Downtown:
Austin’s Economic Driver
Molly Alexander
Downtown Austin Alliance
• PID formed in 1993 to address
the unique needs of Downtown
Austin
• Focus Areas:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Clean and Safe
Transportation and Great Streets
Parks and Green Spaces
Retail Recruitment
Economic Development
Culture, Arts and Entertainment
Mission: To preserve and enhance the value and vitality of downtown Austin
Focused Areas
•
•
•
•
Congress Avenue
Republic Square Park
Transportation (DT Focused)
Clean, Safe, Beautiful & Welcoming
Downtown Snapshot
•
•
•
•
•
8,500,000 square feet of office space
123,178 daytime employees
10,000 residents
6,400 hotel rooms
2,002 hotel rooms under construction
Photo by Dan Herron
Everyone Has a Stake in Downtown
• Downtown is the economic driver
of our region.
• Downtown Austin generates over
$158 million in property, sales, and
mixed beverage taxes every year.
• An area twelve times larger than
downtown is needed to generate
the same average taxable value.
*Sources: Travis Central Appraisal District; City of Austin, Downtown Austin Alliance; State of Texas Office of the
Comptroller, 2012
Apartments Recently Completed
Ashton
258 apartments
Completed 2009
Gables Park Plaza
290 apartments
Completed 2010
Coming Soon
• Gables Park Tower (185 Units)
• Capital Studios (135 units)
• 3 Eleven Bowie (358 units)
• Austin Skyhouse (320 units)
Whitley
266 apartments
Completed 2013
AUSTIN APARTMENT MARKET
CBD Rate
Citywide Rate
CBD Occupancy
Citywide Occupancy
$2.50
$2.23
$1.94
$2.00
$2.31
90%
$2.08 $2.03
$2.05
$1.92
80%
$1.72
$1.50
$1.00
$1.53
$1.53
$1.41
$0.98 $0.94
$1.43
70%
$1.55 $1.54
$0.86 $0.81 $0.81 $0.85
100%
60%
$0.97 $0.93 $0.98
$0.91 $0.96
$1.05
$1.12
$1.21
50%
40%
30%
$0.50
20%
10%
$-
0%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Source: Capitol Market Research, December 2013
Downtown Condominiums
Recently Completed
Austonian
178 condo units
Completion 2010
Four Seasons Residences
148 condo units
Completion 2010
Spring
247 condo units
Completion August 2009
W Hotel & Residences
159 condo units
Completion 2011
*Coming 2015: Seaholm Residences - 280 Condos, all reserved
Downtown Condominium Market
• 2,163 condominium units built downtown since the year
2000
• 98% of the recently completed or units under construction
have been sold
• Since 2007, new condo sales prices range from $170,000
to $8,000,000
• Average price per square foot is $556
• Average unit size 1,465 SF
Source: Capitol Market Research, June 2014
Downtown Visitors
• 6,400 hotel rooms downtown
• 2,002 hotel rooms under
construction in downtown
• Downtown hotel occupancy rates
80.7% (YTD through June 2014)
• $4.5 billion in economic impact
generated by visitor spending in
Austin
• $204.80 Average Daily Rate
Source: Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau
AUSTIN Hotel Occupancy
Citywide
CBD
80%
75%
70%
65%
60%
55%
Source: Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau, through December 2013
Ongoing Investments in the Tourism Industry
•
•
•
•
•
•
JW Marriott – Congress Avenue & 2nd St
•
•
•
•
•
1015-room JW Marriott broke ground
October 2012
Hampton Inn University/Capitol opened
October 2012
Hyatt Place opened
Four Seasons: $16 m renovations
Hampton Inn: $1 m renovation
Hilton Austin: 2008 $4 m for upgrades to
rooms and Finn & Porter restaurant; $2 m
budgeted for more renovations this year
Hilton Garden Inn: $4 m renovation
Hyatt Regency: $24 m over the last 3 years
Omni: $10 m in ongoing makeover
Sheraton: $15 m renovation
W Hotel: 250-room hotel as part of a $260
m mixed-use development on 2nd Street
DOWNTOWN AUSTIN Retail Market
1st Floor Uses
50%
Other
