Downtown Austin Market News

[KevinFromTexas]

Here's the article on the one in San Antonio.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/bl...to-canada-to-learn-how-operate-a-12.html

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/blog/r...ores-on-hebs-horizon-a-fit.html?page=all

Really small grocery stores on HEB's horizon; a fit for downtowns
Jan 23, 2015, 8:01am CST

Stephanie Guzman
Reporter-
San Antonio Business Journal

Austin's dominant grocer — HEB Grocery Company LP — will soon build its smallest store in the chain in downtown San Antonio, a harbinger of what may come to Central Austin in the future.

The San Antonio-based company has spent the past decade going big-box to compete with stores such as Wal-Mart but it got the OK Wednesday night from San Antonio's Historic and Design Review Commission to proceed with plans to open a 12,000-square-foot grocery store and gas station on South Flores Street and East Cesar Chavez Boulevard.

The store in downtown San Antonio will be about one-sixth the size of an average HEB grocery store. A typical HEB store is 70,000 to 80,000 square feet.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.statesman.com/news/business/four-seasons-like-w-hotel-now-listed-for-sale/nj2Cf/

Four Seasons, like W Hotel, now listed for sale
3:57 p.m. Friday, Jan. 30, 2015 | Filed in: Business

Now two high-profile downtown Austin hotels are on the market.

A spokeswoman confirmed Friday that the building housing the Four Seasons Hotel Austin, 98 San Jacinto Blvd., is for sale. The announcement came just hours after the developer of the W Austin Hotel, 200 Lavaca St., revealed in a securities filing Thursday that a company had been hired to market that building.

The Four Seasons is owned by Lodging Capital Partners and Prudential; the W is owned by a partnership led by Austin-based Stratus Properties Inc.

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

http://www.statesman.com/news/business/four-seasons-like-w-hotel-now-listed-for-sale/nj2Cf/

Should not be a problem just as long as the properties keep their current brands in place. It could be a bad sign, if we lost the brands in the impending ownership shuffle. Four Seasons and W are definitely high prestige.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/blog/r...he-grove-hopes-to-find-its.html?page=all

Jezebel's replacement: The Grove hopes to find its groove on Austin's Sixth St.
Feb 3, 2015, 5:00pm CST

Jan Buchholz
Staff Writer-
Austin Business Journal

The Grove Wine Bar & Kitchen and the Lola Savannah Coffee Bar are headed to downtown Austin in the space currently occupied by Restaurant Jezebel.

The 6,900-square-foot indoor space and 2,100-square-foot patio are located on the ground floor of the Cirrus Logic building at 800 W. Sixth St.

"We're so excited to open downtown with Cirrus Logic's 600 employees and GSDM's 500 employees" nearby, said Beth Selbe Lasita, co-founder of The Grove and Lola Savannah.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.jonathanbane.com/blog/dtjobgrowth

AUSTIN NOW LEADER IN DOWNTOWN JOB GROWTH

February 28, 2015

Between 2002 - 2007, city-center job growth in Austin was about 0.6 percent annually and suburban job growth was about 3.1 percent annually. Between 2007 and 2011, though, city center job growth in Austin surged to 3.4 percent annually while suburban job growth slowed to 2.3 percent annually. That's the fastest-growing urban core job growth in the nation in that time. Austin, with 28.8 percent of its jobs located in the urban core, now has the highest level of core employment in the nation.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2...-hotel-continues-to-dominate-liquor.html

Austin's newest hotel continues to dominate liquor sales — even at SXSW
Apr 24, 2015, 8:19am CDT

Chad Swiatecki
Staff Writer-
Austin Business Journal

We should probably get used to seeing J.W. Marriott Hotel Austin in the top spot of Austin’s monthly liquor sales rankings, because with numbers like what the downtown hotel and conference center has put up in its first two months of business, no one else is within sniffing distance of first place.

The March data shown here is of course the biggest month of the year for liquor sales in Austin because of South By Southwest. All those guests and conference attendees in the Marriott rang up more than $900,000 in liquor. That is a just staggering number and makes impressive totals by the Jackalope/Chupacabra, Four Seasons Austin, W Hotel and The Driskill seem kind of pale, even though they all did more than $500,000 in business during the month of SXSW.

[the Genral]

Not surprised. It has over 1000 rooms, its the center of the SXSW universe, proximity to the convention center, and ease of access to sizable drinking caverns from the sidewalk. I think the Fairmont will put up good numbers, but it may be too isolated to compete, even with the W, for alcohol sales volume bragging rights.

[drummer]

I see the point in Fairmont being isolated, but especially once the creek is developed and more happens with the Waller group of buildings, that might not be as much of an issue. Granted, JW Marriott might still a better location, all things considered.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by drummer

I see the point in Fairmont being isolated, but especially once the creek is developed and more happens with the Waller group of buildings, that might not be as much of an issue. Granted, JW Marriott might still a better location, all things considered.

