Developer plans $80 million condo/office project on Austin's east side

Austin-based developer StoryBuilt has started construction on an $80 million mixed-use residential project in East Austin, a part of the city that continues to transform with new housing, retail, office and other development.

StoryBuilt said the condominium and office project, which is being called Ellie May, will be built at an estimated cost of $80 million at 755 Springdale Road.

The project will bring 84 condos, a farm-to-table restaurant and more than 76,500 square feet of office space to a site that formerly was home to Springdale Farm. The farm's owners, Glenn and Paula Foore, started the small urban farm in 2009 and sold the property to StoryBuilt in 2018.

The name Ellie May refers to the beloved dog who greeted guests at Springdale Farm, a five-acre property studded with heritage oak trees. StoryBuilt, which specializes in redeveloping central-city sites in Austin and elsewhere, typically names its residential projects after rescue animals or employees' pets.

The Springdale project is one of the highest-profile developments to date for StoryBuilt, which was formerly known as PSW Real Estate. It also is the company's largest project in Austin, with a total of 210,000 square feet of new development planned.

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StoryBuilt officials "were honored when Springdale Farm’s owners approached us when they decided to retire after operating their farm for 10 years there," Ross Wilson, president of StoryBuilt's Austin and San Antonio divisions, said in a written statement.

"This is a great example of the community, small business owners, and developers working together to honor the places that make Austin special while also providing solutions for Austin’s housing and commercial needs as the city continues to grow,” Wilson said.

In 2018, StoryBuilt bought the land for an undisclosed price from the Foores, who were retiring to focus on health and family. Leadership of the farm then transitioned to husband-and-wife David Barrow and Sonya Coté of Eden East, who also ran a restaurant on the site.

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Barrow and Coté relocated their farm to Bastrop, where they also opened a farm-to-table restaurant called Store House Market & Eatery. StoryBuilt said its plan is to bring Barrow and Coté back to operate a farm-to-table restaurant on the former Springdale Farm site, once StoryBuilt's mixed-use condo project is complete.

Hank Parker, StoryBuilt's development manager, said pricing for the condos in the new project is expected to be released in the spring.

"We will have 84 homes with more than 20 distinct floorplans," Parker said in an email. "With so many options, this community will allow us to meet a variety of budgets and lifestyles to help meet many demands of the Austin housing market."

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Like many metro areas around the country, the five-county Austin region faces ongoing housing affordablity challenges. Those are due in large part to a short supply of housing compared to strong demand fueled by continued job and population growth, including an influx of high-wage earners to the region's growing tech hub.

For the Springdale Road project, StoryBuilt partnered with the Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corp., a nonprofit housing provider in East Austin, to build eight below-market rate residences for people earning 60% or less of the Austin area's median family income.

Austin-based ECR will handle leasing for the commercial space in StoryBuilt's new project. The office space is expected to be ready in the first half of 2024.

East Austin has emerged as a popular area for new office space. A planned project called Springdale Green is slated to bring 775,000 square feet of office space to 30 acres off Springdale Road and Airport Boulevard. In addition, Manhattan-based developer Tishman Speyer bought the Foundry, an office property in East Austin with a combined 240,000 square feet of space in two buildings.

Founded in Austin in 2009, StoryBuilt said it now has a portfolio of 40-plus projects with over 1,300 units, worth more than $600 million, in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Seattle and Denver.

Earlier this year, StoryBuilt announced it was starting a condo project called George in central East Austin. Located between East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Manor Road, the development will have 80 townhomes and flats and 36 single-family homes.

“We are still seeing a huge demand for central Austin housing close to downtown, and that continues to be our target," Wilson said in an email.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Developer plans $80 million condo/office project on Austin's east side