Restaurants
Vacant
Bars & Clubs
Retail Goods
8%
Retail Services
9%
14%
9%
10%
9.4 Million SF of 1st Floor Space: MLK to Lady Bird Lake; I-35 to Lamar
1.9 Million SF of Retail, Bars & Restaurants
Source: Downtown Austin Alliance, May 2012
Retail Recruitment Program
• Full-Time Retail Recruiter
• Geographic focus on Congress
Avenue and Historic East Sixth
Street
• Recruit existing local and regional
businesses looking for new or
additional locations
• Contracted consultants to focus
on national tenants and strategy
Retail Openings 2011-2012: Congress & 6th
Street
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Apple Pop-Up Store (Mar 2011) – 522 Congress Ave
Brooks Brothers – 522 Congress Ave
CsillaWear – 504 Congress Ave
Royal Blue Grocery – 607 Congress Ave
Swift’s Attic – 315 Congress Ave
Urban Wine & Liquor – 200 Congress Ave
Easy Tiger – 709 E. 6th Street
Midnight Cowboy – 313 E. 6th Street
The Stage – 508 E. 6th Street
King’s Road Vintage – 522 E. 6th Street
Daruma Ramen - 612-B E. 6th Street
Placemaking sponsorships
Downtown Office
• 8,500,000 square feet of office
space
• 123,178 daytime employees
• 3 New Office Projects Under
Construction
AUSTIN OFFICE MARKET
CBD Rate
Citywide Rate
CBD Occupancy
$40.00
$35.00
$30.00
$25.00
$20.00
$15.00
$38.06
$35.33
$33.52
$32.92
$32.34
$31.78
$29.39
$31.81
$27.53
Citywide Occupancy
$25.75
$27.74
$27.41
$23.35
$26.31
$22.49$22.36
$22.48 $26.70$26.05
$25.47
$25.13$24.19$25.41
$21.33
$20.79
$21.96
$17.89
$21.11
$20.71
$20.08
$19.88
$18.35$18.88
$17.89
$10.00
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
$5.00
10%
$-
0%
Source: Capitol Market Research, December 2013
Downtown Austin Plan
–
–
–
–
–
Transportation Framework Plan
District Plans
Parks and Open Space Master Plan
Waller Creek Master Plan
Adopted by City Council December 2011
• Over half a million vehicles
enter and exit central Austin
during a 24-hour period
• 2009: nearly 30% of all jobs in the Austin Region were located in
the central city
• 51,000 students at UT (80% live off campus) and approximately
9,000 at ACC’s Rio Grande campus downtown
• 2000: nearly 18% of all jobs in
Austin Region were located
downtown

4th highest % in the nation!
CBD Share of Total Urban Area
Employment
20%
18%
16%
14%
12%
10%
Central Texas Person-Hours of Delay
in 2009 (Millions)
7.0
6.0
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
-
Mid
6 AM
Noon
6 PM
Central Texans spend average 44 hours/year stuck in traffic
Mid
2010 US Worst Travel Time Indices
1.4
1.36
1.32
1.28
1.24
1.2
LA
DC
Austin
NYC
San
Fran
• Our region tied with New York and San Francisco for 3rd worst Travel Time
Index (ratio of rush hour travel time to free-flow travel time) in US
• Difference is LA, DC, NYC and San Francisco have options
CONGESTION
US 183
US 183
US 290
AUSTIN
US 290
SH 71
Fully Constrained Gateways
Surrounding Austin Core
CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES ADDRESSED
• Increase person-moving
capacity within
historically defined
rights-of-way
REGIONAL MULTI-MODAL TRANSIT PLAN
Connection of places: urban rail
URBAN RAIL
Characteristics:
• 16.5 miles double track
• Electric powered
• In-street running and dedicated
track way
• Compatible with urban
form/geometry
• Phased and Expandable
GROWTH
Capitol Complex Growth Plan (8-10K new employees)
GROWTH
• Other Development Projects
(10-50K new employees)
– New Medical School &
Teaching Hospital
– Central Health Campus
– Federal Courthouse
– Cirrus Logic Office
– The Westin
– Capital Studios
– Green Water Site
– Waller Creek Redevelopment
– Seaholm
– J.W. Marriott
– IBC Bank Plaza
– 3 Eleven Bowie
– Travis County Complex
– The Whitley
– A Loft
Questions?