HFF Secures Joint Venture Equity for Austin Apartment Community

By Jeffrey Steele, Contributing Writer

Austin, Texas—Hanover South Lamar, a 340-unit multifamily community planned for the booming South Lamar enclave of Austin, Texas, will benefit from joint venture equity arranged by HFF. The company worked exclusively on behalf of The Hanover Company, the Houston developer of multifamily communities across the United States, to secure the joint venture equity with a private investor.

Slated to be complete in November 2014, Hanover South Lamar will be situated on a 3.44-acre site at 809 South Lamar Blvd., about one mile south of downtown Austin. The site is located in the highly sought-after Zilker neighborhood adjacent to Zilker Park. It is also conveniently located in close proximity to the South Congress entertainment district, Barton Springs, Lady Bird Lake and the Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail.

Nearby is the eclectic but quiet Bouldin Creek neighborhood.

Residents of the community should be able to walk or bicycle along streets lined with towering oak trees and stately historic homes to a wide range of dining, retail, nightspot, entertainment and recreational attractions.

The community will feature one- and two-bedroom units averaging 875 square feet in size, and will be housed in a five-story building with 6,200 square feet of retail or office space and two and a half parking levels accommodating 479 vehicles.

“The city of Austin has been focused on providing more urban living close to the central business district,” Sean Sorrell, HFF senior managing director, tells MHN. “In the case of Hanover of South Lamar, the development will provide urban living, but address those renters who would prefer to avoid high-rise living. The South Lamar redevelopment activity has been a major effort by the city.”

Zoning challenges proved to be among the biggest obstacles that had to be surmounted in moving the development forward, Sorrell adds.

“Due to the fact that the site was an assemblage of several parcels with different ownership and different zoning, contracting for the site with simultaneous closing was the biggest obstacle,” he says, adding the zoning changes nevertheless were awarded, and the sellers worked cooperatively to make the sale a reality.

The HFF team representing The Hanover Company was led by director Cortney Cole, executive managing director Scott Galloway, senior managing directors Sorrell and Doug Opalka, associate director Robert Wooten and real estate analyst Kelly Layne.

Hanover South Lamar development will be what Sorrell calls “an exemplary mid-rise” with enormous street appeal and accessibility. “The ongoing redevelopment on South Lamar is providing more urban living opportunities, while modernizing and beautifying the area,” he concludes.