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Switching from condos to apartments is generally seen as a sign of a flagging market (not as clear a sign as rising inventory, but still). Generally, rental developers can get away with cheaper finishes and fixtures, so apartments require a smaller capital investment than condos, but given the timing of the flip-flops it is not clear that is the case here.
The move may also be a sign that the Austin rental market is strong. The Monarch will have less competition downtown as a rental than it would as a condo. There are several other downtown condo projects planned or under construction, and most of them are more marketable than The Monarch. Currently, there are only a handful of other large rental properties competing for high-end, downtown renters. Adding The Monarch to the mix will substantially increase the downtown rental supply.
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Shouldn't the Gables West Ave. and 404 Rio Grande be considered as large, high-end downtown apartments too?
I don't think either one of those is high-end.
Shilli, you forgot Altavida too - coming online 9-12 months later than Monarch, but also apartments.
Fair enough. I made some changes to the post. I still think it is a valid point that there are more condos downtown than rentals.
A 622 square foot efficiency at the Gables is currently renting for $1390 according to their website. If that's not high end, you must be pooping hundred dollar bills.
Get out of my bathroom!
High-end in terms of amenities/construction, not price. My 1980s Clarksville condo rents for twice what it would in Pflugerfuck, but that doesn't make it "high-end".
So a $10,000/month apartment in Manhattan isn't considered "high-end" if it would rent for $400/month in Harlingen? I don't think so.
"High-end" always refers to price. Location is just one part of the equation. The Gables definitely qualify as high-end.
High-end is relative to the market. In this case, I'm subdividing the market into "downtown" and some other segments like "central" and "suburban hell". And relative to the downtown market, those apartments aren't high-end, sorry.
You're creating an arbitrary and senseless distinction by rationalizing a separate "downtown" category to judge real estate. There are only 3 large rental complexes downtown right now, and all are "high end" in terms of price/sq ft compared to any other central Austin rental property. Sorry.
So in 5 years when the fixtures at Monarch are as older like those at the Gables, the Monarch will no longer be high-end right, even if it is $2500 a month for 600 sq. feet? I mean, there will be places with newer fixtures...
And to all other commenters, M1EK is always right, you are always wrong. I don't know why everyone hasn't figured this out yet.
Fuckin' A. There goes my rent again - up through the leaking roof.
Grape Ape,
No, you're continuing to prove our estimates of simian intelligence overly optimistic. "de Saligny" in Clarksville is old, but high-end. My condo was the same age, and mid-range. Tiny bathrooms, serviceable but non-fancy fixtures and appliances, differences in views, etc.
heyzeus,
If you want to be silly and use price as your only metric without segmenting the market at all, then there's a lot of West Campus condos that are "high end" which look pretty damn shitty.
On the bright side - at least I won't be stuck on the 40th floor if there's a fire and at least there are two firehouses near my complex.
Yes, it's silly to consider price when determining if something is priced highly compared to other properties. It's silly to consider $1400 a month for an efficiency in Austin to not be high end. The real measure of "high end" is what kind of sinks they put in the place. Is the steel stainless enough? The granite countertop granitey enough? So tell me, expert of appliances, how not-high-end the fixtures at the Gables downtown are, compared to the clearly high end AMLI that rents for about the same exorbinant prices. That will be exciting!
heyzeus, again, by your argument, everything in West Campus is "high end".
You could park a mobile home on a corner downtown and rent it for a ton of money, wouldn't you agree? Would that make it "high-end"?
"heyzeus, again, by your argument, everything in West Campus is "high end"."
Well, that's a false assumption on your part. A quick search of Google and Craigslist shows efficiencies for $600-$700 in West Campus (compared to $1400 at the Gables) and 2 or 3 bedroom apartments in West Campus for the same price as an efficiency at the Gables.
A $1400 efficiency in West Campus would indeed be "high end" in the Austin market. But that's not what they're charging.
In conclusion, the Gables are a high end downtown rental property, and that's really the last microsecond of my existence I will spend thinking about them.
Well, you're still not getting the point. There's dumps downtown that rent for more per-square-foot and more-per-bedroom than the nicest luxury stuff in the suburbs. Doesn't make them high-end.
Compare the price for one of those dumps in West Campus to a reasonably 'nice' place in the suburbs. Does the higher price per sqft in West Campus automagically make it high-end?
Just because the units at the Railyard -- built in the 1980s -- are rented for > $1400/mo by their owners, it does not mean those places are "high end". Their location is what makes the price that high, not the beige carpet, incredibly small bathrooms, generic stoves/counters/cabinets, regular 8 foot ceilings, view of absolutely nothing, etc. Many of the Railyard condos are essentially the same as they were a decade or more ago, but they rent for a lot. And they are not high end.
So again, what makes the Gables West Avenue not high end? Despite its price, newness, and nearly identical fixtures to the AMLI? Not the Railyard (which also don't rent for $1400 for an effiency). Not the mythical non-existent $1400 west campus efficiency. The Gables. Your only answer is because you say it's so. The circle of faulty logic is complete.
I don't know anything about the Gables, The Monarch, or the AMLI.
I do know what people rent (or at least ask) at the Railyard for and I know what a number of the units are like inside. And I know that while the prices are high, the units are not high-end (for the most part). The asking prices approach and/or exceed the numbers being tossed around here. There is a 1196sqr foot for rent at the Railyard at $2200/month.
High-end normally refers to something that would be sought after or desired by affluent or discerning people. Ratty, tattered or worn doesn't exclude something from being High-end. Look at musical instruments or vintage furniture as an example of something "high-end" but not modern or necessarily in nice condition.
The way I would rank real estate as High-end or not would be whether it's price point is high relative to the median and average prices in the general market area.
For example, we consider "Luxury" properties to be those priced in the top 10% of the market. In Austin, that's only about $750K and up, but elsewhere, $750K may only be average.
Finally, "expensive" doesn't mean High-end. A Travis Heights bungalow is expensive, but not High-end.
Just another opinion.
Steve
And yes M1EK, a mobile home on a downtown corner would be high end - especially if it had Pink Flamingos, a live band, and maybe some kinda NASCAR theme. It would be like that WorldCom CEO with his ice sculptures of David pissing Russian Vodka.
You can argue on the taste, but not that it's gonna be high end.
Steve,
I think you and I are on the same page. I don't necessarily think Grape and Mdahmus' opinions are mutually exclusive and I think your explanation clarifies why they can both coexist. Or maybe I'm just tired and imagining it.
so, i guess with all this said, my renovated condo in zilker, which i am renting for $850, with updated fixtures and new appliances is a great deal! holler, people. holler.
Uh no. Nobody wants pergo floors and stainless steel shit when they could have washer dryer connections. Plus, unless that condo is a 2/2, it's monsterously overpriced.