12-22-2007
Off for few days

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, I will taking my much needed vacation, but if you have any real estate problem it need to reach me, feel me to call my cell phone 512-415-9448 (I love cell phone....it work everywhere!)

Tommy Tam Real Estate Blog will be back after the New Year with more information for you :)

12-20-2007
Donwtown just getting more crowded

RGM Advisors LLC, a growing Austin-based proprietary trading firm, is taking the last large block of space in Chase Tower, the second-largest downtown lease deal of 2007. Early this year Bury+Partners Inc., an Austin-based engineering firm, leased 55,000 square feet and later expanded into 77,000 square feet at the same building, it is the largest leasing deal of 2007.

12-18-2007
Fed to loan banks up to $20 billion to ease credit crunch

The Federal Reserve is providing $20 billion in loans to banks as part of an unprecedented auction process to ease a global credit crisis and make sure financial institutions can keep lending to their customers.
The central bank today announced banks' use of a new auction facility that was created to encourage banks to seek cash directly from the Fed to help them overcome credit problems.
The Fed announced that the interest rate on the short-term loans will be 4.65 percent, which is slightly less than the 4.75 percent the Fed charges banks on emergency loans through its "discount" window. Banks have been reluctant to use the Fed's discount window because of the fear that investors will believe they are having trouble getting funds in a normal manner.
The Fed received bids from banks for $61.6 billion worth of loans, an indication the Fed had been successful in achieving its goal of encouraging banks to use the new auction facility.
In its announcement of the auction results, there were 93 bids for the emergency loans. Each bank could submit up to two bids. The auction for the loans was conducted on Monday, and the results released on Wednesday.
A second auction will be conducted on Thursday, offering banks another chance to get a slice of another $20 billion in loans. The Fed said it would conduct two more auctions in January and then assess whether the process was worth continuing.
The Fed announced last week that it was creating an auction facility that would give cash-strapped banks a new way to get short-term loans from the central bank to help them over the credit hump. A global credit crisis has made banks reluctant to lend to each other, which can crimp lending to individuals and businesses.
The smooth flow of credit is the econony's life blood. It permits people to finance big-ticket purchases, such as homes and cars, and helps businesses to expand their operations and hire workers.
The Fed's actions are part of a global response in which other central banks also are taking steps to curb the credit crisis.
The European Central Bank on Tuesday opened its credit tap wide, pumping a record amount of cash — more than $500 billion — into markets to keep banks from Finland to France flush with the cash they need to operate.
The move, along with another liquidity infusion by the Bank of England, was aimed at keeping jittery markets calm amid a credit squeeze. It appeared to calm stock markets.
In the United States, the Fed also has been slicing its most important interest rate, called the federal funds rate, to help deal with the tight credit situation. The Fed has lowered this rate three times this year. It most recent rate cut on Dec. 11 dropped the rate down to 4.25, a two-year low. The funds rate is the rate banks charge each other on overnight loans. It affects a wide range of interest rates charged to people and businesses, making it the Fed's main tool for influencing U.S. economic activity.

12-14-2007
Austin - The top up-and-coming real estate market.

On ABC's "Today Show" last week, nationally renowned real estate expert Barbara Corcoran gave her opinion on the top five up-and-coming markets in the country. She named Austin as the top up-and-coming market nationally, and she stated that it is currently a terrific time to buy Austin real estate, specifically in the SoCo (South Congress) area, just south of downtown.
The Austin Business Journal also featured a recent article about Austin's appreciation over the past year, which was almost 10%. This places Austin at seventh in the country for 2006-07. Clearly, it is a great time to buy property in this area!

Ms. Corcoran stated that the SoCo area exemplified Austin's slogan, "Keep Austin Weird". The slogan was put in place in order to support local businesses, rather than large chain stores. It actually inspired similar movements in many other cities nationwide, including Portland and Tampa.
Corcoran said the combination of quirky and trendy shops make it a great place for nightlife. She admitted that SoCo might not be the ideal spot for families, but she said it is a good place to make money.
"Old ladies on park benches are a good sign? I've seen it over and over again. You have a ghetto area, where no one sits on a park bench. Suddenly, old ladies are there, so if it's safe enough for them, then it's safe enough for you to put your money into," said Corcoran.
The low prices in Austin combined with a strong local economy make it a natural mecca for real estate investors and new residents.

