Inland National Development Company (INDC) and co-developer, Cambridge Development Group, announced that construction of North Austin’s newest luxury multifamily community, Citadel at Tech Ridge, was completed in June 2020 ahead of schedule and under budget. Additionally, at the end of August 2020, 62 percent of units had been leased and 170 units were occupied. Citadel at Tech Ridge is located on 14.8 acres at 1127 Pearl Retreat Lane, in the heart of North Austin’s Tech Ridge. This luxury, Class A gated community consists of one-, two- and three-bedroom residences, totaling 308 units in 12 three-story stone and wood frame buildings. Each unit features an open floorplan design with in-unit washers and dryers, designer lighting, Energy Star appliances and private balconies or patios. Community amenities include a resort-style swimming pool, dog park, pet spa, electric vehicle charging stations, a clubhouse with a cybercafé, resident lounge and state-of-the-art fitness center. Citadel at Tech Ridge also benefits from close proximity to I-35, a CapMetro Park and Ride location and leading grocer, H-E-B. “Austin’s vibrant Tech Ridge neighborhood is a highly desirable, rapidly growing location, drawing thousands of new residents annually,” said Anthony Casaccio, president and CEO of INDC. “Our teams worked tirelessly against a challenging environment to deliver Citadel at Tech Ridge to North Austin’s surging population ahead of schedule. Our leasing figures underscore the considerable interest and desire residents have to live in this upscale, luxury community.” Citadel at Tech Ridge is located just east of the Tech Ridge Business Park and less than one mile from the 400-acre master planned Parmer Business Park, a technology and office park experiencing tremendous growth with the addition of BAE Systems’ $150 million facility. Additionally, the recently announced Tesla “Gigafactory” is under development in Southeast Austin, approximately 11 miles south of Citadel at Tech Ridge. North Austin is also home to major employers such as Samsung, General Motors (IT Division), Dell Computer, Apple, IBM and others.

Matthews Real Estate Investment Services facilitated the sale of a Radiology and Imaging of South Texas portfolio in Corpus Christi, Texas. Montecito Medical Real Estate acquired the properties for $7.1 million. Matthews associate vice president and director Michael Moreno, associate vice president and director Rahul Chhajed, and associate Kyle Mackulak brokered the transaction. The healthcare assets are located at 3226 South Alameda Street and 2825 Spohn South Drive in Corpus Christi. The tenant, Radiology and Imaging of South Texas is the largest area provider of imaging services and has contracts with most major local hospitals. The Spohn Drive location is directly across from the Christus Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-South, off Saratoga Boulevard. The South Alameda drive location is one block from the Corpus Christi Medical Center and the W.B. Ray Highschool. The South Alameda property was built in 1970 and consists of 13,179 square feet and The Spohn Drive location has 15,338 square feet and was built in 2007. “This particular transaction shows the strong investor interest in physician-backed real estate and the ability for healthcare operators to monetize their real estate,” said Mackulak. “This was a very complicated deal with many moving parts; however, we were able to successfully manage the various challenges that arose during escrow.” Healthcare properties are extremely sought-after investments for their resistance to downturns in the economy and e-commerce trends that affect traditional retail properties. The seller, Radiology and Imaging of South Texas wanted to pull capital out and find a strong institutional partner. The buyer, Montecito Medical Real Estate was sourced by Matthews agents and is one of the most active buyers of medical real estate in the nation. “A few items came up during the escrow process that almost got in the way of closing. For instance, we needed to receive a parking variance, which meant getting approval from the city,” said Moreno. “Our tenacity, deal-making experience, and never say no attitude allowed us to keep pushing the rock up the hill and pivot as needed to ensure we reached our target goal.”

On September 1st, Storage Star completed the acquisition of three well-located self-storage facilities in Austin, increasing its portfolio to 27 total assets including eight located in fast-growing major Texas markets. Bellomy & Co. exclusively represented the sellers and received inquiries from more than 130 capital sources—both foreign and domestic. The facilities will be named Storage Star – Mopac, Storage Star – Pond Springs and Storage Star – Ben White. Storage Star intends to invest in the projects to improve curb appeal, repair deferred maintenance and prepare the facilities for long-term hold. “We are fortunate to add to our growing portfolio such well-located assets in the fast-growing, highly attractive Austin market,” said Matt Garibaldi, Storage Star president. “The selling team was a pleasure to work with, and Bill Bellomy and Michael Johnson provided great support as the seller representatives.”

More than 2,160 properties along Austin’s nine major transportation corridors have been tapped for potential partial purchase by the city in its ongoing effort to renovate and enhance the city’s most traversed roads. The 2,166 properties represent those facing the city’s corridors—Airport, North and South Lamar, and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards; East Riverside and William Cannon drives; Slaughter Lane; Burnet Road; and Guadalupe Street. Although the city could potentially target each property for a partial purchase, city officials in an Aug. 26 memo said they expect to need pieces of only 168 properties, or roughly 8%. The $23 million comes from voter-approved funding from the 2016’s $720 million mobility bond. In the memo, Alex Gale, interim officer for the city’s real estate office, said “no whole property acquisitions are anticipated to be necessary” and that each purchase would only be a part of the property or an easement. He said the majority would be “sidewalk, trail and recreation easements,” and some would be right of way purchases to widen lanes. Gale said the city would have to negotiate purchases with the landowners and that if the city and the property owner could not make a deal, condemnation could be the next step; however, any property seizure by the government would have to come to City Council on a case-by-case basis. Click to read more at www.communityimpact.com.