There’s no question that mixed-use and retail dominate Austin’s hip and trendy real estate scene. There are office and retail additions at The Domain and brand-new multifamily and retail at Saint Elmo off South Congress. They’re just some of the projects we’re excited to explore as we host the Bisnow Austin Retail & Mixed-Use event on Jan. 27 at the Omni Austin Hotel Downtown.
Endeavor kicked off The Parke in Cedar Park, which is a Whole Foods-anchored grocery store center (with Whole Foods’ new 365 store). It will open in Q1 '17, Ben tells us. Then, there is the redevelopment of the Springtown Center in San Marcus, which is underway with signed leases with Gold’s Gym and The Spot, and Endeavor’s newest development, Plaza Saltillo in East Austin, which will start construction later this year. Ben says the Austin market has—for all product types—been very strong for the last few years, and Endeavor has been fortunate to have some good land positions that the firm held prior to the last downturn. This up cycle is the right time to kick off a few offices. The site for The Bowie (pictured) was acquired during the downturn, he says. The company's platform is set up to really add value and he's always looking for the best opportunity for its investors, he added.
GroundFloor Development founder and CEO Brandon Bolin’s big bet on Austin is the $125M Saint Elmo mixed-use project set to open in Q1 '18. Designed by Andersson-Wise Architects and located on South Congress near Ben White Boulevard in South Austin, Saint Elmo will include 225k SF of creative office space and feature a 40k SF indoor-outdoor marketplace, seated alongside the new location for Austin’s famed Saxon Pub. Brandon says he’ll close the land this year and finish the permitting process with the city.
Austin continues to grow and the people here want to be in that urban core. Austin is not only one of the five fastest-growing cities over the past five years, it also has the largest percentage of Millennials in relation to any other metro in the US, he tells us. That’s an important stat, Brandon says. The area on South Congress near Ben White Boulevard benefits from that young population that wants to be close to the city. It’s been an important part of the industrial hub for central Austin for a while, but as Austin grew east and south, that industrial pocket was not the best use and he saw an opportunity to do something great. With economic uncertainty in the stock market and falling oil prices, Brandon believes there may be a softening or slowdown in the market, as a whole, but Texas economic indicators (like population growth) will continue to drive demand for multifamily.
Save your place at the Bisnow Austin Retail & Mixed-Use event on Jan. 27 at the Omni Austin Hotel Downtown by registering here.
Taking advantage of the hot market and great locations, Endeavor Real Estate Group projects range from the 31-story The Bowie high-rise apartments south off Bowie, south of 5th Street adjacent from Whole Foods (more than 70% leased) to 500k SF across three office buildings under construction at The Domain, says principal Ben Bufkin (pictured with his family). The newest Domain office building will open in Q1, followed by another in the spring and the last before year-end. The Domain will also see 600k SF of retail, anchored by Nordstrom and a 50k SF Restoration Hardware. It will be open in September. The first piece opened earlier this month with Rock Rose, which is 100k SF of mostly local retailers with an emphasis on food and beverage.
