HomeAway landed a record $250million venture capital commitment this week. The vacation rental company plans to locate it’s corporate headquarters at a new office building at 5th & Lamar, above West Elm home furnishings. The company employs about 130 people in its Austin office. Although this news isn’t directly real estate related, it’s what we like to see for the overall health of the Austin market. Job growth is the key factor for our markets’ health, so watch for companies such as HomeAway to continue to hire and expand, hopefully enough to offset some of the recent layoffs that have occured at some of Austin’s largest private employers. Read more about Home Away.
Archive for November 11th, 2008
HomeAway lands venture capital, shows promise for Austin’s job market
Published November 11, 2008 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: Austin job growth
Developer reducing east Riverside project by 1/3
Published November 11, 2008 Development News Leave a CommentTags: Austin real estate, Riverside development
Grayco Partners, owner of a 30 acre tract between Riverside drive and Lady Bird Lake east of I-35, has decided to only develop a portion of it’s planned project at this time. The delay is due to both the current financial turmoil, as well as speculation that a future light rail connecting the airport to downtown could run down Riverside adjacent to the tract.
Realistically, I believe any such rail project is a decade off or more which is unfortunate because I believe it would greatly benefit the city. The reality is, however, that such a project is too expensive to be justified at present, so the city will have to wait.
Another factor is that with the current economic downturn, prices have been hit hard in East Austin because it had one of the largest price runs. Developers that had pro-formas based on premium East side pricing are now finding that it’s unattainable, because buyers are able to purchase in other areas for the same price point.
In the end, the area along East Riverside is still ripe for redevelopment due to its proximity to downtown and relatively inexpensive price points, however it may have to wait until the next upswing in the real estate cycle. Read more about Grayco’s project.