JW is gonna be the biggest liquor sales in town for basically ever because it's perfectly located as a large hotel on Congress. Fairmont, even though it'll do well on liquor sales, will never be able to compete there.

[AustinGoesVertical]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Any tower that goes up on that lot is going to have major visibility from I-35 and any views from the east. I hope the design is worth it, and so far I haven't been able to say that with this project. You can't go blocking a building like Frost that has become the city's de facto skyscraper icon with something mediocre.

I agree. The Aqua (also Magellan) is a truly iconic tower in Chicago. I don't know why they would choose to build another 400 ft rectangle here in Austin. They should have done something much more striking with at least an interesting crown, much less a more slender design.

[ILUVSAT]

Aqua - Check out what else Studio Gang Architects have done. Pretty impressive!

[wwmiv]

This is exactly why I said this tower is shaky in the other thread.

[AustinGoesVertical]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

Aqua - Check out what else Studio Gang Architects have done. Pretty impressive!

Woah! Their design for 160 Folsom in San Francisco looks awesome. It's a 40-story, 400 ft condo project projected for a 2018 finish. That would have looked great at 5th and Brazos. I wonder why there was so much caution with the design they chose instead.

[wwmiv]

Designs like that cost a lot more and thus have much more expensive residential units. Unfortunately, this part of downtown will never have towers like that because it isn't a desirable residential location that could command that price point, so we're gonna be stuck with so-so towers in this area for awhile.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Designs like that cost a lot more and thus have much more expensive residential units. Unfortunately, this part of downtown will never have towers like that because it isn't a desirable residential location that could command that price point, so we're gonna be stuck with so-so towers in this area for awhile.

Exactly. In fact, it may be many years before Austin sees designs anywhere close to this...no matter what area of downtown.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

Exactly. In fact, it may be many years before Austin sees designs anywhere close to this...no matter what area of downtown.

Yes. The only cities seeing these designs in the U.S. are NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, and to a much lower degree Miami.

I do think that if a city in Texas is gonna get them, Austin will have them first.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Yes. The only cities seeing these designs in the U.S. are NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, and to a much lower degree Miami.

I do think that if a city in Texas is gonna get them, Austin will have them first.

I respectfully disagree. Houston or Dallas will get these types of designs before Austin. Remember: higher design = higher average cost per SF for the buyer. As much as I would like to see it here, I do not think Austin can support this type of design we are describing in this thread...at this time.

I truly hope I am wrong.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

I respectfully disagree. Houston or Dallas will get these types of designs before Austin. Remember: higher design = higher average cost per SF for the buyer. As much as I would like to see it here, I do not think Austin can support this type of design we are describing in this thread...at this time.

I truly hope I am wrong.

Houston and Dallas don't have the requisite demand for high rise residential among their uber-wealthy.

[KevinFromTexas]

If the city and state are still wondering where they'll find the money for that homestead tax exemption plan they have, I have an idea where they can find it.

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/loc...acebook_2014_sfp#15eb7bae.3523710.735738

Commercial properties notably undervalued, Austin study says
Posted: 8:16 p.m. Tuesday, May 19, 2015

By Andra Lim - American-Statesman Staff

The Austin City Council has thrown down what could be its ace in the hole if it decides to file a challenge of commercial property appraisals: a study showing that those properties are significantly undervalued.

The study, released Tuesday, backs up the examples that have accumulated over the years of commercial properties that were appraised far below what they sold for, thus shifting more of the tax burden to homeowners and rental properties.

On average, the study estimated that the Travis Central Appraisal District’s 2015 commercial property values are under market value by 27 percent while vacant or underdeveloped commercial land is undervalued by 76 percent.

The study arrived at those numbers in part by analyzing commercial property sales from 2012 to 2014. In that period, the appraisal district’s initial values for those properties were, on average, 40 percent below market value. The final values — after commercial properties had protested their values — were under market value by 47 percent on average, suggesting that most undervaluation occurred before the appeals process that activists and state lawmakers have aimed to reform.

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Houston and Dallas don't have the requisite demand for high rise residential among their uber-wealthy.

You might want to take a look at the high end offerings regularly available in the Dallas high rise market. There is a lot of it, and some of it rivals what you might find in Los Angeles or even in NY. Austin has a lot of catching up to do before it can be compared to Dallas or Houston on that score. The Dallas high rise market is mostly immediately adjacent to downtown, some of it within walking distance. Houston's is a bit more spread out but still within a very few miles of downtown.

http://www.highrises.com/dallas/idx/search/70efdf2ec9b086079795c442636b55fb/

http://www.houstonluxuryhighrises.com/buildings/other/1m.html