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Well Ladies and Gentlemen,
Due to the recent economy, suffice to say, there hasn't been much to post on this blog.
So, I'd like your help. If you know of any developments in your area, please email me (alephew at gmail.com) so you can share the good news with everyone! Now since there is much un-development happening, let's report on that as well.
When I created this blog (my first), I did it to help out my previous employers (condo developers) find localized information. This was to aide them in making purchasing decisions, as well as create bank packages to apply for mezzanine funding. My first blog has stretched it's legs since then.
Let's pool our resources to help those who still want to open business in our communities. Anything that you think will help others succeed, or save them from making a poor choice, send it! Pictures, stories, articles, you send it, we'll post it, and of course provide the source (unless anonymity is requested).
Email alephew at gmail.com
Photographer: Unknown
Lack of Development
Envision Crestview Station
The new 20-acre Midtown Commons broke ground this week; it will be Phase I of Crestview Station, Austin's first privately built transit-oriented development. As such, the "new urban village" designed around a transit stop offers a picture of Austin's desired land-use future.
Continue Reading
Developments get a breath of fresh Texas air
Crystal Falls and Pearson Ranch developments
- Crystal Falls
First broke ground: 1997
Acres: 5,000
Homes: 10,000
Price Range: Low $200,000s to $1 million+
Builders: David Weekley Homes, Drees Custom Homes, Mercedes Homes, Perry Homes and more
On the project: “We are hitting on all cylinders and should be in the top three communities for growth in the Austin Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area for 2008.” — Bill Hinckley, Crystal Falls developer - Pearson Ranch
Breaking ground: September 2008
Acres: 192
Homes: 428
Price Range: High $200,000s to $500,000
Builders: Standard Pacific, Streetman Homes
On the project: “This is basically going to be the next phase of Avery Ranch, and Avery has been the No. 1 subdivision five years in a row.” — Bob Wunsch, Pearson Ranch developer -
Prayer tree - Ivean Pearson rode out on his horse in 1949 to see land available for purchase near present-day Parmer Lane and RR 620, stopping at a tree to pray about the decision. Developers plan to preserve a tree the family believes shaded Pearson as he prayed. A marker will be placed at the site.
Amenity center - Plans include a pool, basketball, tennis and sand volleyball courts. The look and feel of the center will mirror that of the existing center in Avery Ranch.
Read the full article at impactnews.com
Austin's Brackenridge Tract: $5.1 million, 350-acre tract on Lady Bird Lake
Austin Business Journal
The University of Texas System Board of Regents has officially hired Cooper Robertson & Partners LLP, a New York city master planning firm, to develop plans for the Brackenridge Tract.
The contract, which could exceed $5.1 million, was signed on April 21 by Cooper and the UT System.
At a special meeting on March 26, the board unanimously voted to select Cooper as its preferred master planner.
The regents want Cooper to create two conceptual master plans for the approximately 350-acre tract on Lady Bird Lake. The UT System hopes to utilize the tract in way that will create funding for academic programs and student services.
Cooper has said it expects to complete the master plans as early as spring 2009.
Cooper, which was founded in 1979, has worked on a number of high-profile projects for clients such as Disney Development Co., Harvard University, MIT and Yale University.
At the March meeting, Cooper said it would recuse itself from developing any future projects on the tract.
The Brackenridge tract is home to student housing, a biological field lab, the city-operated Lions Municipal Golf Course and other commercial and retail tenants. Golfers have launched a campaign to save the golf course. And West Austin residents have expressed concern that development could be disruptive to the neighborhood.
Cooper has said its first order of business is to gather community input.
Bicycle Projects
These city of Austin projects are either ongoing or in development:
Bicycle/Pedestrian Barrier Removals
1) Jollyville Road/Loop 360
Construction of a shared-use bike and pedestrian path to allow for travel from Jollyville Road, across Loop 360, to the Arboretum area.
2) South Lamar/U.S. 290
Construction of Americans With Disabilities Act-compliant sidewalks and bike lanes connecting South Lamar, across U.S. 290, to West Gate Boulevard.
3) Montopolis
Link the Lance Armstrong Bikeway to a bike and ped path connecting the Montopolis Youth Sports Complex and the Colorado River State Park, via the U.S. 183 truss bridge.
Mixed-Use Paths
4) Upper Boggy Creek Trail
Extend the trail from East 12th north to I-35 and the Hancock Center.
