AMLI plans 279 apartments at Mueller neighborhood

AMLI Residential, one of Austin’s — and the nation’s — largest multifamily developers, said it plans to build a $30 million, 279-unit apartment complex near the site of the planned town center at the Mueller community in Northeast Austin.

AMLI expects to break ground in the first quarter of 2013, with the first units available in the third or fourth quarter of 2014, said Taylor Bowen, executive vice president of AMLI Residential.

The apartment complex will be built along Simond Avenue and Mattie and McBee streets, across from Mueller’s 30-acre Lake Park and the planned home for Austin Children’s Museum.

AMLI’s announcement comes amid growing demand in the region’s apartment market, where rents and occupancies have reached record levels this year, fueled by job and population growth and a relatively scarce supply of new units coming to market, though thousands are planned.

The new complex will have a mix of efficiencies and one- and two-bedroom units. Some units — 15 percent — will be included in the Mueller Affordable Homes Program, reserved for residents who earn 60 percent or less of Austin’s median family income.

Bowen said market rate rents will range from $1,100 to $1,800 a month, with the average about $1,350 a month. Rents for the units in the Mueller Affordable Homes Program will be in the $700 to $900 a month range, Bowen said.

Units will range from 630 square feet to 1,200 square feet, with 820 square feet being the average size.

Calling it “one of the finest master-planned communities in the country,” Bowen said AMLI has wanted to be a part of Mueller since the early 2000s. Catellus Development was chosen by the city to transform Austin’s former 700-acre airport site into a mix of houses, shops, offices and other uses.

“Catellus has done a wonderful job through the downturn of staying on course,” Bowen said. And with the ongoing development of a town center destined to take shape there, “we know Mueller will only get better,” he said.

Charles Heimsath, a local real estate consultant, said the Mueller development “is one of the most successful new developments in the Austin region, which demonstrates a strong consumer preference for mixed-use developments in the city’s urban core.”

Rents at the existing 433-unit Mosaic apartments developed by Simmons Vedder Co. at Mueller are 50 percent higher than the city average, with consistently high occupancy rates, Heimsath said.

“AMLI builds a great product, and their location on Lake Park will provide a solid anchor at the southern end of the new town center,” Heimsath said.

Units will be energy-efficient, and will feature high ceilings, granite counters, stainless steel appliances, wood cabinets, private yards and private walk-up patios. Many of the units will have views of downtown and the University of Texas.

Other amenities include a fitness studio, a business and conference center, a club and gaming lounge and a resort-style pool and private sundeck. The apartment community will tie into the eventual 13 miles of hike and bike trails planned at Mueller.

In all, about 830 homes and 640 apartments — 1,470 residential units — have been built at Mueller. A second phase of Mosaic is now under construction that will add 301 apartments, and another 221 single-family houses also are under construction.

As Central Texas’ apartment market booms, Heimsath said he is tracking about 15,000 apartment units under construction across the region. “But strong job growth and a staggered delivery schedule should keep the market in balance for the next 18 months,” Heimsath said.

Year-to-date, AMLI has increased rents just over 9 percent on average at its six communities in the Austin area, Bowen said. Next year, AMLI expects rent growth to slow some, projecting rent increases in the 5 percent to 6 percent range across its complexes, Bowen said.