses to hand it all to them, which is exactly what Stratus Properties Inc. and the Canyon Properties Urban Fund are doing. They’ve joined to create W. Austin Hotel & Residences, a building that will include condos for sale and hotels for rent nightly. The plan is ingenious, combining the city’s growing population with its even more rapidly advancing tourism and business markets.

Of course, if you can’t afford to do something like that or it simply doesn’t coincide with your business plan, think green instead. Austin is one of the most eco-conscious cities in the world. Consumers flock to green homes, green stores, green . . . anything. Whatever you can do to make your structure environmentally friendly will pay off in the long run. It will help keep that investment an investment.

The key to making your commercial property a smart move rather than a poor purchase is planning. Think about what the people around you want and give it to them. It’s the only way to get ahead.

An old abandoned car lot alongside a shabby, garbage strewn creek was transformed into 14 floors of luxury apartments, a project completed in 2004 by CLB Partners. Austin City Lofts, located at 800 W. Fifth Street, brought much needed living and retail space to the Central Business District of downtown Austin and converted an eyesore into a beautiful and distinctive looking high-rise building.

The first four floors of the building contain parking, retail space, a residential lobby and management offices as well as eight apartments overlooking Shoal Creek. The next five floors feature 54 apartments with 12 foot ceilings, and the final floors contain the loft apartments, with 20 foot high ceilings, including 20 two story loft-style homes.

All told, the building houses 82 one, two, and three bedroom apartments, between 1009 and 3049 square feet, with prices running between $325,000 and $1,300,000. The features include balconies overlooking views of the city, hardwood and exposed concrete floors, granite counter tops, and whirlpool tubs. There is 24 hour security, a pool, a gym, and private parking.

The exterior was designed by Larry Speck of Page Sutherland Page Architects of Austin. It features copper shingles and native limestone. Outdoor entertainment areas include a lap pool and spa, a fire pit, and community cooking area. Inside, the kitchens feature Jenn-Air appliances and European style cabinetry, as well as Moen faucets. Bathrooms boast over-sized showers and granite counters, along with the whirlpool tubs.

Austin City Lofts is conveniently located near Austin’s vibrant night life on 6^th Street, and within two blocks of retail and restaurant establishments, clothing shops and boutiques. Just across the creek are more retail and restaurant places and a 12 screen movie theater.

As people become more aware of impending climate change and near-future energy crunches, land developers are finding innovative ways to create communities with more sustainability and less impact on the environment. An article in the magazine, Natural Home, highlights a new community in Austin, Texas, as one of these green-built innovations.Renovated from the old municipal airport, Mueller Airport Project mixed-use urban village utilizes the latest in environmentally friendly design. The community has its own power-generating plant, recreation, entertainment and shopping, as well as transit and employment.

Self-sustainability is just one aspect of this village. Recycling and reusing is prevalent: old runway materials are converted to street construction, old hangars are disassembled and reused in new building, historic buildings are converted into public spaces. Homes are built with non-toxic and recyclable materials, and plenty of open green spaces and waterways have been incorporated into the plan.

The residential buildings of the Mueller Project include a wide variety of living arrangements. From single-family dwellings to condominiums, the village offers an option for nearly every lifestyle. For-sale home prices range from $100K to the $600Ks for attached and detached homes. An apartment complex is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2008 and will feature 10-foot ceilings, two swimming pools and a fitness center.

Catellus, the developer of the Mueller project, has 20 years of land redevelopment experience and has transformed old airports, industrial complexes, and abandoned military bases into such communities – self-contained, sustainable, and environmentally friendly villages. Termed New Urbanism, the designs are actually based on traditional old European villages, where retail, living, and recreation space was located within walking distance.

Mueller Airport Project stands as a model for the urban development of the future and points toward one solution to increasing energy crises.

Here’s another possible case of someone with money and power (and in this case a whole lotta time) filing a lawsuit against someone because they don’t like what that person thinks. Yep, the excerpt below from the Miami Herald, summarizes the lawsuit that a developer filed against a real estate agent who blogged about his opinion of a development. The broker, in typical broker fashion, immediately dumped the agent and said they only want to show the positive news. If I were a client at that broker, I’d be out the door faster than (something really fast). :)

I for one hope the EFF or some other similar entity helps this poor agent out. He doesn’t deserve a guy using the American legal system as a weapon. See how others have abused our legal system for their own twisted often narcissistic purposes at www.iamlawsuitabuse.org. Suppor the Electronic Frontier Foundation and bloggers’ rights.

Realtor fired over Hollo blog post
BY PATRICK DANNER

Developer Tibor Hollo has filed a $25 million defamation lawsuit against a Miami real estate agent who blogged that the octogenarian went bankrupt in the 1980s and is headed for a fall with the upheaval in the condo market.

Hollo last week sued agent Lucas Lechuga and the Coral Gables brokerage Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell alleging they have engaged in a smear campaign against him and his Opera Tower condo development on Lechuga’s Miami Condo Investments blog.

On Monday, the postings cost Lechuga his job.

”We just don’t condone making statements, especially negative statements, about anyone, so we have terminated our relationship with our associate,” said EWM President Ron Shuffield. Its agents are independent contractors, not employees.

Lechuga, 29, predicted on the blog that at least half of the buyers in the 635-unit Opera Tower at 1750 Bayshore Drive would default and the units would be taken over the project’s lender.

”My opinion is that this development is doomed,” he wrote on Jan. 10.

That followed this Nov. 25 post: “This developer went bankrupt in the 1980’s and I think we’ll see a repeat performance within the next 6 months. What do I know, though? I’m no real estate oracle.”

An angry Hollo said neither he nor any of his companies ever filed for bankruptcy.

”I guess when you’re running a blog [you] think [you] can say anything about anybody, and that’s just not true,” Hollo said. He called the postings “plain, unadulterated lies.”

The suit was filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. Hollo declined to say how he arrived at the $25 million damage claim.

Lechuga said he was exercising his constitutional rights in musing about Opera Tower.

”Like any other blog out there, it’s a collection of my unbiased opinions and thoughts,” he said. “I have buyers all over the world who go to my blog. They know I’m not going to sugarcoat the market.”

Lechuga removed the Nov. 25 post after learning of the lawsuit, but later reposted it without the reference to Hollo going ”bankrupt.” He said he would have removed it sooner had he known it was wrong. He said a few people who told him about it may not have meant Hollo literally filed for bankruptcy, rather that Hollo had financial troubles of some kind.

…
”Courts understand [blogs] are written in unedited, unvetted fashion,” Jarvis said. “There’s a lot of hyperbole. That’s why it’s so difficult to win defamation lawsuits.”

Plus, Jarvis said Lechuga could argue Hollo is a ”limited public figure” — making it harder for Hollo to claim he was defamed.

…