 |
Issues 16 - 20
Issue 16 June 5, 2000
Koontz McCombs Unveil Office Plans
Koontz McCombs L.L.C., a San Antonio-based real estate development company founded by developer Bart Koontz and automobile magnate Red McCombs, has chosen to make its first commercial venture in the Austin-area market at la Frontera. According to the Austin Business Journal, the company is planning a 200,000-square-foot, three-building office park on 17.9 acres, to be called The Summit at la Frontera. The project will consist of two identical 80,000-square-foot buildings that will be followed by a smaller, 40,000-square-foot building. Construction on Phase I of the project will begin in July 2000.
Houston-based Kirksey and Partners architects designed the project and Bury + Partners of Austin are the civil engineers. Leasing information is available from Ronald P. Landry of Landry-Nunez Company at (512) 329-5061.
Round Rock Lockon.com Site Debuts
Lockon.com is now up and running. This interactive community website, sponsored by TXU Communications, offers everything from classified ads, community listings, free email addresses, local jobs, movie listings, events calendars and chats and forums. The cities currently featured on www.lockon.com include Round Rock, Bryan/College Station, Conroe, Huntsville, Longview, Lufkin, Nacogdoches, Tyler, Waco and The Woodlands. The site is also reachable through the www.round-rock.net site.
Tip: The easy Add-a-Link feature allows any business or organization with a web site to register their business on this free “community portal” for Round Rock.
La Frontera Restaurant Update
Construction is now underway on several national restaurants at la Frontera including T.G.I. Fridays, Logan’s Roadhouse, and Red Lobster. Construction will start soon on Don Pablo’s, Schlotsky’s Deli (including their popular “Bread Alone” bakery which serves coffee and breakfast items), the new Rock Fish restaurant chain, plus Round Rock’s first Starbucks Coffee store.
Issue 17 July 18, 2000
Now Open!
Store Openings Begin in Retail Portion of la Frontera
Stores began opening this week in the Phase I retail portion of la Frontera. While progress continues on roads, landscaping, the Marriott Conference Hotel, The Enclave at la Frontera apartments and several office sites, the Phase I retail portion is nearing completion as the first stores and restaurants begin opening. Bed Bath and Beyond, Pier One and Office Depot are now open with several others to soon follow.
Here is a look at the scheduled opening for just a few of the la Frontera “Power Village” retail stores and restaurants.
Current Retail Opening Schedule
“The Village at La Frontera”
(Partial List)
July 2000
|
Aug./Sept. 2000
|
4th Quarter
|
Other
|
Bed Bath & Beyond
Office Depot
Pier 1 Imports
Rack Room Shoes
|
Barnes & Noble
Starbucks
Lowe’s
Marshall’s
Old Navy
Petco
Ulta 3
TGI Friday’s
|
Circuit City
Gage Furniture
Hobby Lobby
Sam’s
Don Pablo’s
Logan’s Roadhouse
Red Lobster
Schlotzsky’s (Deli & Bakery)
|
Art & Frame Warehouse
Ascot Tuxedos
Bath & Body Works
Carpet Mills
Voice Stream
Dress Barn
KidGenius
Mattress Firm
Omni Fitness
Rock Fish
|
Issue 18 August 17, 2000
Road Relief: State and City Begin Major New Projects
as Others Near Completion At IH-35/FM 1325
The culmination of years of planning and intensive effort are paying off
as several major road projects
near completion this month, and other key segments are getting underway.
Here's a look at several significant projects underway around the IH-35 / FM 1325 intersection:
SH 45 Frontage Roads: Clearly the most significant new project is the approval and construction start for SH 45 frontage roads from east of IH-35 (near Dell) westward to the north extension of Loop 1 (MoPac). To expedite construction, the Texas Turnpike Authority (TTA) will begin construction of the frontage roads this Fall. Upon completion (in about a year) they will become a part of the SH 45 / Loop 1 toll road. Main lane construction starts will follow in mid-2001. Watch for dirt to start flying soon.
Turnarounds on IH-35 and Hester Crossing: While they may appear minor, these three new Interstate turnaround lanes will make a huge difference in keeping much of the frontage road traffic off the busy IH-35/FM 1325 intersection. Construction on the turnaround lanes has already begun with completion scheduled for June 2001 or earlier. Round Rock is definitely "turning around" their traffic issues with this project.
Hester's Crossing: Hester's Crossing is expected to open all the way from IH-35 through to CR 172 in early September - opening up a major new arterial to direct traffic off of the IH-35 intersection. La Frontera Blvd (linking Fm 1325 to Hester's) will open at the same time as well. Both are being built as part of the La Frontera project.
