Image: GFF / Endeavor Real Estate Group
A seemingly biblically-named building by major local developers Endeavor Real Estate Group is now under construction at the gateway to the Mueller neighborhood in Central Austin. Solomon, a five-story mixed-use apartment and retail project containing approximately 369 new residences, is located atop a largely undeveloped 3.8-acre tract at 1414 East 51st Street formerly used as parking space for the neighboring Promiseland Church. It’s situated at the northwest corner of the intersection of East 51st Street and Mueller Boulevard — one of the major entrances to the planned neighborhood fashioned from Austin’s former central airport, and an urban corridor in desperate need of a better street-level pedestrian life.
A view of retail space planned at the Solomon building. Image: GFF / Endeavor Real Estate Group
Solomon’s approximately 8,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space seems like a good start for the area, with two large patios facing the street from two of the four total storefronts appearing suitable for the outdoor dining component of new restaurant tenants. Plans for the building also show the construction of a protected bike lane separate from the other sidewalk in this area, part of the East 51st Mobility Project we’re expecting to ramp up the walkability beyond the boundaries of Mueller.
Image: Endeavor Real Estate Group
That presence of Mueller across the street is clearly the foundation of the Solomon building’s design and marketing, with the energy of the “New Urbanist”-inspired neighborhood providing a catalyst for creative development even beyond its borders — it’s not that every five-floor mixed-use apartment project we see around here doesn’t try to create a more vibrant urban environment at street level, but this development appears aware of the need to fit in with upcoming improvements on the corridor. Alongside the bike lanes and other pedestrian upgrades planned here, some of Mueller’s largest still-vacant lots are found on its north edge, including a large tract set to be developed as the Dell Medical School’s new Pediatric Research Institute.
Image: GFF / Endeavor Real Estate Group
At Solomon, you can live the Austin lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of. An island of comfort and leisure in Texas’ fourth-biggest city, Solomon apartments are your charming escape from the cookie-cutter apartments you’ve lived in before. When you come to Austin, you’re expecting a mix of the new and the old, the high-tech and the casual, the exciting and the relaxing. Our apartments offer the latest in smart home technology, from bluetooth-enabled entry locks to smart thermostats, alongside everything you need to stimulate your creative impulses, from a dedicated content creation room to a skydeck with outdoor kitchen and entertainment areas. This is your new sanctuary for adventure, comfort, and calm.
“Dedicated content creation room” has stolen the crown from “golf simulator” as our favorite strange apartment amenity around here. Anyway, we’re happy to see this kind of growth taking place outside the boundaries of the Mueller neighborhood itself — while not all of the district takes full advantage of its waived zoning regulations to offer something as walkable and dense as Aldrich Street, it’s obvious that nearby developments feel the pressure to match that energy. We have a feeling other large mixed-use projects planned around Austin might have the same effect in 10 years or so. The Solomon community is scheduled for completion sometime in 2024.
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