Austin Real Estate Development.

Residential

AUSTIN HOME SALES CONTINUE TO RISE (Alamo Title) Austin home sales for November were up year over year from 1936 to 1972. Average price increased from $220,452 to $235,249. Year to date closed volume through November is 26,073 compared to last year's 24,167.

BEST OCTOBER EVER FOR CENTRAL TEXAS ( Austin American-Statesman , inman.com) – Central Texas' housing market posted an October record for both single-family home sales and prices, as homes sold at the fastest pace ever for the month.

In the South Austin area that includes neighborhoods such as Cherry Creek and Tanglewood Forest, active listings took about 18 days to sell.

Last month was the tenth consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains, with nearly 2,075 single-family homes sold, up 8 percent from the approximately 1,920 sales last year. October's median price set a monthly record at $175,000, an increase of 9 percent from approximately $160,500 posted a year ago.

DECADE-LONG PROJECT UNVEILED (statesman.com) – With preliminary approval from the Austin Zoning and Platting Commission in hand, developers are moving ahead with plans for a 1,020-acre upscale housing development near Texas 45 Southwest and Escarpment Blvd. The development will be built in phases.

At build-out, some ten years down the road, the $200 million project known as Avana could include nearly 800 homes, a 250-room resort hotel with 140 condominiums, 24 single-family villas and an 18-hole golf course. Homes will be built by builders Toll Brothers Inc., Newmark Homes LP, Rossi Homes Inc. and Mercedes Homes Inc. Prices will range from the $300,000s into the millions.

DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PROJECT RAISES CONTROVERSY ( Austin American-Statesman ) – CWS Capital Partners LLC's proposal to build three 18-story buildings on Town Lake has residents up in arms.

The development, which would be on East Riverside Drive, would replace low-rise apartment buildings that are at least 30 years old with a total of 840 apartment and condominium units. CWS wants to build within 80 feet of the Town Lake shoreline, although city rules require new projects to be built at least 150 feet away. The buildings that are currently on the seven-acre property are, at some points, as close as 20 feet to the shore.

Members of the South River City Citizens Association neighborhood coalition are not supporting the variance, saying the setback rule was designed to protect parkland along the shore for public benefit. The rule was established in the 1980s after the 18-story Hyatt Regency Austin was built close to the shore of Town Lake.

NO INN, STAR RISING ( Austin American-Statesman ) – Wellesley Inn & Suites will be demolished next month to make way for Constellation Property Group's Star Riverside development. The $70 million, 254-unit luxury condo project at East Riverside Dr. and I-35 will include four buildings, the tallest of which will be 110 feet or 11 stories.

Construction on the first phase — two 60-foot, 68-unit buildings — will begin in mid 2007. Most of those units will have three bedrooms and average 1,500 square feet, with prices ranging between $700,000 and $1 million. Work on the second phase, the 90-foot building, will begin in 2008, with the final phase starting a year later.

SKY BRIDGE DEVELOPMENT PLANNED ( Austin Business Journal ) – Developer Keith Smith plans to break ground early next year on the 120-unit Sky Bridge Condominiums, so named because the design calls for several units to be suspended over a green space and clubhouse.

The development will go up about five miles south of downtown at 604 N. Bluff Dr. near the intersection of South Congress Ave. and William Cannon Dr. Condos will feature 24 different floor plans ranging in size from 660 square feet to 1,600 square feet, surrounding a central courtyard. Prices will range from the high $140,000s to the $300,000s. Amenities will include a pool, fitness center, running trail and amphitheater for concerts.

LAVISTA ON LAVACA LIFTS OFF ( Austin Business Journal ) – Six years ago, before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, Guerrero-McDonald & Associates Inc. announced plans for an eight-story, mixed-use project in downtown dubbed La Vista on Lavaca. This month construction will begin at 1701 Lavaca St. on the $25 million tower.

Plans include two underground floors of parking, a ground-floor lobby and restaurant, a second-floor bar, 32 third-floor office condos of about 600 square feet each, and five one-bedroom corporate residential condos ranging from $275,000 to $475,000 on the fourth floor. Floors five through eight, with views of the Capitol building, will have four condos each ranging up to 1,800 square feet and a price range from $1.2 million to $1.4 million.

La Vista's design helped it accumulate enough points for a ten-year tax exemption through the city's Smart Growth program. Guerrero-McDonald says the project will be the first in Austin to incorporate retail, residential condos and office condos in the same structure. The tower will include operable windows throughout and fans in all the bedrooms. A unique trash-recycling chute with access on each floor allows residents to electronically select recycling bins for their refuse. Those kinds of features, along with power outlets in the parking garage to encourage residents to buy electric vehicles, should help La Vista achieve its goal of a four-star rating in the city's Green Building Program.

APPETITE FOR DEVELOPMENT (statesman.com) – A 32-story, 160-unit condominium high-rise will be built by CLB Partners at the southeast corner of West Seventh and Rio Grande, behind Katz's Deli. Prices are expected to run from the low $300,000s to $4 million. The project would be built around the Ranch 616 restaurant. Pending approvals from the city, the project could get underway next spring, with units ready for residents in late 2008, Nail said.

MOO-VE OVER: DAIRY BECOMES DEVELOPMENT ( Austin American-Statesman ) – Goodnight Ranch, the 700-acre former dairy farm about ten miles south of downtown, will be home to a giant mixed-use development including 3,500 homes and 250,000 square feet of neighborhood shops and offices, 100 acres of open space and more than three miles of hike-and-bike trails around the mixture of single-family houses, condominiums, townhouses and apartments.

