Fortune and Economy.com just released 5-year real estate appreciation predictions for 54 major metropolitan areas. For the analysis, they looked at the likely price increase or decrease for a luxury home that would ell today for twice the local median price. Here is a summary of the results: 1 Cleveland 9.6% 2 Indianapolis 7.4% 3 Detroit…
After 3 Months, Monarch Converts Back to Apartments
In an embarrassing reversal, the Monarch Condominiums has decided to convert from a 100% condo project to a 100% rental project. This follows the projects switch from rental to condo just 3 months ago. At the time of the switch, the condo market was very strong and and the downtown rental market appeared unable to…
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…
Density Bonuses: A New Urban Planning Model for Austin?
A movement is developing in Austin to link downtown zoning variances to “voluntary” contributions to community programs. While a density bonus sounds like a special gift to developers who meet the city’s stated goal of a dense vertical downtown, in reality, it is the opposite. Density bonuses essentially charge developers for variances — if they…
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AustinTowers posts news and analysis on the downtown condo market 2-3 times every week. If you use Google for search, we’ve made it easy to add our news feed to your google home page. Simply click on the “Add to Google” button on the right and you will be directed to Google to create an…
Major Downtown Condo Project On Hold?
Rumors have been circling for months that AquaTerra, a 163 unit 20-story project planned for Barton Springs road between Congress Avenue and south First street, has been having trouble getting off the ground. In fact, the building was supposed to be complete by 2008 — yet construction hasn’t even broken ground. While we have not…