There are some new Condo developments going up in the downtown Austin area. Below is an article from the AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN about the developments. The starting prices on these are expensive in my opinion. They are going after a people with high incomes and the wealthy. I find it kind of odd they’re going after that market when the inventory for luxury homes is pretty high right now. But they probably know something I don’t about that market from their research. At least I hope they do. Read the full article below.
Australian developer plans ultra-high-end condos on East Riverside
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, September 10, 2008An Australian developer plans to build some of the highest-end condominiums ever built in Central Texas on the site of a former extended-stay motel at Interstate 35 and Riverside Drive.
Designed to be the “ungettable get” for international types who collect real estate like art and prefer their lobby security guards armed, the Star Luxe project won’t have any units smaller than 4,000 square feet or cheaper than $1 million.
Austin is experiencing an unprecedented boom in the upscale condominium market, and several downtown projects being built, including the Four Seasons Residences, the Austonian and the W Austin Hotel and Residences behind City Hall, all feature units that cost several million dollars.
With just 18 units, Star Luxe will be considerably smaller than those projects and the only one with a starting price above $1 million, although the developer would not divulge further information about pricing.
Constellation Property Group President Eugene Marchese said he thinks the exclusivity, over-the-top amenities and services, and unusual design of Star Luxe will set it apart.
“The reality is that there are a number of projects that claim to be luxury and high-end, but I truly believe there isn’t the type of project that we are proposing,” Marchese said. “We’re saying extravagance is the new luxury.”
Star Luxe is one of the condominium buildings that Constellation plans to build on Lady Bird Lake just east of the interstate. The company didn’t have renderings but said Star Luxe will be on the waterfront at the eastern edge of the 4.5-acre site. The six-story building will have three units per floor. Interior designs will involve one of three themes: music, art nouveau and ultramodern international design.
The musically inspired units will have curved walls to evoke the shape of a guitar. Each unit will have a balcony of about 600 square feet — larger than some of downtown’s lowest-priced condos.
Owners will be driven from the airport in the building’s “signature fleet,” where they will be received by a white-gloved valet and waited on by 24-hour concierge service.
Constellation has hired Sotheby’s to market the condos and thinks many buyers will come from outside Texas and the United States.
Sales director Brian Sciutto said the exclusivity and high prices on the project will give Star Luxe an advantage over its competition.
“Some of the buyers that can afford to buy penthouses in the Austonian and can afford higher-end units in the W and the Four Seasons, they don’t want to buy where other people — average, ordinary people — can buy,” Sciutto said. “They really want something that’s absolutely limited edition.”
Market researcher Charles Heimsath said the market for high-end condominiums in Austin is healthy, and that buyers have expressed a clear desire for larger units, sometimes buying more than one condo and combining them.
Heimsath said the number of high-priced units on the market here is small compared with cities such as Miami, but said Constellation could have a hard time convincing people to buy at Interstate 35 and East Riverside.
“I would have to say that the a market for luxury or superluxury projects east of the interstate, even though it’s on (Lady Bird Lake), has yet to be proven,” he said.
Construction has begun on the first phase of the project, called Star Riverside, where the half of the 38 units that remain unsold are listed for between $700,000 and $1.5 million.
Constellation also plans to build a nearly 60-unit project called Revolution at Riverside, with units priced between $400,000 and $700,000.
Another building planned on the site could be a hotel.
Marchese said Star Luxe should be completed in early 2010.
kmorton@statesman.com; 445-3641
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