Developing lots for the first 300 homes will begin in the spring, with move-in beginning by the end of 2007. Target price for the first condominiums, single-family houses and town homes is about $100,000 to $300,000.

$2 BILLION COMMUNITY PLANNED NEAR MANOR (statesman.com) – Fort Worth-based Taurus of Texas Holdings LP, a subsidiary of Boston-based Taurus Investment Holdings, has purchased 2,200 acres of wooded land south of Manor from an investment group that includes local developer Jim Carpenter. Plans are to develop a $2 billion master-planned, energy-efficient community with more than 8,000 homes ranging from the $150,000s to $500,000, town homes, condominiums, and hundreds of thousands of square feet of retail and office space.

Whisper Valley Ranch is slated for development near the ten-lane Texas 130 toll road, which is scheduled to be completed in mid-2007. The first homes could be underway by mid-2007 and ready for residents by the end of the year or early 2008. Community amenities will include 11 soccer fields, nine baseball fields and stocked fishing lakes, with nearly 600 acres left as open space or developed with walking and jogging trails.

Rental Inventory

RENTAL RATES HOLD STEADY (alnsystems.com) – Apartment occupancy rates dropped in all but one of the five major Texas markets for the year ending October 2006. The exception was Austin, where rates held steady at 93.7 percent. According to Carrollton-based ALN Apartment Data, Houston dropped the farthest, going from 92.9 percent to 90.4 percent (a 2.7 percent drop). Rental rates, on the other hand, increased in all markets. Austin had the largest increase for the year, up from $731 to $773 (5.7 percent increase).

JERRY JONES SELLS 2,000-UNIT RIATA (globest.com) – Four buyers pooled resources to buy the 2,044-unit Riata and 17 acres at 12300 Riata Trace Parkway in northwest Austin. The seller was Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys and his Blue Star Land LP.

Capmark Investments LP, two of its public pension fund clients and Legacy Partners Inc. bought the properties for more than $150 million. The multifamily property was 96 percent occupied at the time of sale. Riata units average 923 square feet and rent for $740 to $2,250 per month. Renovations that could reach $4 million are planned. Another 306 units may be built on the purchased acreage, but a decision on that will not be made this year.

THE TWO BECOME ONE (globest.com) – National Commercial Ventures LLC, represented by Austin-based Colliers Oxford Commercial, has purchased the 233-unit English Aire Apartments and 165-unit Lafayette Landing along Burton Dr. with plans to renovate and operate the side-by-side complexes as one. Built in 1973 near downtown, the 90 percent occupied, Class-B complexes have a combined Travis County assessed value of $8.7 million. Lafayette Landing at 1835 Burton Dr. has one- and two-bedroom units with an average monthly rent of $480. Its neighbor at 1919 and 2121 Burton Dr. has studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments renting for $435 to $788 per month.

LEGACY LIVING (statesman.com) – Legacy Partners of California plans to build a 31-story, 184-unit luxury apartment tower with Town Lake views on 30 acres at Rainey and Cummings Streets. Legacy @ Town Lake expects to break ground in March and be ready for the first tenants in summer 2008. Rents will average about $2,100 per month for a 1,100 square-foot unit while penthouse units will rent for about $6,500 a month, Stuart said.

Economic News

TEXAS POSTS JOB GROWTH IN OCTOBER (Real Estate Center) – The latest figures from the Texas Workforce Commission show steady job growth. “October 2006 figures show Texas is creating jobs at a rate of more than 2 percent compared with 1.4 percent for the United States,” reports Real Estate Center Research Economist Ali Anari.

Texas total nonfarm employment rose 2.2 percent from October 2005 to October 2006. The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.8 percent in October 2006 from 5.4 percent a year earlier. 

The Midland metro area had the lowest unemployment rate in October 2006 followed by Amarillo, Austin–Round Rock, College Station–Bryan, and Lubbock.

Hays County

RESORT PLANNED FOR WIMBERLEY ( Austin American-Statesman ) – Austin developers Vince Wood and Rob Haug announced plans to break ground early next year on a $25 million master-planned community next to a Wimberley nature preserve.

RiverRock Resort Residences & Spa will be built on a 17-acre tract next to Jacob's Well, an artesian spring that forms the headwaters of Cypress Creek, which flows through Wimberley and into the Blanco River. The Wimberley Valley Watershed Association, a nonprofit land trust that owns the adjacent 55-acre preserve, said RiverRock could create new problems for an area that already faces groundwater supply issues. Several months ago, the association asked Wood and Haug to develop only 15 percent of the land. They did not reach an agreement. The land does not fall into any neighboring town's jurisdiction, said Wood, who bought it with Haug in 1997.

RiverRock's plans include 45 two- or three-bedroom homes with casitas and 20 condominiums. Preconstruction pricing starts at $144,500 for a one-bedroom condo with 850 square feet and almost $400,000 for a three-bedroom home with a casita. The resort would also have a lodge with a spa and conference center.

H-E-B PLUS COMES TO KYLE ( Austin-American Statesman ) – H.E. Butt Grocery Co. has broken ground on the first full-scale supermarket for this city of 20,000.

The 142,000-square-foot H-E-B Plus store at I-35 and FM 1626 will create about 400 full- and part-time jobs, becoming the city's largest employer. The location runs along the planned $35 million extension of FM 1626.