5) Pleasant Valley Road, Phase II
Create a route from the Lady Bird Lake Hike and Bike Trail at Lakeshore Boulevard south to Burleson Road. Consists of a mixed-use, off-road path from Oltorf to Burleson. Phase I, adding bike lanes from Lakeshore to Oltorf, has been completed.
6) Austin to Manor Rail With Trail
A 4.5-mile trail in the Capital Metro right-of-way from Daffon Lane to the city of Manor. $2 million has been budgeted for a preliminary engineering and enviro study for the extent of the trail. The rest of the trail will be completed when funding becomes available.
7) North Acres
Construction of a mixed-use trail, including a bridge across Little Walnut Creek, connecting Park Plaza and Furness Drive.
Bikeway/Bike Lanes/Bike Bridge
8) Lance Armstrong Bikeway
With parts of the bikeway already completed, the ultimate product will feature an east-west crosstown bikeway from Veterans Way at Lake Austin Boulevard to the U.S. 183 truss bridge. Cyclists have questioned why this project has taken so long to complete and point out that the I-35 crossover is still a danger zone.
9) Lake Austin Boulevard
Improve bicycle lanes from Exposition Boulevard to Red Bud Trail, with curb construction along the north side.
10) Barton Springs Road
Install bike lanes from Robert E. Lee Road to Rollingwood Drive.
11) MoPac
Build a "hanging bridge" over Barton Creek, south of Loop 360.
12-17) Other
Bike lanes and other improvements are also planned for Steck, Garden Villa, Bannister Lane, Latta Drive, Lakeshore, and South Congress.
(drop) Commuter Showers
A $340,000 federal grant, with matching city dollars, will go toward construction of showers and lockers at five city-owned sites.
Source: City of Austin
Growing with Austin: Crestview Station developers hold groundbreaking
he first phase of a unique new Austin development near Lamar and Airport Boulevard is underway. Groundbreaking ceremonies were Tuesday morning in the first phase of the Crestview Station project -- Austin's first mixed-use development that will go up adjacent to the Crestview Station commuter rail stop in North Austin. This is Austin's first transit-oriented mixed-use development, featuring a combination of office, retail and residential living. "The way we're doing things now is not only pretty places we don't love, but it's also breaking our banks, and so we now have a third way, and it's kind of getting back to way we used to do it, but it's using modern market economics," said Brewster McCracken, Austin City Council member. More than 1,500 multi-family apartment homes with extensive amenities will eventually go up at the site 
Austin To Get A 30-story Pelli-designed Tower
(AUSTIN, TX) -- The Austin Museum of Art (AMOA) unveiled a rendering for the new downtown Museum facility and multi-purpose co-development that will be built on the block it owns at Fourth and Guadalupe Streets today. Additionally, a lead gift of $3 million from Bettye H. and William C. Nowlin for this phase of the institution’s capital campaign was announced. The new Museum building will be developed in partnership with international developer Hines and acclaimed architectural firm Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects.
“We’ve chosen to make this additional gift to AMOA, the largest gift we’ve made to any capital campaign, because this project is affordable, achievable, and what’s right for Austin right now,” said Bettye Nowlin, whose decade of philanthropic support for Austin civic and cultural organizations include service as the current president of the AMOA Board of Trustees. “This truly will be Austin’s Museum of Art, featuring the work of local, regional, and national artists and reflecting the diversity and vitality of the area presented in a way that’s uniquely Austin.”
AMOA anticipates a campaign of approximately $23 million to cover hard and soft construction costs, transition expenses, and an increase of $2 million to the operating endowment. Funds already committed for the new project total 60 percent of the goal, and are comprised of donations remaining from the previous campaigns, the sale of the land, the Nowlin’s lead gift, and several anonymous gifts, leaving just over $9 million for AMOA to reach their goal.
“We’ve spent the past five years strengthening our organization, building our audiences, and broadening our base of support in order to strategically position ourselves to succeed with this carefully-planned step forward,” explained Dana Friis-Hansen, AMOA’s Executive Director. “We’re proud of what we’ve achieved downtown in our current facility—great exhibitions with established and emerging artists, the permanent FamilyLab, and innovative education programs for schoolchildren, families and adults—but a larger purpose-built facility will allow us to do so much more.”
