Braker and Kramer Apartments Bringing Nearly 400 Homes to North Burnet

Image: Dwell Design Studio / Endeavor Real Estate Group

An apartment project planned by Austin’s own Endeavor Real Estate Group at a 4.3-acre collection of properties located at the corner of Braker and Kramer Lanes could continue the ongoing urbanization of the North Burnet region near hotspots like the Domain and Q2 Stadium. It’s great news for future residents of the project’s anticipated 396 new rental units, but bad news for guys like me who enjoy the fried cheese curds and general sense of Wisconsin excellence at Culver’s, since the apartment project at 2320 Kramer Lane is anticipated to replace the longtime fast food restaurant at the corner. (The building’s footprint will also replace the Copenhagen Imports furniture store located near the corner, but as far as we know those guys don’t sell fried pork loin sandwiches.)

It’s an acceptable growing pain for a region slowly grinding its way towards a sense of urban identity thanks to the denser development unlocked by the city’s North Burnet / Gateway Regulating Plan, which started broadly relaxing zoning across the district nearly 20 years ago with numerous updates and height increases in response to increasing growth since then. What really makes this particular plan a promising addition to the neighborhood — and yes, softens the blow of the Culver’s demolition — is the property’s ideal location only a short walk from not only Q2 Stadium but also CapMetro’s McKalla and Kramer light rail stations, the latter of which is planned to be decommissioned at some point but is currently only steps away from the site.

Image: Dwell Design Studio / Endeavor Real Estate Group

As seen in recent plans now in review with the city, the Braker and Kramer apartments would rise to five floors on most of the site, with its central parking garage structure topped with a resident amenity space rising a bit higher to seven floors, or a maximum height of 77 feet. Although the project is set to contain about 14,000 square feet of amenity space, current plans don’t appear to include any retail use on the ground level. Although we don’t have detailed renderings for the building yet, the illustrations seen here from Atlanta-based national architecture firm Dwell Design Studio give us an idea of the building’s appearance and scale.

Image: Dwell Design Studio / Endeavor Real Estate Group

The plan for the building is still working its way through the permitting process, and we wouldn’t expect a groundbreaking until next year. That’s your cue to make your frozen custard pilgrimage to this corner soon, preferably while it’s still hot outside.