The Mueller House Condos are moving forward with the first of the four-unit buildings in a variety of states of framing. The first building on the corner of Mattie Street and Simond is being sheetrocked right now, with move-in dates projected for September, and the next units go on sale in the coming days – if past experience is anything to go by, they’ll sell quickly.
For most of us, it’s easier to understand a the layout of a home when the drywall is in place – especially when in a multi unit building – otherwise you’re always trying to picture whether that framing lumber is in this unit or the adjacent one. It’s often said that people buy what they see, so that new home sales go faster when there are completed homes to view. Buying a home to live in is often a very emotional decision in my experience – people get a feeling when they walk in the door. Despite this, many people have bought homes based on plans and renderings here, with the Standard Pacific condominiums being a case in point. There were interest lists before they went on sale, and they sold out in a few weeks in winter – the traditionally slow buying season in Austin.
The next four buildings are being released for sale soon – probably this weekend. They face the mansion house style buildings under construction across the broad Simond Avenue by Lake Park. There are already waiting lists for the market rate homes – four unit B and four unit D in the four buildings – two Colorado elevations, one Sabine and one Brazos. The elevations do make some difference to the inside of the condos – ceiling height, window placement and also balcony dimensions.
As with the first buildings, half of the units are in the Mueller Affordable Program. For the market rate units I imagine that there will be modest price increases from the first release, though these remain the best price per square foot by far in the neighborhood – in a previous post I showed that they were around $130/sqft compared to the nearest alternatives at $150-180/sqft or the resale market which roughly starts at $190/sqft.
With the waiting lists, can I still buy a Mueller House Condominium? Yes. I know people who have been on the waiting lists whose circumstances have changed and are no longer in the market to buy one. If you haven’t registered yet, I’d at least get on the list in the next few days – you can call me on my cell 512 694 8873 to find out how.
Can I see a built condominium of my floorplan? Yes. While the first building is still under construction, you can arrange to tour the units with enough notice. It’s still a hard hat area, so you need to arrange to see them.
Why are the prices so low, are the finishes less nice? The standard feature list is pretty extensive as with all the Standard Pacific homes at Mueller, so my guess is that the big saving is on the lot purchase. While the individual units are large, the lot for the building is smaller than four comparable yard homes, or even town homes. With the condo there is no private yard, though there are mutiple balconies in some units.
Garreth Wilcock lives and works at the old Mueller Airport redevelopment in Austin. Call or get in touch if you’re thinking of moving there.