It?s not just about new jobs, it?s about lifestyle options Austin?s ongoing tech boom has been good to Kevin Burns. An Urban Land Institute member and CEO of Urbanspace, a boutique real estate firm with exclusive sales rights for many of the city?s high-end high-rises, Burns has sold units in many of the city?s most expensive apartments and condos. With Google, Apple, and Facebook, among a lineup of tech and oil companies, all opening or expanding their offices in the Texas capital, the broker foresees no shortage of wealthy clients.
?We?re the closest thing you can get to California without state income tax,? he says.
But even though Austin benefits from a concentration of tech firms and talent, Burns?s wealthy clients are not all tech employees. Take the Independent, the new downtown luxury residential project nicknamed the Jenga Tower, set to open with record-setting condo prices ranging from the high $600,000s to over $3 million. Burns has found that interest in pre-sales for the Independent covers both a wide price range and a wide demographic range, including young families and empty nesters. ?Now, those buying condos downtown look like a Benetton commercial,? he says. ?It feels like we have residents from newborn to 80, all who have said, ?To hell with the suburbs.??
A new rush for high-end rentals
The growing number of luxury rentals?and more importantly, luxury renters?in Austin exemplifies a trend in cities across the nation: the bifurcating housing ma...