Austin Condos Changing The Real Estate Market

" Work has begun on the           go ahead, despite the criticisms.  hotly debated Spring            Spring attracted much controversy  condominium community at        due to its proposed 400 foot       Third and Bowie in Austin. The        height. The height would have      planned 42-story 250-unit tower       made Spring one of the tallest     will feature one bedroom condos       buildings in the city. Developers  as well as two-bathroom,              for the project claim that the     two-bedroom units. Smaller condos     height was necessary, since the    will begin at 575 ft.², with a        condominium tower was designed on  starting price of $237,000.           the skinny towers that dominate    Two-bedroom condominiums will         the skyline of Vancouver. The      range in price from $430,000 to       dream team behind the condominium  $530,000. A few larger penthouse      tower also pointed out that        units, starting at $700,000, are      Spring is one of only a number of  also part of the plan. Spring is      residential high-rise condo plans  the brainchild of Robert              for the downtown core, and some    Barnstone, Perry Lorenz, Larry        have proposed heights just as      Warshaw and Diana Zuniga.             towering as Spring itself. The     Vancouver-based Rafii Architects      Vancouver-inspired ""point         is providing design for the           tower"" style of building,         project, which is expected to be      developers claim, is the best way  completed in 2009.                    to add more housing to the                                               prestigious Austin area at less    The new condominium tower has not     cost. Some claim that the new      been without its controversy. The     thin towers will allow the         project was proposed at 400 feet,     historically high cost of real     and some suggested that the tower     estate downtown to be more         height be limited. The Austin         reasonably priced for buyers.      city Zoning and Platting              Real estate experts say that       Commission allowed the project to     demand for residential properties  in the downtown Austin area           local investor, who remains        continues to be very strong,          unnamed, purchased the 18-unit     which may be part of the secret       property at 4209 Burnet Road. The  behind the big building boom.         two sales represent the third and  There are a number of building        fourth sales for condominium       projects underway, besides            conversions in the city this year  Spring. Despite this, the             alone. Experts are saying that     marketing team behind Spring          the market for condos in downtown  isn't worried -- the marketing        is so hot right now that           department is seeing two              investors hope that conversions    reservations a day for the tower.     will allow them to tap the market                                        fast. While a number of new condo  To add even more to the               communities are being built in     condominium market in Austin, two     downtown area right now,           different buyers have purchased       investors hope that conversions    Windsong Apartments and Parkside      will take less time and will       Apartments recently. Both             therefore allow them to place      buildings are reportedly being        their condominiums on the market   converted into condo communities.     first."                            The sellers in both deals were                                           represented by Transwestern's                                       Central Texas Multifamily Group.                                         The Sutton Co. bought Windsong         from from Halisco Ltd. for a          type="text/javascript">               google_ad_type =                                                   "text_image";                                                                type="text/javascript"             google_ad_channel                                                  ="3545651507";                                                                                           src="http://pagead2.googlesyndica  google_color_border =           tion.com/pagead/show_ads.js">      "FFFFFF";                                                                                                                           google_color_bg = "FFFFFF";                                                                                              About the Author: Kinan Beck is the Broker and co-owner of One Source Realty in Austin Texas. Visit Kinan’s Austin Condos Guide, visit his Austin Condo website. Read more articles by: Kinan Beck Article Source: www.iSnare.com ...Archive >>