12-12-2007
Trans-Texas Corridor: Dallas - Austin - San Antonio, Still Controversial

TRANS-TEXAS CORRIDOR, The estimated 4000 mile Trans-Texas Corridor is a system of rail lines and highways that would parallel IH-35 to the east from Gainsville to Laredo, passing through Dallas, Austin and San Antonio.
This 50-year, long-range transit plan that was proposed as a solution to the need for infrastructure in Texas to move 36 million residents as well as cargo through our state. You believe forecasts that our current population in Texas of 22 million will increase to 32 Million by 2030 and this corridor is needed to deal with resulting mobility needs. But the cost is staggering and the plan doesn't solve the problem. As tax payers don't like paying for things where the results aren't apparent. The estimated price tag of $140-180 billion dollars and ensuing land grab may not sit right with you. Over 584,000 acres of Texas land will be taken to create the corridor.
I have to say that Governor Perry is a bold man. He always has been. Some political leaders can't make a decision or just pander to the voters. Governor Perry, like him or not, knows what he thinks is right and goes for it. Let the history to decide whether Perry is a true visionary or a viking in a cowboy hat.

12-10-2007
Hockey Complex Come To Cedar Park

Cedar Park City Council approved a memorandum of understanding with Hicks Sports Marketing Group, a company headed by the owner of the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Although the agreement is preliminary, it calls for the city to fund more than $43 million of a $55 million entertainment center that would be home to a Dallas Stars affiliate hockey team.
The contract would also allow Hicks to develop 17 acres of the city-owned land surrounding the center for retail, commercial, and/or residential purposes.
Although the primary purpose of the entertainment center would be for the American Hockey League team, in the office season it would be a general venue for concerts and the like.
The complex would be located off the new 183-A between New Hope Drive and Crystal Falls Parkway.
Cedar Park plans to raise the money for the development with certificates of obligation, bonds that aren't subject to voter approval. A binding agreement will have to be finalized by the middle of December.
With the way Cedar Park and Leander are growing, I have no doubt that this kind of development can succeed. Another Central Texas hockey team!!

12-08-2007
Another record braking home goes on the market for $13.5 million--Attwood estate as one of the most expensive ever listed in Austin

There's another home on the market in Austin for $13.5 million. It's owned by Greg Attwood, co-founder of the World Gym fitness centers in Austin, which were sold in 2002 to Gold's Gym Enterprises Inc.
The estate on Lake Travis joins a house on Selma Hughes Park Road and another in Spicewood as the most expensive listings ever in Austin.
The latest home is smaller than the other two, which have more than 15,000 square feet each. Attwood's has a mere 8,500 square feet.
But Attwood points out that his property has 45 acres that are suitable for a housing development, as well as three other homes and two boat docks.
The main home has two stories, five bedrooms and 51/2 bathrooms and about 2,500 feet of waterfront.
Attwood has been a real estate developer since selling World Gym and is working on the Creekside at Flint Rock housing development near Lakeway.
He says that if he doesn't sell his current house, he'll probably develop the surrounding acres as well. "It has unbelievable potential, so I'm seeing whether anyone has an interest in either developing the property or keeping it as a private estate."
Attwood says the land has "some great trails for bikes, motorcycles or horses. And there are picturesque canyons that go down to the lake."
If it sells, Attwood says he'll probably buy another home in the area because his son is two years away from high-school graduation. But he eventually plans to spend more time in Marble Falls, where he has a 650-acre ranch.
"We raise exotic animals out there, African stock animals and things like that," he says.


(P.S. Let me know if you thinking about buying this estate, I will love to check this place out.)

