Church Taps Developer Topo for $48M Mixed-Use in Austin Suburb

A rapidly growing suburb northwest of Austin has drawn a $48 million mixed-use development from a local developer.

The project, known as Leander Union, is spearheaded by Topo, previously known as Central Austin Management Group. It will feature 155,000 square feet of commercial space across ten buildings at 10880 Crystal Falls Parkway, the Austin Business Journal reported.

This development will also include a 40,000-square-foot church. The remaining space will be allocated to retail and office uses, though the exact breakdown is still under consideration.

The land, owned by Northpoint Austin, a church based in Cedar Park, was the starting point for the project. The church approached Topo to explore the potential for combining commercial and community spaces.

Construction on Leander Union is set to begin in the fourth quarter, with completion expected by the end of next year, according to Craig Friedson, vice president of development at Topo.

The project aims to address the growing demand for local amenities in Leander, which has seen its population surge from 26,521 in 2010 to an estimated 80,067 last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Pre-leasing efforts for the development have predominantly targeted food and beverage operators, leveraging the hospitality expertise of Daryl Kunik, Topo’s founder, who also founded the restaurant chain Uchi.

Navcon will serve as the general contractor and Michael Hsu Office of Architecture will provide the conceptual designs. Garza, Susan MacFarlane, Endeavor and Partners Real Estate will handle engineering, architectural and brokerage services.

Austin’s retail vacancy was sitting at about 3 percent last spring, and demand shows no signs of slowing, according to CBRE.

Retail real estate has been one of the hottest asset classes in Texas since last year, when investors poured $1.3 billion into retail over a nine-month span in Dallas-Fort Worth alone. Even though demand for retail space was strong, the astronomically high cost of construction was preventing much retail development. But that has started to change.

“The market is now supporting the economics for ground-up retail construction, which is kind of a crazy thing to say out loud,” Jim Dillavou, Lincoln Property Company’s national head of retail, told The Real Deal in December.

— Andrew Terrell