By Shonda Novak, Austin American-Statesman
As demand for housing continues to soar across the Austin metro area, another residential project is planned for the emerging St. Elmo area in South Austin.
North American developer Intracorp said its third Austin project — called Congress Lofts at St. Elmo — will bring 139 condominiums to the rapidly redeveloping area.
The St. Elmo area is along South Congress Avenue, south of Ben White Boulevard and a few miles from downtown.
Due to break ground next summer, prices for the condos are expected to range from the $300,000s to more than $600,000, Intracorp said.
The condos are part of a surge of development transforming an area that was once heavily industrial into a district with housing, shops and restaurants.
“We really like the future here,” William Sayers, Intracorp’s Texas development director, said in a written statement. “This is a new urban neighborhood on the rise.”
The five-story Congress Lofts, to be built at 4315 S. Congress Ave., will have residential units on the second through fifth floors, with nine live/work storefronts and commercial space on the ground floor.
Construction is set to start in the summer of 2022, and the first residents could move into their units in 2024. Intracorp is not disclosing the project’s estimated cost.
In a previous interview, Austin-based real estate consultant Charles Heimsath said the St. Elmo area has emerged as a hot submarket that is in the path of growth. Heimsath has conducted market research for developers for their proposed projects for several decades.
Centrally located areas like St. Elmo, Heimsath said, “are attracting some of the most innovative development concepts and are rapidly evolving into attractive mixed use environments, at a lower price point.”
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