LAKE AUSTIN • WESTLAKE DOWNTOWN AREA LUXU RY H O M E E X P E RT TA RRY TOWN • OLD E NFLIE D • CLAR KESVI LLE • SO CO • T R AVI S HEI GHT S
J OE L ONGTON Elite
Broker’s Opnion of Value 616 Oakland Ave, Austin, TX 78703 $1,900,000 - $1,950,000 $725 - $750 per sq ft
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Broker's Opinion of Value Narrative 616 Oakland Ave. Austin, TX 78703 For a number of reasons 616 Oakland Ave is a challenging home to price evaluate for financial institutions. This is mostly because an inexperienced observer could easily be fooled by the older homes in the neighborhood. This beautiful contemporary home is designed by Austin's most famous contemporary design architect Dick Clark. The home has the same stunning features as many of Dick's designs that sell for $1,200-$1400 per square foot in Westlake Hills, Austin, Texas. One of Dick's signatures is designing homes on hilltops with large views of downtown Austin. Westlake Hills is approximately one half mile from downtown, so all of Dick's homes have magnificent half mile views of downtown. 616 Oakland Ave has Magnificent Downtown Views from 15 blocks The subject property at 616 Oakland Ave is only 15 blocks from downtown. It sits on a hill top and therefore also has even better "magnificent" views of downtown from multiple rooms in this home. Without a skilled view of the neighborhood through the lens of a urban luxury home expert like myself, one might not understand the urban "gentrification" that is under way in this neighborhood. $750,000 neighborhood lot prices Currently in the neighborhood of 616 Oakland Ave the cheapest "tear down" home with a 50' wide X 75' deep lot sells for no less than $500,000. That is land cost. That is without a view of downtown. A 50 X 75 lot with a view of downtown sells for no less than $750,000. These lots only sell on the "private market" and never hit the MLS. Therefore the vacant lot cost basis of 616 Oakland Ave is $750,000. That is why there are almost no new homes in this neighborhood. Bonus City of Austin Vacant Lot Next Door: A key added value A key added value bonus to this property is that it sits contiguous to a 45 X 75 vacant lot owned by the city that is considered permanently unbuildable by the city of Austin. That means that this property has a permanently manicured vacant lot next door that can be treated as a side yard. This is a unique but everlasting bonus to this property that cannot be overlooked or underestimated. The bonus city of Austin lot makes this combined property one of the largest in the neighborhood. If the city of Austin lot was legally combined with 616 Oakland Ave, the total combined land value would be $1,200,000.
How to create a price per square foot value for this property It's not completely fair to value this unique Dick Clark contemporary in the same category as the Dick Clark contemporaries in the affluent suburb of Westlake Hills. The Westlake Hills lots are huge (30,00040,000 sq ft). 616 Oakland Ave sits on 3,750 sf of land. But, on balance, 616 Oakland Ave is only 15 blocks from downtown; not a half mile and across the highway. 616 Oakland Ave compares well with downtown high rise condos The truth is that 616 Oakland Ave is better compared to the downtown high rise condo units selling in the similar square footage. Many condo purchases are discovering that managing dogs and cats from a high rise condo is extremely tedious, often precarious, and definitely time consuming. Disconcerted condo buyers are starting to look for an urban home solution with a yard for their dogs. Currently this property is the sole contemporary candidate for purchase by this growing category of buyers. Unfortunately, 616 Oakland Ave has not had the benefit of a top producer, Elite 25 member, associated with a true international Real Estate company, to promote it and give credibility to it to the elite urban buyers of downtown Austin. This will now change and the property should sell in the $1,900,000 range within 120-180 days maximum. Attached is a spread sheet with 8 high rise condo sales and these contemporary home sales from the 78703 neighborhood. All three contemporary solds, 2003 Stanford (542 psf), 2200 Matthews ($693 psf), and 2000 Meadow Brook Drive (Tarrytown $709 psf) have zero downtown views. Therefore, $542-$709 psf was appropriate. The downtown view is where all the value premium lies. $725-$750 psf should be readily accomplishable.
Thank you,
Joe Longton
Feb 8, 2016
Joe Longton 512.633.5186 joe.longton@sothebysrealty.com 2015 Sales: $27,500,000