[suzerain]

More condos planned for East Austin
Water Street Lofts project is latest planned for east side near downtown.
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By Shonda Novak

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Friday, March 25, 2005

Pepperdine University law student Chelsea Thornton won't return to Austin until next year, but she already has her home picked out: a unit in the Water Street Lofts, a $6.5 million mixed-use project planned for East Austin.

The 22 condominium units and seven commercial units, including three live-work units, are slated for a tract on the southeast corner of Comal and East Cesar Chavez streets. The project is the latest in a string of residential developments that are being built in the city's increasingly popular east side.

The Water Street Lofts is expected to break ground in late summer or early fall and be ready for the first residents by the second quarter of 2006, said developer Gerald Cobb, the owner and president of Water Street Lofts LLC.

In addition to Cobb, the project has four other investors, including Terry Ortiz, whose family owns the popular Nuevo León Mexican restaurant nearby. Cobb said investors are negotiating with several Texas banks for construction financing for the project, which is expected to cost between $6 million and $6.5 million.

Although outside of downtown, nearby east-side projects such as the Water Street Lofts and the existing Pedernales Lofts are a popular option for those looking for urban living on a tighter budget. The Water Street Lofts are among a half dozen residential projects currently planned for the area.

The average price among the newer downtown condominiums currently on the market is $807,000, according to Brad Pauley, an Austin real estate broker who is lining up buyers for the Water Street Lofts.

Prices at the Water Street Lofts will range from $180,000 for an 828-square-foot unit to $270,000 for a unit with 1,203 square feet.

Interest in the Water Street Lofts is coming from buyers in other states, including California and New York, as well as locals.

Thornton, who grew up in Austin and is about to begin a year-long clerkship for a judge in San Antonio, said the price wasn't the only attraction of her 1,150-square-foot unit.

"There's a unique groove of individuals, artists, writers, people of different ethnicities, and I'm drawn to that — the creativity and diversity of East Austin," Thornton said. "I don't want to look around and see people just like me."

Thornton learned about the development through a friend, Trey Hailey, a principal in Hailey Johnson Architects LLP, the Austin architectural firm that is designing the project. Hailey Johnson also is designing the Saltillo Lofts, a mixed-use project that will break ground in a few weeks at the southeast corner of Fifth and Comal streets.

Pauley, with Pauley Pressley Realty, said Thornton's unit is one of 20 already reserved with $1,000 refundable deposits — and a marketing campaign hasn't even begun.

The number of reservations is testament to the demand for more moderately priced housing in and around downtown, Pauley said.

East Austin, he said, "is the hot spot right now."

[Talbot]

Good news for Austin, I like hearing of all of their cool developments going on. I hope it doesn't let up any time soon.

[mike]

Quote

The project is the latest in a string of residential developments that are being built in the city's increasingly popular east side.

It would have been "increasingly popular" years ago if Eastside residents hadn't stopped the University of Texas from expanding across I-35.