Austin: Zilker Park condo to include hotel

[priller]

http://www.statesman.com/business/co...905zilker.html





Zilker Park condo project now includes hotel
Friday, September 05, 2008

Developer John Wooley has added a boutique hotel to his proposed condominium project on Barton Springs Road bordering Zilker Park. He also has a new financial partner — the real estate development firm of Fort Worth billionaire Ed Bass.

Original plans for the project, announced in November, had 74 condominium units at the eastern edge of the park. The new design includes 40 condominiums and a 65-room boutique hotel whose operator Wooley said he's not ready to disclose.

...The condos will be in three five-story buildings, with one level of underground parking. Zoning is in place for a hotel, Wooley said.

Prices are expected to range from $659,000 for a one-bedroom unit with 1,515 square feet to $1.4 million for a unit with 3,241 square feet. However, Wooley said about a third of prospective buyers are contracting for combined units, and the highest priced of those is in the $3 million range, for a unit with 6,700 square feet.

...Wooley said he has signed or pending contracts for 16 units, with buyers paying deposits of 10 or 15 percent.

Wooley said most of the buyers "are clearly planning on not having a mortgage," and thus won't be affected by the credit crunch that is limiting the availability of home loans.

...Randy McCaslin, vice president with PKF Consulting, which tracks the hotel market, said Austin is "a unique lodging market that is kind to special niche hotels, as evidenced by the tremendous success of the Hotel San Jose" on South Congress Avenue.

McCaslin, who has visited the site and discussed the hotel concept with Wooley, said he thinks it has the potential "to be to the Zilker Park community what the Hotel San Jose is to the SoCo community. And that is a good thing."

...Jeff Jack, head of the Zilker Neighborhood Association, said he will seek feedback on Wooley's new plan from the group's executive committee next week. Jack said that a hotel, instead of more condos, could help reduce rush-hour traffic in the area, "as hotel patrons tend to come and go at all hours."

Assuming that the project adheres to the area's 60-foot height limit — which the developers say it will — "then it looks like a positive evolution of the design," Jack said.

[KevinFromTexas]

The hotel should do well there considering large events at Zilker eat up a lot of hotel rooms.

[Saddle Man]

The layout of the complex looks very suburban.

[Raining Inside]

So WanFu Too will be the first Restaurant Row establishment to get demolished for new development? I don't like that trend.

[TXAlex]

Originally Posted by Raining Inside

So WanFu Too will be the first Restaurant Row establishment to get demolished for new development? I don't like that trend.

Wanfu is one of the worst food chains I have ever eaten at. While loosing the building isn't great: loosing wanfu too is a watershed event.

[AustinGuy]

A hotel there makes a lot of sense, but I'm guessing the change in plans must have been due to slow condo sales although they try to make a point in the article about how great the project has been selling.

I think the whole project as a hotel would be a great idea in that location.

[Saddle Man]

Wanfu Too sucked. Terrible food and terrible service. I'm glad it's gone.

[hookem]

I thought I read somewhere that it would be just west of Wanfu. But I agree with everyone else, I wouldn't mind that place being gone! I'd prefer that to using completely empty land.

Also, I don't understand how they can possibly ask for the price points they are talking about on those condos. I understand that the location is great, but I'm not sure who would be spending >$1M on a condo in a low-rise, apartment building looking place? The square footage and interiors might be great, but I just can't imagine there will ever be enough prestige and inherent value in those buildings. Bridges on the Park prices are about the max I figure you can get in a place like that.