Dell Access: Two new projects are well underway to provide new access points to Dell off of IH-35. Greenlawn Blvd. will soon provide a new south Dell entrance. And Mays Avenue is being extended to the south to provide a new north entrance to Dell, linking to Hester's Crossing. All together a new loop road is quickly emerging to provide a complete network of access roads for this fast-growing area.
New la Frontera Web Site Design Debuts
Check out our new look at www.la-frontera.com which reflects the changing
nature of the project as stores and restaurants start to open, apartments
begin their leasing, and two office building projects get underway. The
new web site was designed by Cool Pages, a Round Rock web design firm,
and includes constantly updated news, facts, and the live web camera views
of la Frontera.
For copies of prior Buzz issues see www.la-frontera.com
Issue 19 August 31, 2000
WE’RE #1!
Austin Area Ranks Number One in Strongest U.S. Metro Areas
The Austin metro area is Number One according to the new 2000-2001 listing of the Top 25 Strongest Metro Economies, by Policom Corp, an independent national research firm. The ranking of 316 metropolitan areas is based on a combination of growth in total earnings and employment, economic quality of life, and the dependability and regularity of the money entering the local economy. For complete data go to www.policom.com.
Hotel Occupancy Tightens for 2001
“If you have need for hotel rooms and/or meeting space in Austin, you better make reservations now. Austin’s hotel occupancy from January through May this year averaged 77.2%. That’s up from 70% last year. But…next year is when the Texas Legislature is in session. A legislative session always greatly impacts the hotel/restaurant business in Austin. A word to the wise: plan ahead.” The Austin Letter, Vol 22, Issue No 17
Fortunately, along with other hotels, the new La Frontera Marriott Conference Hotel is currently under construction. You can even see how the construction is going at to the newly updated la Frontera web site at www.la-frontera.com (choose webcam) or to the www.round-rock.net site. The Marriott Conference Hotel is tentatively slated to open in May 2001. If you are interested in booking advance meetings, conventions or conferences, you can contact Cindy Swift at Winegardner & Hammonds, Inc. at (513) 794-2419 or via e-mail at: cswift@whithotels.com Koontz McCombs to kick off 200,000 s.f. “Summit” office complex in September San Antonio-based developer Koontz McCombs will break ground in September on “The Summit at La Frontera,” a 200,000 s.f. office building project. Located along Hester’s Crossing, the Summit will consist of three two-story office buildings designed by Kirksey & Partners of Houston, and aimed at the high-tech market. The company received a final building permit in August. For leasing information contact Ronny Landry at (512) 329-5061 or via e-mail at: r.landry@gte.net. You can also find information on the Summit at www.la-frontera.com/ecommerce/summit.html.
TXU Communications launches services for area businesses
TXU Communications has opened shop in the Austin and Round Rock area. Targeting small and medium-sized businesses with voice and data services, TXU Communications hopes to leverage the name recognition of its big brother, energy giant TXU Corp, and create its own market niche. At la Frontera TXU Communications has installed a self-healing, redundant fiber optic ring throughout development offering data and telecom services to even the largest businesses within the development. For information contact Kristen Cepak at (512) 427-1900 or via email at: kristen.cepak@txucom.com.
OF NOTE: In Buzz 18 we talked about the new roads at la Frontera. For even more information see our web site at www.la-frontera.com see “About la Frontera/Roadways.”
Issue 20 September 29, 2000
Grand Openings, Key Construction Milestones & Construction Starts
September 2000 has been a busy month of grand openings, key construction milestones, and construction starts on different phases and sections of la Frontera. Here's a quick look at just some of the significant events from September 2000 through next month.
Openings
GRAND OPENING!
La Frontera Village
the 800,000 s.f. retail section is having
its Grand Opening on October 12th.
NOW OPEN!
Some of the stores that opened in
September are:
Barnes & Noble, TGI Friday's, Old
Navy, and Bath & Body Works
The Enclave
The 411-unit urban apartment complex
began pre-leasing in September;
First occupancy is slated for January 2001
Key Construction Milestones
Marriott Conference Hotel
Construction "topped out" in September;
opening scheduled for May 2001
Hester's Crossing to open to full
traffic in mid October
Construction Starts
The Summit at La Frontera
a 200,000 s.f. office complex
began construction in September.
SH 45 Frontage Roads
Construction slated to begin in Nov/Dec,
and open to traffic in Fall 2001.
What Others Are Saying...
"La Frontera is located in the heart of one of the most important suburban activity centers in the Austin region. The confluence of three major arterials ( IH-35, SH-45 and Mopac/Loop 1) will combine to make this one of the most accessible locations in the region."
- Charles Heimsath, President, Capitol Market Research
Tip: The easy Add-a-Link feature allows any business or organization with a web site to register their business on this free “community portal” for Round Rock.
|
|