The new downtown facility will feature a three-story 40,000-square foot space at Fourth and Guadalupe Streets more than doubling the exhibition and education spaces from the Museum’s present location. This will enable the Museum to increase the size, frequency, and variety of art on view, and expand educational programs.
The currently undeveloped block just south of Republic Square will also be home to Museum Tower, a 30-story, 425,000-square-foot office building that will be the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified office project in downtown Austin. Both the museum and the tower will be designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects of New Haven, CT, and developed by Hines, the international real estate firm. The Museum’s owner’s representative will be David Stauch, President and Founder of Herndon, Stauch & Associates, an Austin firm specializing in project and construction management. Bart Matheney of Aquila Commercial will be the exclusive leasing agent for Museum Tower.
The lead architect at Pelli Clarke Pelli echoed Nowlin’s assessment. “Austin is a city very close to our hearts,” said senior principal Fred Clarke, a graduate of the UT-Austin School of Architecture. “We have seen it become one of the most vibrant and successful communities in the country. Designing the museum, one of the most progressive programs in the country, as well as designing a new tower for the premier developer in Texas makes this one of the most significant commissions in the city.”Hines has operated in Austin since the mid-1970s, when it developed one of the city’s first modern office buildings, the Bank of America Tower located at Fifth and Congress. The firm owns and manages 301 Congress, which is four blocks from the new museum site, and has developed office and civic projects around the globe, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Audrey Jones Beck Building designed by Rafael Moneo. Hines recently announced plans to develop a Jean Nouvel-designed mixed-use tower in midtown Manhattan adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) that will include a 50,000-square-foot expansion of the museum’s galleries. The Hines and Pelli Clarke Pelli team was recently selected to develop the Transbay Transit Center and Tower in San Francisco. In addition, the two firms are working together on a major mixed-use project at Boston’s historic South Station.
“Environmental sensitivity and energy efficiency have been distinguishing features of our projects for decades, and we are looking forward to developing the first LEED-certified office building in downtown Austin,” said Hines Vice President Travis Overall. “We are very pleased to partner with AMOA in bringing two important projects to the last undeveloped block in this area of the CBD.”
The new development will add to the strength of the civic and cultural district emerging around Republic Square, including Austin’s City Hall, Ballet Austin Dance Education Center, renovated Austin Music Hall, the growing retail and residential activity along Second Street, and planned Austin City Limits Studio, and future federal courthouse.
“Strong cultural institutions like the Austin Museum of Art provide the backbone for vibrant urban centers,” said Austin Mayor Will Wynn. “The permanent downtown location for AMOA will be one of downtown’s cultural jewels, transforming a surface parking lot into a 21st century museum and a LEED-certified office tower while continuing to build the city’s tax base and bring life to our urban core.”
Study shows San Antonio is a popular place for families who are relocating
San Antonio Business Journal
San Antonio has been named the fifth best large metropolitan city in America for relocating families by Worldwide ERC and Primacy Relocation.
The two companies examined several factors, including job growth figures for 2007, percentage of nearby top-ranked colleges, average in-state tuition for four-year public colleges, the amount of pediatricians per 100,000 population and taxes.
Worldwide ERC and Primacy announced the results of the survey at the National Relocation Conference in San Antonio.
The top ranked metropolitan areas with populations of 1.3 million and above are Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Austin, Fort Worth and San Antonio.
Worldwide ERC serves as a network of workforce mobility professionals in the United States and global markets. It is based in Washington, D.C. Memphis-based Primacy Relation is a global third-party employee relocation company.
"Our members know that there are many factors that lead to a successful relocation," Worldwide ERC CEO Cris Collie says. "Quality of life issues are increasingly important to transferees, and the employers who move them are recognizing those requirements. Being able to meet the needs of the entire family will be increasingly critical as the labor market grows tighter."
Web site: www.primacy.com
Austin recession-proof?
Austin Business Journal
Austin was named third on the Forbes.com list of the top 10 "Recession-Proof Cities" in the United States.
To create the list, the magazine looked at the 50 largest U.S. metros, examining key measures, such as unemployment data, non-farm related job growth, median home prices and data from a 2007 report, "U.S. Metro Economies: The Mortgage Crisis" by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
At number three, Austin was right behind San Antonio, which grabbed the second spot thanks to solid employment figures and affordable home prices that continue to rise.
