Yet More Trendy, Luxury Condos Coming To East Austin Amid Gentrification Wave

EAST AUSTIN, TX — In yet another example of the upsurge in high-end condo construction taking place in trendy East Austin, a 97-condo development is being built near the Plaza Saltillo MetroRail stop which has emerged as something of a community focal point.

The Austin American-Statesman reported the development is being built by members of the late Roy Butler, a former mayor of Austin. The example of trendiness with newcomers wanting to live in Austin comes with a trendy name, too: Fourth&, pronounced "Fourth And" in reference to its location at the corner of Fourth and Chicon streets.

Born in 1926, Roy Anderson Butler was mayor of Austin from 1971 to 1975. Adept at business after returning from serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Butler has the distinction of being the first Austin mayor to be elected directly by voters after a local tradition of mayoral appointments made by city council members. Butler passed away in 2009.

The project is on 2.2 acres one block from the MetroRail station near the Lance Armstrong Bikeway, less than a mile from downtown Austin. On some weekends, farmer's markets and arts and crafts sales are staged at the MetroRail station, with live music filling the air on a makeshift stage. At a farmer's market last fall, families converged on the place where local merchants displayed their wares while infectious Tejano music filled the air and the crowd consisting mostly of families milled about.

For the city, the uptick in commercial development is something of a boon — bolstering an already-robust property tax base as real estate speculators descend onto Austin from far and wide to capitalize on a hot real estate market. But for longtime East Austin residents, the commercialization comes at steep price, forever changing the landscape of the neighborhoods while increasing traffic with the influx of new residents, and often displacing homeowners no longer able to afford rising property taxes fueled by new development.

The Austin Chronicle recently addressed the issue of this wave of gentrification in a cover story titled "Eastward Expansion: Real Estate Prospecting on the East Side" published in April 2015.

The latest project spearheaded by the former mayor's descendants is being developed by Austin-based Capsa Ventures, the Statesman reported. Company founder and CEO Rance Clouse has built three other Austin communities, the paper noted: 904 West, Pase Place and Towns on Cumberland. In an interesting connection, the Butler family also provided capital for the latter two projects.

The latest project, Fourth&, will feature "Texas-sized microunits," Clouse told the newspaper. He might have also added they come with a Texas-sized price, given the cost structure for the small units that illustrates the high demand for such housing in East Austin: Starting cost of $248,500 for a 500-square-foot abode with larger, 1,400-square-foot units going for nearly $600,000 ($585K to be exact).

Clouse tells the newspaper more than 40 percent of the units are already spoken for, with signed contracts submitted by prospective buyers. Amenities offered at the new development further reflect the wave of trendiness and a glimpse into the profile of the typical buyer: Movie-theater lounge; conference rooms; an electric vehicle station; a dog washing area.

Such is the trend in East Austin with no signs of letting up, with real-estate speculators — both from out of state and homegrown like the former mayor's family — eager to capitalize on a hot market while irretrievably changing the East Austin landscape that longtime resident have long called home.

For developers, however, it's not personal; it's business. And the wave of gentrification shows no signs of letting up anytime soon.

>>> Read the full story at Austin American-Statesman

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