12-07-2007
America's Fastest Growing Suburbs

1-Lincoln,California---11,746---39,566---236.8%
2-Buckeye, Arizona---10,147---29,615---191.9%
3-Surprise, Arizona---32,342---85,914---165.6%
4-Goodyear, Arizona---19,495---47,359---142.9%
5-Plainfield, Illinois---13,666---31,968---133.9%
6-Beaumont, California---11,549---26,625---130.5%
7-Frisco, Texas---35,299---80,499---128.0% (N of Dallas)
8-Wylie, Texas---15,619---32,696---109.3% (NE of Dallas)
9-Avondale, Arizona---37,261---75,403---102.4%
10-Woodstock, Georgia---10,697---21,482---100.8%
11-Cedar Park, Texas---26,926---52,058---93.3%
12-Brentwood, California---24,757---47,547---92.1%
13-McKinney, Texas---56,087---107,530---91.7% (N of Dallas)
14-Oswego, Illinois---13,814---26,252---90.0%
15-Castle Rock, Colorado---20,907---39,682---89.8%
16-Commerce, Colorado---21,437---38,887---81.4%
17-Murrieta, California---51,678---90,457---75.0%
18-Holly Springs, North Carolina---10,017---17,425---74.0%
19-Winter Garden, Florida---15,590---27,045---73.5%
20-Wake Forest, North Carolina---13,080---22,651---73.2%
21-Rockwall, Texas---18,610---32,224---73.2% (E of Dallas)
22-Sachse, Texas---10,257---17,597---71.6% (NE of Dallas)
23-Pflugerville, Texas---17,451---29,747---70.5%
24-Gilbert, Arizona---112,766---191,517---69.8%
25-Homestead, Florida---31,950---53,767---68.3%
...
30-Corinth, Texas---11,738---19,556---66.6% (N of Fort Worth)
33-Allen, Texas---45,097---73,298---62.5% (N of Dallas)
34-Pearland, Texas---42,276---68,305---61.6% (S of Houston)
47-The Colony, Texas---27,073---40,206---48.5% (N or Dallas)
49-Round Rock, Texas---62,572---92,392---47.7%
50-Saginaw, Texas---12,704---18,739---47.5% (N or Fort Worth)

12-02-2007
Whole Foods construction to begin early next year, add momentum to Domain project

Construction is to start by year's end on the first office building at Endeavor Real Estate Group's mammoth Domain project in North Austin, where 8.5 million square feet of housing, hotel rooms, offices and restaurants are planned.
Next year, the project will gain momentum when work starts on a Whole Foods store, the first 240 apartments and a 9-acre park and pavilion, Kirk Rudy, an Endeavor principal, said Tuesday.
Rudy said he is in talks to bring a second department store anchor in addition to Nordstrom, along with a third hotel, to the 176-acre project.
Endeavor also is talking to several prospective tenants for the first office building. Called Domain Gateway, the 175,000-square-foot building eventually will be part of 3.5 million to 4 million square feet of space at the project near MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) and Burnet Road.
A second office building with 225,000 square feet will sit partially atop a new 70,000-square-foot store that Whole Foods Market Inc. plans to open in early 2010, Rudy said.
Endeavor's site is just east of Simon Property Group Inc.'s upscale shopping center that opened in March near MoPac and Braker Lane. Simon's project, also called the Domain, is anchored by a Macy's and Austin's first Neiman Marcus store, plus dozens of other high-end retailers and 390 luxury apartments.
Endeavor originally planned that 700,000-square-foot shopping center and brought on Simon Property as a partner.
Indianapolis-based Simon acquired Endeavor's partnership interest a month after it opened.
Rudy said sidewalks and roads will connect the two projects, so they will feel like a continuous development.
"The goal is you'll feel like you're in one community, one project," Rudy said.
Endeavor expects its mixed-use village to house more than 6,000 residents and 17,500 office workers when it is completed over the next 10 to 12 years at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion.
Plans call for 4,500 to 6,000 apartments, townhomes and condominiums, he said.
Rudy said Endeavor is not currently seeking public investment from the city or county for the project, but it hasn't made a final decision.
Meanwhile, work is under way at the site, where a former IBM Corp. building is being demolished, Rudy said.
The Whole Foods store is planned for the project's main, north entrance. Whole Foods considered a site just south of Simon's shopping center, Rudy said, but opted for Endeavor's development because of easier access and "to capitalize on the energy" of the project.
Rudy said Austin-based Whole Foods is a good fit for the Domain. The specialty grocer's "strong commitment to environmental stewardship" will blend with a project Endeavor plans to make ecologically responsible by adhering to national and local green-building standards.
Having a locally based grocer also underscores Endeavor's commitment to a strong presence of retailers and restaurants unique to Austin, he said.
Whole Foods said its store will have expanded product selections and services for a growing part of the city.
The one-story store will have two levels of underground parking, plus surface parking. Whole Foods plans to start construction in the fourth quarter of 2008 and expects an early 2010 opening, Rudy said. The store will replace the Whole Foods store in the Gateway shopping center.
In the second or third quarter, Endeavor plans to start work on a 240-unit apartment building. In January 2009, Endeavor plans to begin construction on 450 apartments atop shops and restaurants in a district that could have 800,000 square feet of retail and 200,000 square feet of office space.
Anchoring the district will be a 144,000-square-foot Nordstrom store that is scheduled to open in late 2010, along with the rest of the stores, Rudy said. He said he is working on a second department store anchor.
Endeavor also plans to have three hotels, including one with 145 rooms housed in a 28-story condominium/hotel tower that would be Austin's tallest building outside downtown.
Novare and its Austin development partner, Andrews Urban, hope to break ground on the tower, Twelve Domain, in late spring.
Taylor Andrews, president of Andrews Urban, said prices for the 360 units haven't been determined. But he said they will be similar to those for a 44-story condo tower Novare/Andrews Urban is building downtown, where one-bedrooms go for $190,000 to $350,000 and two-bedrooms go for $270,000 to $550,000.
There also will be an Aloft , a boutique brand of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. The six-story Aloft is being developed as a joint venture between Open Hospitality Partners, a Dallas-based development firm, and Lodgeworks of Wichita, Kan.
Rudy said he is in talks with another chain to build a 200-room hotel but said he could not identify the brand.
Another hotel, Austin's first Westin, is planned in the next phase of Simon's shopping center, which will have a Dillard's and a Dick's Sporting Goods store.

