Silverstein Inks Loan for Austin Project

By Commercial Mortgage Alert | Green Street - CMA

Silverstein Capital has written a $98.3 million construction loan for a mixed-use project in Austin.

The floating-rate loan, with a total term of five years, will help fund development of the Loren at Lady Bird Lake. The eight-story building will have 108 hotel rooms, ground-floor retail space and 24 residential condominiums, including two penthouses.

The borrower is Sardis Development of New York. Headed by former investment banker Stephen King, the shop previ­ously developed the 49-room Loren at Pink Beach in Bermuda, which was the first hotel under the Loren Hotel Group flag.

The Austin project’s development cost couldn’t be learned. The financing from the lending arm of New York-based Silver­stein Properties was arranged without a broker.

Sardis already has completed the entitlement process and begun construction. Work is scheduled to wrap up in 2022, ac­cording to the website for the condos. Eleven of the 24 resi­dences — including both penthouses — are under contract.

The site is at 211 South Lamar Boulevard, just across the Lady Bird Lake section of the Colorado River from downtown. It’s at the corner of West Riverside Drive, alongside road and pedestrian bridges across the waterway, as well as the Lady Bird Lake bike trail. The University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Capitol are within 3 miles.

The hotel’s amenities will include concierge service, a roof­top pool and restaurant, a full-service spa and a fitness center. Each condo will have direct elevator access and an assigned parking space.

Austin has drawn investor interest during the coronavi­rus pandemic due to its economic growth. By one count, the market has seen 65 corporate expansions, 26 relocations and 12,000-plus new jobs this year. Key drivers are large presences in the city by Apple, Facebook and Google, plus the recently re­ported relocations of Oracle and Tesla.