la Frontera In the News
Austin American-Statesman
August 30, 2007
Last of La Frontera land sold
Hotel planned on parcel at 330-acre Round Rock project that's 60 percent done.
by Shonda Novak, M.B. Taboada, American-Statesman Staff
The developers who envisioned transforming Tom Kouri's dairy farm and other land into La Frontera, the huge center with shops, offices, housing and hotels, have sold virtually all of the 330 acres they assembled, setting the stage for much more development to come.
The final 2-acre parcel at La Frontera, a development synonymous with Round Rock, is under contract to Cincinnati-based Winegardner and Hammonds Inc. for a new hotel next to the 295-room Austin Marriott North at Round Rock, which opened in May 2001.
In addition, projects that will add hundreds of lofts, more shops and restaurants and potentially more than 2 million square feet of offices are under construction at La Frontera, which broke ground in 1999 at Interstate 35 and FM 1325.
Bill Smalling, one of the managing partners of La Frontera who developed the project with Don Martin and Fort Worth billionaire and lead equity investor Ed Bass, sees the final land sale as the start of a new chapter for the project, which is now about 60 percent complete.
"So much more is yet to come," Smalling said. "It's very exciting to see all this coming out of the ground."
North American Properties of Cincinnati has started construction on La Frontera Square, a 9-acre, mixed-use project featuring office, retail and restaurants, as well as 349 lofts.
The project, to be completed in two years, will have about 45,000 square feet of commercial space, but the developer is not yet releasing information about potential tenants.
Next week, Simmons Vedder & Co. plans to break ground on Frontera Vista, two five-story office buildings, each with 135,000 square feet of space, said Jeff Pace, the company's vice president of office development. The projected opening is fall of 2009.
Frontera Vista is part of an overall development that could bring 1.5 million to 2 million square feet of office and other mixed-use space, including apartments, Pace said.
Simmons Vedder's project "will be one of our shining stars as far as office development," said Charley Ayres, director of business retention and expansion for the Round Rock Economic Development Partnership.
Ayres said the buildings will "more than adequately" fill the void for top-tier office space.
Reliant Rehabilitation Hospital also is under construction at La Frontera. Developers including Atlanta-based Cousins Properties Inc. and Austin-based Live Oak-Gottesman also have prime sites for projects.
La Frontera's location was by far the biggest factor in its success, its developers say.
Newly completed roads, including the Loop 1 extension and the Texas 45 North toll road, were a pipe dream when the project was conceived. Now, those roads, along with I-35, put La Frontera at the confluence of three major highways.
Smalling recalls the exact date and time the project broke ground: June 28, 1999, at 10 a.m.
"It was exciting, a divine moment as far as I was concerned," he said.
The retail portion was originally planned to be 40 acres. It later expanded to 80 acres and then ultimately to 117, Smalling said.
Today there are 960,00 square feet of retail, with tenants that include the Home Depot, Sam's Club, Barnes & Noble, Baja Fresh and Starbucks.
Growth at La Frontera
June 28, 1999:Groundbreaking.
Sept. 17, 1999: Construction begins on 800,000-square-foot retail portion.
July 18, 2000: Store openings begin in the retail portion.
Aug. 15, 2005: Oxford Alliance Investments purchases site for office condos.
June 12, 2006: Simmons Vedder & Co. unveils plans for 43-acre mixed-use and office site.
snovak@statesman.com; 445-385