11-30-2007
Re-designing Riverside Drive

One of Austin's busiest corridors will soon get a multi-million dollar overhaul. The Austin City Council Thursday hired an architect, A. Nelessen & Associates out of New Jersey, to redesign East Riverside Drive from I-35 to Ben White. City leaders say in 5 years, you won't even be able to recognize it. Part of the plan includes widening the street, adding an "ultra light" rail line that will run from the airport to downtown and pushing new condo and retail developments along that corridor right next to the street instead of being set back. "It's just a complete new, urbanist design of the way cities are growing, and Riverside is no different," says Austin City Council member Mike Martinez. "The market is dictating a lot of change on Riverside."
"I think what Austinites can expect to see is East Riverside become more like second street with buildings from 4 to 7 stories high," added Austin City Council member Brewster McCracken.
The design process will take several months. City leaders say the East Riverside project could easily costs tens of millions of dollars to overhaul.
One question being raised is how will this change affect the cost of housing. There are a number of students and immigrant workers who live in the area. While prices will go up, city leaders say the public will get a chance to give feedback during the design process.

11-28-2007
PFLUGERVILLE 101

German immigrant Henry Pfluger is the town's namesake. Pfluger brought his family here in the late 1840s, although it didn't develop into a community until after the Civil War.A school was opened in 1872 although there was no post office until one was granted in 1893. The population reached 250 in the 1890s and a small downtown developed, despite the proximity to Round Rock. When the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railroad connected Austin and Georgetown in 1904, it passed near enough to Pflugerville to insure growth. The population soon doubled. Several local schools merged with the Pflugerville high school in the early 1920s. Increased mobility after WWII siphoned off some of Pflugerville's population. It declined to 380 by 1949. The town incorporated in the early 1960s and the population started growing. By 1980 it had reached 662 - a small number compared to the growth it was about to experience.
By the late 1980s it had exploded to an estimated 4,000 people, growing to nearly 4,500 by 1990. The 2004 state map shows a population over 16,000.The town still manages to maintain a semblance of the quiet town it had once been. The tiny cluster of buildings downtown remind visitors that it is indeed a separate town and not an extension of the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown sprawl.

