Four Seasons In Downtown Austin

By Author: Curtis Reddehase
Total Articles: 15
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Construction is finally schedule to start on the Four Seasons Residence in downtown Austin. Ground breaking is scheduled to start this week. Initial plans were developed for this project over seven years ago but were delayed by the technology bust of 2001. The site and high profile name will surely impact the downtown area.

The newly designed tower will be a thirty two story mixed use building. It is targeted to be one of Austin highest profile luxury downtown condominium towers. It is to be located next to the Four Seasons Hotel with close proximity to Lady Bird Lake. The tower is to have 166 residences that are to be priced starting at $400,000 and rising to over $4 million. Square footage of the units will range from 880 to over 5,000. The existing parking garage at the Four Season will be demolished to make way for the new building. The building is to be managed by Four Seasons and anticipated to be open in the first quarter of 2010. No doubt this High Rise will be one of Austin's future landmarks. The project cost is approximately a $125 Million. Initial artiste's renderings of the building show a terra cotta colored ...
... brick that is intended to blend in with the current hotel.

According to one of the principals contract have supposedly been signed for close to 40 percent of the units. Estimates are the close to half of the buyers currently live in Austin and the remaining spots are to people from out of town. In interviews of some of the new buyers one of the appeals is the Four Seasons name and reputation. The feeling is that because of the brand name that these units should retain high value for the future. Another plus is the proximity to Lady Bird Lake and the Lake Trail. The is some growing skepticism of how many upscale downtown condos Austin will support. But recent figures show that prices have actually risen. As a reference the Austonion, another downtown condominium project located at Congress and Second Street has seen an increase in the price ranges since they started construction back in August of 2007. Obviously one of the great attractions of the Four Seasons Condominium will be access to the hotels amenities and services. These will include in room dining, and housekeeping as well as the 24-hour concierge service. One of the star attractions will be a roof top pool that will be the highest in Texas. Bases on early sales there appear to be a very high demand for ultra luxury downtown condominiums in Austin. A large number of downtown condo projects are scheduled to open this year and many of these have nonrefundable deposits. This demonstrates that there is a very strong interest in living in downtown Austin and that the current market seems to be holding strong.

Will the market continue to support these ‘Ultra Luxury Condominiums'? Time will tell but as we can see from the other major cities in Texas, there is a demand for these types of homes.