Avalon Park Has New Residential Venture

AUSTIN, TX - More than a year after it dropped plans for a massive, mixed-use development in Leander, Avalon Park Group Management Inc. of Orlando, Fla. is re-entering the Austin market, this time on a smaller scale. Avalon and Swiss investor Richard Kunz have acquired 70 acres in North Austin in a joint venture. Beat Kahli, Avalon's president and CEO, said the joint venture plans to develop a residential community on the site with about 200 three and four bedroom single family homes. The land is near I-35 and Dell Inc.'s Round Rock campus.

Still unclear is the development's timeline, cost and why the partners have chosen to build the project in Austin. Kahlin and Kunz couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

As originally reported in the Aug. 10, 2007 edition of the Austin Business Journal, Avalon in 2007 worked with the city of Leander and landowner Bill Hinckley, president of Houston-based The Lookout Group Inc., on a proposed $4 billion development, which would have occupied 3,550 acres between Crystal Falls Parkway and Lakeline Boulevard and clustered homes around town centers, Avalon executives said. Avalon planned to buy the land from Hinckley for about $90 million, Kahli said.

According to a summary of terms, the proposed development was planned to have 10,200 single family and townhome residences, 3,000 multifamily residences, 1.5 million square feet of commercial and retail space and a 1-million-square-foot business park.

Leander was considering a more than $100 million incentive package and the formation of an in-city municipal utility district.

But after putting down an initial $5 million toward the land purchase, Avalon executives decided not to pursue the project.

Kahli said after studying the Central Texas market for six months, Avalon came to the conclusion that the homebuilding market, both locally and nationally, wasn't strong enough for such a large acquisition.

Hinckley has continued developing the land once slated for the Avalon development, and plans for approximately 10,000 single family homes as well as commercial and retail space to occupy the Crystal Falls land at full buildout.