Quote:
Originally Posted by AusTex
But will it bring down the cost of renting????
Who is developing this building and what is the bottom line of this developer???
Is this another way for another corporate entity to build a POS under the radar of the city and its citizens while hopefully making extreme profits?
Random apartment in Asia? Looks Like an F you to Austin to me,
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Yes, it (along with all the other units under construction) have the potential to bring down prices, so long as the demand decreases.
There are only 2 ways to bring down the cost of rent (or anything else for that matter), increase the number of units (any units will do the trick), or decrease the demand.
When I attended UT, my first apartment was off Riverside in 1987, a brand new unit at Copper Tree (its still there). My roommate and I lived there for 5 years, 2 of those years our rent was DECREASED to keep us there. If I had to guess, the complex was no more than 70% leased. The unit next door to us never leased to anyone. This was a brand new complex and much nicer than anything else in the area. When I toured a condo for lease at Orange Tree in '88, the price I was quoted was $2200 for a 2 bed. Fun fact, a "refreshed" OT 2 bed units are still leasing (right now)in that same price range...$2000-2200/mo. As the age of OT pushed it from a class A to a class B condo complex (some units class C as they are literally original-1977), the rents have increased at a much lower pace compared to brand new complexes with loads of amenities OT will never have. This is how the market regulates itself. We should always encourage building in highly desirable areas like WC to facilitate a dense, walkable college neighborhood. This frees up rentals in Riverside, Far West, and Hyde Park to a large extent. Now that WC can house 10 or maybe 20 times more students than prior to UNO passing, less students compete for rental units across the city, this lowers prices for all renters, even if you may not notice it directly.
Even now, rents are (in general) falling all over Austin, for all price points.
https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/20...ome-builders-are-dismantling-the-cranes/ Why? Because the developers overbuilt, just as they did in the early to mid 80's resulting in my rent being lowered over 5 years. Overzealous developers often favor renters in the market by adding too many Class A units, the developers lower their rates to "lease up". This has a ripple affect as, Class B tenants move up to Class A, Class B to Class C, etc....or renters move to a more desirable area as they can now afford it, or the stay put and watch their rents decrease as landlords move to stop the non-renewals, by lowering rates. Renters are now given more options: newer units or better locations to move, and more ways to negotiate....the downside is they have to move or have the ability to negotiate.
Why does it matter who the developer is and what their bottom line is? Their bottom line is no different than yours or mine. No builder builds "under the radar of the city", they all must submit to a substantial permitting process that includes reviews and inspections all along the way. The developer's lender most likely requires 3rd party inspections as well. Do some developers "value engineer" to keep the $ low, hell yeah, and that's a good thing. I had to value engineer my first home, cuz that's what I could afford. I lived in it, it worked for me at the time. Do some contractors do shotty work that gets missed by superintendents and inspectors? yes. They do this all the time, and if they are caught after the fact, they remedy the situation, or face legal consequences. IMO most all apartment/condo buildings across Austin are NOT built well, with quality materials, using best building practices. The people who can afford the aforementioned are rare and wealthy and what's even more rare are the craftsman/contractors who can execute literally ANY aspect of the building process at a very high level. Pro tip- skip college, learn a trade....become a MASTER at the trade...you will make a fortune and set your own schedule. I know trim carpenters that make well over $250k/yr who are booked literally YEARS out.
And if you think we build worse now than 10-20- or 100 years ago, you would be wrong. The charming houses you see in HP, some are literally sitting on wooden blocks with wood shims to level the piers. Insulation? Ha, what a joke. Lead pipes, check. Asbestos, double check. Mold everywhere, check mate.
You mention the developers "hopefully making extreme profits". I have seen developers lose big money in this town. I personally know a couple developers in my neighborhood who have gone under in the last year. It's sad. Their kids will have a rough Christmas, their marriages struggle, they deal with depression. The developer makes a decision (a bet) the day they sign the contract to start a project that the market will reward them in 2-5 years time. That is a daunting decision. The market doesn't care about developers making or losing money, the market dictates the prices not feelings. This is the risk on the developer, they chose to add units to the market with the hope to make $. But if the market turns on them, or the market is flooded with units, they could easily lose money, it happens all the time. These developers are typically small local companies with local families running them, it's not the illuminati, it's not Blackrock.
If the market doesn't respect the build quality or the price, they market will move on to other units till the $ reflects the build quality. Look at G, that building was trash, the design the floor plans, all garbage. What happened to them, they lost their asses and their apartment building. Now they removed all the rental units from the market and spend a fortune demo and reno to a hotel. Complete disaster from a developer perspective, but they did it to themselves.... so tough —. under $900 for a 2bed though!
https://www.facebook.com/TheGAustin/
Even still, it may not work out for them as a hotel, its all a risk.
I believe we need all types of quality to afford varying student budgets. Ultra luxury for those that can afford it all the way to 100 year old run down houses in HP. I rented one on Hampton in 2000, it was charming, it was cool, it leaked like a sieve, but chics I brought home LOVED it....so there was that.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/fmhnRB8BUFAJzBoTA
I never lived in WC, because it was too expensive, or too —, or both. I wanted my own room and would not compromise, like many of my other friends who shared rooms "dorm style" in WC. So I moved to Riverside. If people don't want to pay to walk to school, they can shuttle from FW or RV, it's not ideal, but it's a viable option.
source: me. Austin renter '87-06, homeowner '06-current. I have personally remodeled 2 homes and built 3 others for myself and my family over the last 18 years, all in central Austin, all with ADU's
https://maps.app.goo.gl/N5CaNLKcp2skSftt7
https://www.trulia.com/home/1906-hether-st-austin-tx-78704-29322107
https://maps.app.goo.gl/LbTuALTpFkCmuSJi9
(I hire builders, as I am not a builder per se)
I am now a relative expert in Austin's codes and have testified at City Hall on behalf of Zilker, my neighbors garage door variances, support for Home and Home 2, Granny Flats, for the better part of 20 years. I have a lot of respect for the City codes, the people who work in DAC, my architects, my builders/subs, and the workers as i would visit them daily with lunch and Tecates on Friday's at 5. Its a tough business, and if they all make some money......good for them. Far better than the alternative.
I hate the design of this building, btw, but who gives a — what I think, its not my — in the breeze.
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This is after all being marketed as affordable student housing which is much needed.
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