Waller Creek Area Gaining Momentum
While the Whole Foods neighborhood has soared in popularity in recent years, a lesser-known area east of Downtown Austin is gaining momentum as a place where people want to live and work.
I’m calling it the Waller Creek Neighborhood. The creek provides a focal point for various developments, as you can see in the map below.
Map of Waller Creek Area
First and foremost is the Waller Creek Re-development, which centers on the Waller Creek Tunnel and will be a pedestrian magnet when completed in 2014.
A “beachhead” of the re-development is the Sabine Street Promenade, which will open to the creek and where construction could begin within 18 months, according to a Jan. 5 report in the Austin American-Statesman. The City of Austin will use a recently awarded $2.7 million federal rant and $700,000 approved by Austin voters in 2010 for the project.
The Sabine Street Promenade is a four-block long street that would be widened to 80′ and feature trees on both sides. As a “great street,” the Sabine Promenade will be specifically designed for pedestrian and bike traffic.
Take a Second Look at the 555 Condos
In December, the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce reported its purchase of 20,000 square feet of office condo space at the downtown Hilton 555, making it the largest office condo sale to date in Downtown Austin.
The Chamber headquarters will refocus attention on the area, and on the 555 condos located in the Hilton Hotel. Opened in 2004, the smaller condo units sold out quickly, with the penthouses being some of the last sales.
Smaller, lower-priced units typically sell before larger, more expensive ones-that is a fairly standard rule of thumb in the condo market. The challenge for the 555 has been prolonged remodeling to move the hotel kitchen, following problems in floors 5-9.
Lower-floor units had to be discounted to re-sell. Many recent sales on the lower floors were $300 psf (per square foot) or less, below prices paid for similar residential condos in the Central Business District.
Now the kitchen remodeling has finished, and the Austin Chamber is expected to move into the 555 in March. The Waller Creek Tunnel project makes the 555 an attractive offering for downtown residential buyers or investors.
Take another look at the 555.