Are there really enough rich people who want to ride an elevator to live in tight quarters Downtown to fill a luxury tower like the Austonian?
Among ordinary Austinites, this is a huge source of skepticism. But all the developers say it’s no problem. The unsold supply of condominiums in the higher price points W, Four Seasons, and Austonian is approximately 250 to 300 units, said several developers. “Given the time frame that these are being delivered,” said Carpenter, “I’m very comfortable that we have more than enough demand to absorb the supply. In fact, if the economy begins to settle down, I would argue that we will all sell out pretty quickly. We have lots of interest; people are just nervous.” Mitchell noted that million-dollar residences sell all the time in Austin and that a midrange condo sells for about the same as a median-price home in Travis Heights – which has been around $475,000. He pointed to projections that, over the next four years, at least 100,000 residences will be sold in the Austin metro area. “If just 3 percent of the units sold are a Downtown condo, all of the units will be gone.
