la Frontera In the News
The Round Rock Leader
Welcome to Round Rock
July 2002
La Frontera, retail sales, on the rise in Round Rock
by Mistie Householter
The developments on the corner of FM 1325 and Interstate 35, which include La Frontera and Dell Computer Corp., bring in more sales taxes than any other intersection in Texas.
La Frontera, the 3-year-old mixed use development, alone generates about $3.8 million of sales tax revenue annually for the City of Round Rock; which is a significant part of the funding for the city, said David Kautz, the city's finance director.
The 329-acre La Frontera development includes The La Frontera Village Shopping Center, restaurants; net.plex office buildings; The Enclave and Lakeside Apartments; a 800-room Austin Marriott North hotel; The Greens – an outdoor park; and will soon welcome a new retailer center, The La Frontera Commons.
The main retail complex, The La Frontera Village Shopping Center, has 875,000 square feet devoted to its 49 shops and 16 restaurants, which include Lowe's, Circuit City, Sam's, Kohl's Department Store and Hobby Lobby. The newest retail tenants are Run Tex, Electronics Boutique and Olive Garden.
One-hundred percent of the retail space has been leased, but two restaurant pads are undeveloped and have future plans for tenants that are still unannounced.
Construction on another retail center, The La Frontera Commons, is set to begin in early 2003 and be complete by the fall of 2003. The Commons will sit directly south of the The Village on FM 1325. The 400,000 square foot center will be home to retail stores, office and living space and an entertainment complex, which will include a movie theater and restaurants.
In addition to retail, La Frontera is also home to two high-tech apartment complexes. Enclave, which was completed last year, has 410 units, and Lakeside, which will be complete by the end of August, will have 388 units.
Don Martin, a La Frontera partner, said Enclave is 90 percent full and attributes its success to the central location of La Frontera in the high-tech corridor of north Austin and Round Rock.
"It is doing very well. It appeals to the young professional crowd because it has a lot of amenities," said Martin referring to perks like a 15-seat movie theater and 24-hour Internet Café.
But Martin said the net.plex office campuses, which include 301 Sundance Parkway, The Summit at La Frontera, Vintage Plaza and the Live Oak Development, aren't doing so well.
He said the new offices are not in demand right now because recent job layoffs have prompted larger companies to sublease their own offices to smaller companies.
"Our position is that we have been focusing on the areas that are hot and we will sit back and wait for the office cycle to come back around," Martin said. "We will push that in the next cycle. Our focus now is on retail and apartments. That is the beauty of a mix-use facility."
Another component to La Frontera is The Greens, a 3-acre park with a central fountain plaza, walking trails, amphitheater and open areas. The Greens will be home to three annual events: a Shoes for Austin 5K in May, a Coats for Kids fun run in October, and summer concerts, which will be held one Sunday a month from 7p.m. to 9p.m. The schedule currently includes Damesviolet on July 21, the Haydn Vitera Band on Aug. 18 and blues music that is still to be announced on Sept 15.
