Larry McGuire is a lot of things — a restauranteur, a hotelier, a designer — so it’s fitting that his first mixed-use development wears many hats, too.
On Thursday, McGuire and Austin-based developer Riverside Resources announced details and renderings that shed new light on the project, which they are calling Sixth&Blanco. The development will combine 10 luxury condos, a hotel, a members club, a suite of amenities and 50,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, all inside one Swiss-designed, mass-timber roof.
Named for its location at the intersection of Sixth Street and Blanco Street in the Clarksville neighborhood of central Austin, the project is coming together as Austin’s residential market slows, both in terms of pricing and activity. But Sixth&Blanco joins a small cadre of captain-of-the-universe developments in the city, like the Four Seasons Private Residences Lake Austin, that hit a level of luxury befitting Aspen or Palm Beach.
While pricing at Sixth&Blanco is not publicly known, it will likely draw from the ultra-wealthy buyer pool that has been less hampered by rising mortgage rates. They also have time for rates to fall: construction on the project will start early next year, and the homes will be finished in 2026.
Sales launch today, and will be handled by Kumara Wilcoxon of Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty. Wilcoxon was the top-ranked agent in the Austin Business Journal’s list last year, posting $359 million in sales.
The project’s design is unique for several reasons. It is the first Texas development for Herzog & de Meuron, the Swiss architecture firm behind the Tate Modern in London. It is also one of the first major mass-timber buildings in Austin, rising just five stories but spanning an entire city block. As it grows taller, the building features a series of stepbacks and density decreases to create landscaped gardens, courtyards and porches, according to Simon Demeuse, a partner at Herzog & de Meuron.
The 10 condos are on the top two floors of the building. Each home has a unique floor plan, and all but one are two stories. They are also larger than the typical Austin apartment, covering 4,600 square feet and including three bedrooms at least.
Nobody’s going hungry or thirsty in the condos: each has a “private cocktail pool” and can order room service from the hotel segment of the building, according to a news release.
The rest of the action will take place on the first three floors, where the developers are planning a spa, a members club, a hotel and several restaurants and shops. The club and restaurants will be operated by McGuire’s firm, MML Hospitality, which runs some of Austin’s trendiest restaurants. No word yet on which restaurants or shops will take the space, or how many keys the hotel will have.
Riverside was founded by Don Reese in 1990, and is an Austin-based developer behind some of the city’s newest, most-amenitized offices. Some of its recent office projects include Centro, 300 Colorado and 1801 East 6th. It has also built Fifth & West and the Whitley, luxury apartments downtown.
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