La Vista on Lavaca is Dead. Again.
July 17, 2010 23:55 Filed in: News
After a decade of starts and stops, the ill-fated La Vista on Lavaca condo project appears to be fully dead.
Now the planned nine-story residential mixed-use tower consisting of 19 condominiums on the top four floors, a three-floor Executive Business Center, and first floor restaurant, has been abandoned mid-construction by its new owners.
According to the Austin Business Journal, "the development partnership behind the La Vista on Lavaca condos, also known as The Fondren Building, has filed for bankruptcy and wants to sell what’s left of the project it’s been unable to finish for a decade. LaVista Partners LP has tried to sell the project for $10.3 million since at least May, and it’s still being marketed."
This is not the first construction freeze for the project. In 2008, the project was halted when financing originally dried up. Typically, projects do not break ground until they have lined-up enough sales to receive financing to support the entire construction process. The developers of La Vista on Lavaca -- which billed the project as “Downtown Living for Grown-up Texans” -- began construction nearly three years ago.
In this tough commercial financing market, it will be very difficult for the developers to line up additional funding or to sell the project in its current form. As a result, the abandoned concrete shell may become a fixture of the downtown skyline until the capital markets improve.
Now the planned nine-story residential mixed-use tower consisting of 19 condominiums on the top four floors, a three-floor Executive Business Center, and first floor restaurant, has been abandoned mid-construction by its new owners.
According to the Austin Business Journal, "the development partnership behind the La Vista on Lavaca condos, also known as The Fondren Building, has filed for bankruptcy and wants to sell what’s left of the project it’s been unable to finish for a decade. LaVista Partners LP has tried to sell the project for $10.3 million since at least May, and it’s still being marketed."
This is not the first construction freeze for the project. In 2008, the project was halted when financing originally dried up. Typically, projects do not break ground until they have lined-up enough sales to receive financing to support the entire construction process. The developers of La Vista on Lavaca -- which billed the project as “Downtown Living for Grown-up Texans” -- began construction nearly three years ago.
In this tough commercial financing market, it will be very difficult for the developers to line up additional funding or to sell the project in its current form. As a result, the abandoned concrete shell may become a fixture of the downtown skyline until the capital markets improve.