Photo by Peter McCradyAll construction is anticipated to be complete by the middle of 2015
One of Austin's most recognizable landmarks, the Seaholm Power Plant in the 800 block of West Cesar Chavez Street, is on its way to getting a new lease on life.
"I think it's going to be an incredibly unique product," said John Rosato, a real estate agent with Southwest Strategies Group and a managing partner with the Seaholm Redevelopment Project. "It's a great location, the power plant is a phenomenal building and we're pleased that everybody else thinks it's as [great] as we think it is."
AthenaHealth and Seaholm
On Jan. 15, the city of Austin announced an economic development incentive proposal that would bring AthenaHealth to the Seaholm facility.
"They're a great company, and they're very interested in historic preservation," Rosato said. "It would be a great fit with Seaholm."
Austin is still in competition with other cities for AthenaHealth's research and development center. If the company comes to Seaholm, Rosato said it would take up most of space in the former power plant building.
The economic incentive proposal to bring the company to Austin is a performance-based grant totaling $679,500 over 10 years. The proposal is expected to have a net benefit to the city of $1.67 million.
AthenaHealth provides cloud-based health information technology services. If the company chooses Austin, it is expected to bring approximately 600 jobs to the city during the next 10 years.
Moving forward
The Seaholm development is attracting the attention of more than just businesses. Rosato said potential homeowners have shown a keen interest in condo units, reserving all 280 condos within five days of them being available.
"I think it went well," Rosato said. "I think there's a little bit of pent-up demand."
There are four parts to the redevelopment project, including renovating the former power plant facility, building a tower for condos, constructing a two-story retail building and building a three-level parking garage.
The low-rise building, parking garage and the former power plant will be completed by the end of 2014, and the tower will be complete in the middle of 2015.
"We're pleased with the construction, the pace that we're at right now," Rosato said. "We had a little bit of a slowdown with the rain, but we've had some really pretty weather, so we've caught up with as much as we can."
The city's investment in the Seaholm redevelopment is about $24.5 million. Private development in the project totals more than $100 million.
"We've had a vision for [Seaholm] for nine years, and we really always believed in it, but it's always nice when companies are interested in leasing there and people are interested in living there because they get the vision," Rosato said.