11-27-2007
Pflugerville prepares for western expansion

Even as Pflugerville’s plan for growth focuses on the open land to the east, the city is also making its final move west. The city is scheduled to annex the remainder of its western jurisdiction during the next three years. More than 5,000 homes between Pflugerville Parkway to the north to near Pecan Street in the south will be formally included in the city limits.
“We are capturing the right to zone it, so we can have land-use control,” Pflugerville Planning Director Trey Fletcher said. “That way we can maintain the quality and character of the area as much as any other area of Pflugerville that is already incorporated.” The annexation will encompass Windermere, Heatherwilde, Picadilly Ridge and Springbrook Meadow neighborhoods.
Once the process is complete, Pflugerville will add more than 8,000 residents from the annexation, motivating the city to begin preparations now. This year, the police department alone will hire eight more patrol officers, an inspection officer and a detective and buy 10 patrol vehicles at a cost of $1 million, mostly in anticipation of the annexation, according to city finance director Lauri Gilliam. The annexation of west Pflugerville began in 2002 with a study that anticipated the city would collect $4,394,838 in revenue from the neighborhoods, which included the ones scheduled for 2007-2009. In turn, the city would spend $3,710,321 out of the general funds budget. Fletcher said ironically many of the residents notified about the annexation thought they already lived in the city limits because their mailing address includes the city name. However, parts of major corridors such as Grand Avenue Parkway are in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, the land Pflugerville had the exclusive right to annex.
That meant residents living in those areas did not pay city property taxes and, in turn, did not receive city services such as police patrol and response.
“The premise of annexation is to recoup the revenue from entities that are using our parks, streets and other services, but not paying for them,” Fletcher said. The first segment of the western annexation, which includes the Springbrook Meadows and North Park neighborhoods, will be complete this year. As required by state law, the annexation process began three years in advance. Much of the mostly residential area was developed when it belonged in Austin’s extraterritorial jurisdiction. The City of Austin eventually released the ETJ to Pflugerville, according to city manager David Buesing.
The neighborhoods are serviced by private utility companies, the Travis County Sheriff’s Department and the Travis County Emergency Service District No. 2. “This area is fairly urban,” Fletcher said. “They already have water and utility service. Their fire service by the county will not change since it is the same one the city uses. The most notable thing is when they call 911 they will not get routed to the Sheriff’s department, and with the police, our hope is they will get better response time.”
During the process, the annexation must get final approval by the city council after at least two public readings, two public hearings and negotiations monitored by a team appointed by the Travis County Commissioners Court. Stakeholders are chosen for the 5-member team.
So far, the negotiation process is complete for the 2007 and 2008 phases, with the 2009 segment preparing to enter this stage.
Earl Wellborn, the president of Windermere Homeowners Association, was a member of a stakeholders’ team and said the annexation is an important step for his neighborhood.
“A lot of people do not want to pay city taxes,” he said. “But people demand the services associated with it. I can’t see us continuing as a donut in the middle of Pflugerville. It is a quality of life issue.”
City manager David Buesing points out these residents are not required to pay taxes until the tax year following the year they are annexed. Some annexed in 2007 may not even pay until 2010, Buesing said, but he warns to prepare. All three of the annexed areas will receive services including police protection, street maintenance and the use of city recreational facilities. An annual family membership to the Pflugerville Recreation Center costs $160 for a nonresident. Once the annexation is complete, homeowners will pay $125 for the same uses.
Due to the negotiations conducted by the team appointed by the commissioners court, the city can grant requests from interested parties affected by the annexation.
In the phase scheduled for this year, one approved request provided for planting trees and shrubs along Victoria Station Boulevard and Royston Lane.
The planning department said the city has between two-and-a-half to four-and-a half-years to fulfill many of its obligations after the annexation. However, some “day-after services” must happen immediately as soon as annexation is complete. One example is with the police department. With the final vote for the 2007 annexation scheduled for Dec. 11, residents in Springbrook Meadows can expect to see Pflugerville Police Department on patrol by Dec. 12.