Oklahoma City took the No. 1 spot because of its strong housing market and solid growth in agriculture, energy and manufacturing.
For its part, Austin was lauded for being a hip town with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country.
Forbes magazine's list of recession-proof cities also included: Houston, Dallas, Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh, N.C., Salt Lake City, San Jose, Calif. and Seattle.
Forbes says that Texas cities such as San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth have benefitted from historically lower home prices, land availability and 'little zoning'.
All four Texas cities boast falling unemployment rates, according to Forbes, with Austin dropping from 3.8 percent to 3.6 percent.
Texas economy is continuing to outpace the nation
San Antonio Business Journal - by Donna J. Tuttle
The Texas economy has been dragging its feet since January, but continues to outperform the nation, according to an update from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
"While signals remain mixed, there is increased sentiment that Texas economic activity will not rebound to its trend rate of growth until 2009," Fed senior economist Jason L. Saving notes.
Payroll employment rose in this region by more
than 1 percent each month, but not with the same vigor it has in the past. Still, the growth is better than national payroll employment, which declined to negative figures starting in January.
What's more, Texas logged its best unemployment performance in almost 25 years in February -- falling to 4.1 percent.
Construction in Texas is stumbling. Employment in the construction industry fell at an annual rate of 3.8 percent in March, after a strong February.
"Construction contract values continued their January swoon, falling 4.4 percent in February and 5.2 percent in March," the Fed report reveals. "The decline was broad based across residential, non-residential and non-building construction."
The energy sector is the bright spot in the state's economy "providing what is perhaps the single most prominent sign of economic strength at this point," Saving wrote in his report.
Energy employment and Texas rig count hover near 20-year highs, and energy prices are skyrocketing to all-time highs.
Price pressures in the region are mounting all the way around. Texas manufacturers reported higher raw material prices in March and expect the trend to continue. Firms are raising their finished-good prices as fuel, metals and shipping materials become an increasing cost burden.
Texas export are growing, rising by 3.7 percent in January and 5.7 percent in February, outpacing national rates.
First phase of Crestview Station project underway
Austin Business Journal
A groundbreaking ceremony will be held next Tuesday for Midtown Commons, the 73-acre, mixed-use development that will go up adjacent to the Crestview Station commuter rail stop in Central Austin.
High Street Residential, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Trammell Crow Co., is developing the transit-oriented development that will marry retail, residential and office space.
The first phase of the project surrounding the actual transit station will feature 316 apartments, 30,300 square feet of retail and 30,300 square feet of office and should be delivered in February 2009.
Lance Sallis, managing director of Trammell Crow's Austin office, says the company is pleased to begin construction on the long-awaited project at the intersection of Lamar Boulevard and
Airport Boulevard.
"This TOD project addresses mobility issues through smart growth and proximity to public transportation while enhancing the economic development of the area," says Sallis.
USAA Real Estate Co. is Trammell Crow's equity partner on the project.
Trammell Crow Co. is a wholly-owned and independently operated division of CB Richard Ellis Inc. (NYSE:CBRE).
BartonPlace breaks ground, has already received $45M in sales contracts
Austin Business Journal
A ceremonial groundbreaking was held today for the 270-unit BartonPlace condo project on Barton Springs Road.
Constructive Ventures, the Austin-based group behind such developments as The Pedernales, 2124 and Saltillo Lofts, is developing BartonPlace in conjunction with local restaurateur Rick Engel. The project is going up near Engel's Austin Java restaurant on Barton Springs.
Construction on the project designed by Dallas-based Boka Powell is expected to take 18 to 22 months.
Perry Lorenz, one of the partners of Constructive Ventures, says the company has already collected $45 million in non-refundable earnest money contracts for units in the development.
"Our robust pre-construction sales show clearly that the condominium market in Austin remains very strong," says Lorenz. "The bottom line is that this is a great location in a solid market, and our team has the proven ability to deliver a unique, high-quality product here. BartonPlace will be a distinctively cool new Austin address."
Lorenz said the development team also altered their initial plans to comply with Austin's Town Lake Overlay and Neighborhood Compatibility Standard. "We worked hard for a very long time to make sure that we earned the support of the nearby neighborhoods and businesses - that we were building a community here that would be viewed as a positive addition to the area," says Lorenz. "It took almost two years to create a project that everyone could support, but we did it, and we're very proud of it."
