Kevin Burns Reveals New Details About Rainey Street Skyscraper, Including Name and Project Team
The tower formerly known as 9092 Rainey, which has been in the works for several years, officially has a new name and new project specifications.
The Modern Austin Residences will have 56 stories featuring 346 market-rate residences and 21 affordable housing units. Austin’s Urbanspace Real Estate + Interiors is developing the project.
The affordable housing units will be available to people earning 80% of median family income, which is $98,900 in the Austin metro. The market rate units will start in the $400,000 range for a one-bedroom unit. Three-bedroom units will go for $1.6 million and above.
These updates, provided by Urbanspace CEO Kevin Burns, come just a few months after Austin City Council approved a density bonus for the project, allowing the building to go higher than typically allowed. At the time, the tower was planned to be 51 stories high and to contain 400 total units.
Burns said some of the extra stories were added to improve the look of the crown of the building by hiding water cooling towers and other mechanical features. He said they ended up reducing the number of market rate residences but maintaining the same number of affordable ones.
Many have wondered about the fate of Container Bar, the popular bar made of shipping containers that sits on the project site. Burns said the bar will close just before crews break ground on The Modern, which is set for late March 2022.
However, Bridget Dunlap — who owns Container Bar as well as Clive Bar and Lustre Pearl — has signed on to run an entertainment space in the basement of the building.
“Container Bar had a good run, but I’m excited for what’s next,” Dunlap said in a statement. “This next concept will fill a niche that Austin is missing in the music/hospitality scene, and I’m glad to have the opportunity to stay in our spot.”
Nelsen Partners will be the design architect for the tower, Flintco will be the general contractor and Page will be the architect of record. Urbanspace will handle sales and interior design for the tower.
Sales are expected to begin at the start of next year. Burns said it will likely take two and a half years to complete construction. He projects they’ll finish in the second half of 2024.
Original plans for the tower included hotel space and permanent residences, but Covid-19 forced the developer to rethink the plan.
“The fact of the matter is what my company knows inside and out, backwards and forwards is high-rise condominiums,” Burns said. “So it allowed us to really focus on what we do best.”
Urbanspace has been tapped to sell the condos for other high-profile Austin towers, including The Independent, which has an onsite coffee and cocktail bar on the ground floor, similar to what is planned for The Modern. But The Modern Austin Residences represents Burns’ first foray into high-rise development.
Calls for denser housing within the city limits have grown louder amid the city of Austin’s persistent housing shortage. In June, the Austin Board of Realtors reported that the city had only 0.7 months of housing inventory on the market. That means if no new houses were listed, the city would be completely out of available housing in less than a month.
“We couldn’t beat the timing as far as the current market demands for products in Central Austin,” Burns said.
Rainey Street, in particular, has transformed considerably in recent the years. In the mid-2000s, the neighborhood received Central Business District zoning, making it easier to build big in what was once a residential area. The street is now known in large part for its bars, which largely occupy former single-family homes.
“Rainey street is evolving for families from all different walks of life, for those that want to ditch the car and be able to walk to everything,” Burns said. “I’m excited to see not just my project but the other projects that are going up in the area that are really going to create an incredible experience, not just for those that live there, but for the entire city.”
Article from: Austin Business Journal