11-23-2007

Star Go Forward

The transformation of East Riverside Drive from a sprawling, well-worn, affordable enclave into a dense and upscale urban village will begin in earnest in the spring, when the first planned condo project is expected to break ground.
Australian developer Constellation Property Group plans to begin work in March on its 225-unit project at the northeast corner of Interstate 35 and Riverside Drive.
The Star Riverside condos, which will sell for between $400,000 and $1.2 million, will be broken into four buildings ranging from 60 to 110 feet high.
The first owners are expected to move in in April 2009.
Constellation faces competition from numerous condo projects planned in the vicinity.
AMLI Residential hopes to break ground by the middle of next year on 375 luxury apartments on 11 acres at the northwest corner of East Riverside Drive and South Lakeshore Boulevard. In addition, Sutton Co. will build at least 45 condos. Construction could take up to two years.
Cypress Real Estate Advisors also hopes to break ground next summer on a mixed-use development that will replace 800 aging apartments with as many as 2,500 apartments, condominiums and townhomes, as well as commercial, retail and live-work space on a 50-acre site on South Lakeshore Boulevard.
Interest in redeveloping the area is easy to understand, said real estate consultant Charles Heimsath of Capitol Market Research.
"The property is extremely well-located relative to downtown," he said. "Proximity to the lake makes it really attractive for redevelopment, and the housing stock that is there currently is very old and functionally obsolete. A lot of it really couldn't be remodeled and brought to current standards of acceptable multifamily housing."
Constellation President Eugene Marchese said projects need to compete on more than just size and price to succeed, and he believes that Constellation's location will give its condos a leg-up on the competition.
"Our location being right on Lady Bird Lake gives us a huge advantage over everyone else," Marchese said. "I don't think there's any other project at the moment that has absolute lake frontage."
Not everyone is excited about the redevelopment of East Riverside Drive.
Some longtime and former residents complain that the projects will eliminate affordable housing, hurt the area's diversity and overburden the area's streets and limited parks space.
Constellation's project should speed the extension of the hike-and-bike trail.
The developer granted the city a recreational easement on 1.3 acres of its 4-acre site and donated $350,000 to the Town Lake Trail Foundation for the construction of boardwalks where the city won't be able to build on land, including under the I-35 bridge.

Star Riverside Luxury Condos Website: http://www.perryhenderson.com/starriverside.php

11-21-2007
Happy Thankgiving

This Thanksgiving I have a lot to be thankful for. I have all the usual things worth giving thanks for – health, family, friends and a lovely partner. And on top of all that, there are all the little things that make my life better.
I’m thankful for my car, it didn't give up on me after all those miles and miles I put it on last year, I'm thankful for my new cell phone company didn't screw me up like my old cell phone company, I'm thankful for Fabreze and vanilla candles, they save me so many time on my open house... and, of course, I am most thankful for you. Without you, there would be no reason for me to list all the silly things and this page running. You make it all possible, Thank you!

Tommy Tam
2007 Thanksgiving

11-17-2007
Buyer's agent nightmare: Alien in the basement

The National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents, a group of real estate professionals who only represent buyers in real estate transactions, has released the results of a member survey that highlights pet peeves with the condition of for-sale homes.
Broken door locks that prevent access to the house, "pet deposits" in the back yard or a dirty cat litter box, missing light bulbs in the basement, "sellers that ask you to remove shoes and then have wet carpet or dirty floors," and loose stairs or missing banisters on a stairway top the list, according to the report by the group, which has about 500 members nationwide.
Jon Boyd, NAEBA president, offered a personal experience in the survey announcement: "Once I was previewing a fairly expensive home by myself. I go into the huge basement and I can't find the light switch. As I'm reaching around a corner I catch a light switch and turn it on. About eight feet in front of me is a life-sized model of the alien monster looking right at me! My heart starts beating again in a few minutes when I figure out what the stupid thing is, but whose idea was it to leave the thing there while the home is on the market?"
Other gripes by buyer's agents include: low-hanging dining room light fixtures, dead cars in the driveway or yard, graffiti, and dead birds or animals "in or around the home."

Agents: Any personal experiences you care to share about a visit to an unwelcoming home?

