AMLI to break ground on 18-story downtown apartment tower

Rents in the 18-story tower at Second Street are expected to cost $1,000 to $2,500 a month.

BYLINE: Shonda Novak, AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

DATE: December 08, 2005

PUBLICATION: Austin American-Statesman

AMLI Residential Properties Trust plans to start construction in February on its second upscale apartment project in downtown Austin.

The 18-story tower, with 231 apartments, is expected to open in early 2008.

The apartments will rise on a block bounded by Second, Third, Guadalupe and San Antonio streets, two blocks from AMLI's seven-story apartment building at Second and Lavaca streets.

In addition to making AMLI downtown's largest residential landlord, the complex will bring the first high-rise building to the Second Street Retail District.

The city and AMLI hope to turn the area into a thriving district of shops, restaurants and other attractions.

Substantial development is headed for that part of downtown, including a large mixed-use project planned for an empty block between AMLI's projects.

AMLI's new apartments will join hundreds of residential units planned for downtown, where city leaders hope to draw 25,000 residents in the next 10 years as they seek to create a lively 24-hour downtown and reduce sprawl.

In AMLI's new project, rents will range from about $1,000 a month for the smallest one-bedroom units to $2,500 a month for the largest two-bedrooms, said Taylor Bowen, vice president of development for Dallas-based AMLI.

Unit sizes will range from 626 square feet to 1,380 square feet. The average unit will have about 900 square feet, slightly smaller than the 1,000-square-foot average-size unit in AMLI's existing apartments.

"We learned in the phase that the smaller one-bedrooms have been more popular," Bowen said.

AMLI's existing units rent for $1,100 a month for about 700 square feet and $3,400 for a 1,600-square-foot unit with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, Bowen said. That project is 98 percent leased to tenants including students, graphic artists, lawyers, professors and doctors.

Unlike AMLI's first building, which has a loft feel, the new building will have its own style. Units will have floor-to-ceiling windows and polished concrete floors.

Some units will have wraparound balconies or airy sunrooms.

The tower will be on the north side of the block, with the retail component on the Second Street side. The project also will have 420 parking spaces in a four-story, aboveground garage.

PageSoutherlandPage LLC, the Austin-based architecture firm designing AMLI's new building, also designed Computer Sciences Corp.'s buildings and is a tenant in one of them.

The ground floor of AMLI's building will have 40,000 square feet of retail space on two levels facing Second Street. As with the other retail in the district, it will be up to Urban Partners, the Dallas-based consultants hired by AMLI and the city, to recruit tenants.

Elsewhere in the district, a dozen retailers and the first restaurant, Taverna Pizzeria & Risotteria, have opened their doors, and eight more are expected to debut in the next four months.

They include Crú, a wine bar, the III Forks steakhouse, a Mexican restaurant called Cantina Laredo, plus Octane, which sells high-end men's and women's apparel and accessories, and a small neighborhood grocery.

To help out retailers taking a chance on the pioneering district, AMLI is paying merchants $25 to $60 a square foot to finish out their spaces, in addition to helping them promote and market the district.

AMLI will get a boost from the planned move by Silicon Laboratories Inc. into one of CSC's six-story office buildings on Cesar Chavez Street.

"The more the merrier," Bowen said. "Just having more daytime office employment down here is important," he said, adding that Silicon Labs' planned move to that block "will help to continue to push the development to the west," ultimately linking the area with the former Seaholm Power Plant, where a mixed-use project is planned that could include a residential tower, plus cultural and entertainment venues.

And AMLI may have even more designs on downtown. Asked about a third project, Bowen said: "We're interested and always looking. We're big believers in Austin and are really taking a long-term view. Downtown Austin is where we want to be."

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Second Street comes to life

New downtown Austin district is filling up with shops.

BYLINE: Shonda Novak, AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

DATE: December 01, 2005

PUBLICATION: Austin American-Statesman

Austin's effort to bring retailing back to downtown is coming to life, with a dozen new stores now open or about to in the fledgling Second Street district and more to come.

