Austin Trophy Tower Changes Hands

American Realty Advisors has acquired Northshore, a 38-story, luxury, mixed-use tower with 439 apartment units in Austin, Texas, from High Street Residential. The property also includes 52,083 square feet of retail and office space.

“This is an extremely rare opportunity to acquire a premier luxury asset of exceptionally high-quality in a rapidly expanding urban market that is poised for long-term growth,” Austin Maddux, ARA’s executive vice president, deputy portfolio manager, said. “Austin’s tremendous job growth along with Northshore’s unmatched amenities will continue to drive demand, providing strong upside potential for an already stabilized asset.”

Located at 110 San Antonio St., the LEED Silver-certified property boasts amenities such as a 17,000-square-foot pool deck, sun beds, ceiling fan equipped cabanas, several outdoor kitchens and a 24-hour fitness center.

At the time of the deal, Northshore’s residential occupancy stood at 97 percent and its office and retail occupancy was completely full. CBRE’s Charles Cirar, Michael Wardlaw and Colin Cannata represented the seller in the transaction.

Austin in Demand

According to ARA research, Austin is experiencing a great deal of job and population growth, with employment rising more than 34 percent over the last decade. The city currently has the U.S.’s third-lowest unemployment rate at just 3 percent.

Northshore is directly situated in Austin’s CBD and is next to Lady Bird Lake; therefore, the property offers unobstructed panoramic views to both downtown Austin and the lake.

The asset anchors the Southwest Austin CBD, considered the fastest growing part of the downtown area, which is home to newly constructed office buildings, a vibrant restaurant scene and noteworthy upcoming projects. Google, Facebook and Bank of America have all recently signed leases in Austin’s CBD.

“Large blocks of contiguous office space in the CBD are scarce, as demonstrated by the large percentage of new office development that are substantially leased prior to construction completion,” Jessica Harrison, ARA’s associate director, investment group, said. “This asset is extremely well positioned in the city’s central core, with easy access to the growing employment base in the CBD and close proximity to all of the cultural amenities that have made Austin the incredible live/work/play environment that it is today.”

ARA currently has more than $8.7 billion in assets under management. In May, ARA acquired a newly constructed industrial property in Anaheim, Calif., from a joint venture between Batcheller Equities and Panattoni Development Co.