11-17-2007
Historical castle to become part of new condo development
Historic building will be preserved with view intact
By Kate Miller Morton, AMERICAN STATESMAN

It's been a military school, the office of a controversial Austin developer and, most recently, an illegal gathering place for teenagers and vagrants.
Now the Castle, the historical turreted building that looms over the central city from a hillside just east of the Clarksville neighborhood, is poised to become the centerpiece of a planned high-end office and condominium development.
Built in 1870 as the Texas Military Institute, the Castle will remain largely office space with the possibility of a single residence on the top floor.
Developers Dick Clark and Vic Ayad plan to build as many as 28 upscale units up the hillside in front of the Castle.
Two duplexes and one single-family home behind the Castle would be replaced with nine town houses.
It took Ayad, who has made a career out of turning around distressed businesses and real estate, more than a year to wrestle the Castle and most of the project's site out of developer Gary Bradley's complex bankruptcy proceedings — a feat accomplished only after he settled with a dozen parties with claims on, lawsuits against or an interest in the property.
The partners have begun restoring the historical building, which was neglected and vandalized in the past several years.
"It was a sea of beer bottles and drug paraphernalia, and every conceivable space was covered by graffiti," Ayad said.
Negotiating the support of the Old West Austin Neighborhood Association, which has typically opposed dense development in its traditionally single-family areas, was almost as difficult.
Jean Stevens, zoning and land use committee chairwoman for the association, said the neighborhood has worked "hand-in-hand" with the developers for about seven months.
Clark and Ayad made concessions to the neighborhood, including capping the number of condo units at 28 instead of the 39 allowed under city regulations. The developer also agreed to build town and garden houses to the rear of the Castle on Blanco Street, where the property bumps up against single-family houses.
And it helped that the project was on the edge of the neighborhood's single-family core.
The neighborhood association is not endorsing the project, but it is not opposing it.
"Personally speaking, I like the project; I think it's well done," Stevens said. "As far as the neighborhood is concerned, I know as far as density, concerns have been expressed. But we have been able to work together to have a project that all of us are comfortable with."
Clark, an architect who is known for his contemporary designs, said the condos will be modern but will complement the Castle.
"Things don't have to be of the same period to look good together," Clark said.
The condos will be built in a tiered fashion from Baylor Street up the hill to within 80 feet of the Castle.
Clark said the buildings will be stacked like a wedding cake with the roof of one condo serving as the deck of the one above it.
This isn't the first time developers have tried to build up the hillside.
In the 1980s, developer Rick Hardin had plans for a condo project there, but a faulty foundation and legal problems halted the project. The foundation of the project remains as a popular gathering place for views of downtown and the Capitol.
Clark and Ayad said that building failed because it was improperly designed for the expanding and contracting clay beneath it. They say they are confident it will not happen again.
The developers say they "self-imposed" a view corridor to the Capitol that will be preserved by leaving a valley in the middle of the project so the view of the castle from the central city will remain the same.
The developers still must get zoning changes to the property that would allow a residence in the Castle and increase the floor-to-area ratio on the hillside condos. The case is expected to go before the City of Austin Planning Commission on Nov. 27. The changes are not opposed by the neighborhood.
The developers say they hope to start construction in the spring and finish in late 2009.

btw. Maybe some of you don't know where is the castle, it is between W. 11th street and W 12th street on Castle Hill Ct. (Street).

11-15-2007

11-14-2007
New Project - Zilker Place Condos

John Wooley, the founder of Schlotsky's, this week announced plans for Zilker Place Condominiums, a new 74-unit condo development on a prime lot on Barton Springs road adjacent to Zilker Park. With quick access to the park and the hike and bike trail, three 5-story buildings will be constructed on a 2 acre lot that currently houses the restaurant Wanfu Too. Prices for the units will start at $300,000 for 900 square feet and will top out at $1.3 million for a 3,030 SF unit. The project will feature a central courtyard and pool, screened porches on many units, and protected views of Zilker Park. Here is a rendering published by the Statesman: When combined with Barton Place, a 270 unit project just a few doors down, it is clear that the area on Barton Springs between the park and Lamar is now in store for a radical transformation. With two large projects on the way, tax increases will certainly put pressure on the remaining restaurants and mobile home parks that form this prime area of the city. As the blocks develop, one of the most important elements -- one that is missing from current plans -- may be a requirement for ground-floor retail up and down the street. It would certainly be detrimental to Austin to lose a full district of iconic restaurants for a few mid-rise condo buildings. Although Wooley originally hoped to build a much taller tower, he intelligently reformed the project as a 5-story venture that fits just within local zoning requirements. The local neighborhood association has provided vocal opposition to other projects. Given Zilker Place's location adjacent to the park, it would have been very difficult to secure political support for variances.