AUSTIN – (Realty News Report) — Greystar Real Estate Partners, a major multifamily firm, has broken ground a residential rental development, within a mile of Tesla’s Gigafactory and global headquarters on the east side of Austin.
Thousands of people are employees at the 4 million-SF Tesla plant and other new Tesla facilities near the Austin airport and Highway 130.
About three years ago, Tesla, a company led by Elon Musk, acquired 2,000 acres on Highway 130 for the car plant which was constructed at a fast pace. The land, along the banks of the Colorado River, was acquired from Martin Marietta, a North Carolina cement maker, for $97 million.
Why Build Apartments Near Tesla Factory?
“The community itself will feature a large clubhouse with indoor-outdoor fitness and coworking spaces. Given the community’s proximity to Tesla’s Headquarters, sustainability and ample greenspace were major driving forces behind the design. This area is ripe for growth, and we are excited to help pave the path for other major developments to come,” said Alex Perkins, Director of Development at Greystar.
The project, called Interport, a garden style community, will have 396 apartment homes in studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom floorplans that range from 609 to 1,548 SF. Each one will feature high-end finishes with stainless steel appliances and other luxury touches.
The apartment community will have EV chargers available for residents who drive Teslas or other electric vehicles.
The apartment project’s amenities will include a dog park and beer garden, a pickle ball court and a community garden. The clubhouse was designed in partnership with Meeks Partners and Michael Hsu Office of Architecture.
The first units will be occupied in early 2024.
NAHB: Multifamily Starts to Decline in 2023
On a national level, multifamily starts are predicted to fall in 2023, following an unsustainable high level of production last year, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
The NAHB said multifamily construction boomed in 2022, up an estimated 15% from the previous year and exceeded a 500,000 annual pace—the first time since the Great Recession. However, NAHB is projecting that multifamily starts will fall 28% this year to a 391,000 total and will stabilize in 2024 at about 374,000 starts.
“Slowing rent growth, rising unemployment, tightening commercial real estate financing conditions and a substantial amount of supply in the construction pipeline have caused a large backlog of multifamily developments,” said NAHB Assistant Vice President for Forecasting and Analysis Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington told a press conference held at the NAHB International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas.
There are currently 943,000 apartments under construction, up 24.9 percent compared to a year ago (755,000). This is the highest count of apartments under construction since 1974.
Feb. 22, 2023 Realty News Report Copyright 2023.
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File: Groundbreaking Near Tesla Gigafactory
Image: Courtesy Greystar. A rendering of the Great Room at the Interport apartment community. Greystar has just broken ground on the community.