Many of the shop owners took a considerable risk to open their doors in a new and untested area. But many say they're optimistic about their first holiday shopping season and say they're satisfied so far with the sales they're ringing up, just a few months after opening their doors.

"It's the best business decision I've ever made," said Jane Vanisko McCan whose women's clothing store, Shiki, christened the district when it opened in June. McCan said sales already are matching those at her original location on Guadalupe Street, thanks largely to a base of loyal customers who are spending generously to support her new venture.

McCan is one of 24 retailers who have signed leases in the district, with eight more being negotiated.

Cami Cobb and Stephanie Coultress had some retail experience but had never run their own store until they opened Estilo in midsummer on the ground floor of the AMLI Downtown apartment building. The store sells men's and women's apparel, including some designers new to Austin.

Fifteen-percent discounts for AMLI residents have helped rev up sales after a somewhat slow start, Cobb said.

"I think we're just at the beginning," she said. The district "definitely has a ways to go, but the area has a lot of momentum."

The district eventually will have 200,000 square feet of space to shop, wine and dine along Second between Colorado and San Antonio streets. The first restaurant, Taverna Pizzeria & Risotteria, opens Monday at the northeast corner of Second and Lavaca streets.

A wood-burning pizza oven, Italian mosaic tiles and an open kitchen will evoke the Emilia Romagna region of Italy, the childhood home of owner Alberto Lombardi.

"You're always taking a chance in the restaurant business, but Austin is a great city," said Lombardi, whose company owns nine restaurants in several cities, including Dallas and Miami. "We'll do fantastic."

Several more places to dine and imbibe will follow in the next few months, including Crú, a wine bar; III Forks, a steakhouse and a Mexican restaurant, Cantina Laredo.

The area in downtown's western edge is destined for much more development, including a mixed-use project planned for a now-empty block north of City Hall.

At the northwest corner of Second and Guadalupe, AMLI plans to break ground in February on another 18-story building with 231 apartments, bringing more customers for Second Streets. The building also will have 40,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

Merchants say nearby hotels have been great about sending shoppers their way. They're also seeing what they say is a healthy mix of tourists and locals, including the growing number of downtown residents.

Although the retailers realize they were taking a risk to come downtown, "I don't think anyone moved here thinking they were going to do anything but succeed," said Elizabeth Serrato, who moved her jewelry and accessories boutique, called Eliza Page, from South Lamar Boulevard to the new district. The store sells everything from $10 charms to a $7,800 Tahitian pearl necklace.

"We know that it's going to take a while until everything is complete," Serrato said. "And there's always a risk involved in starting anything new. But the response has been wonderful."

Customers say they love the vibe of the area.

"It has a little bit of a European feeling," said Jessica Marshall of San Diego, as she strolled through Mercury Design Studio on Monday with her 21-month-old daughter, Emma, after being referred by a concierge at the Four Seasons Hotel.

Steve Shuck moved to Austin last spring from San Francisco, where he had run worldwide operations for 1,600 Gap stores. He and his partner, Bobby Johns, opened Mercury Design the day after Thanksgiving.

The store sells vintage and modern furniture and accessories, with prices ranging from less than $35 for gift items to several thousand dollars for some of the furniture.

Shuck said he liked the "urban and urbane feel" and neighborhood atmosphere of the district, as well as the mix of tourist and local customers.

"It's a very relaxed, fun shopping experience that isn't the mall," Shuck said.

True to its word, Urban Partners, the consultant that the city and AMLI hired to recruit retailers, is keeping an Austin flavor. So far, 17 of the leases are with locally owned businesses. The focus is clothing and home furnishings stores, but the mix will include places as diverse as a day spa and a scooter store.

Local retailers were offered leases with rents that increase over time and allowances to finish the interior of their stores.

One of the merchants' biggest challenges has been spreading the word about the new district. The shop owners are contributing a portion of their sales to a marketing fund. Three radio spots will air soon, and the effort will include print advertising and special event promotions for the holiday season and the upcoming year.

"Once the restaurants open, the coffee shops, the wine bar, and people can start experiencing the street, it's going to boom," McCan said. "I think we're on the verge of something huge."

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