Steve Durhman predicts full build-out of the firm's holdings will require seven years, at the pace that retail currently is jumping on board in Austin's Parmer Lane-Interstate 35 corridor. It's a "feeding frenzy" for developers seeking to capture their share of the market in the high-traffic area, he says.

In five years, the corridor has gone from farmland to prime land, jump started by Dell's 800-acre campus and Samsung's chip manufacturing plant. Durhman says his research shows that Parmer Lane traffic has spiked by 12,000 vehicles a day since the first of the year. The last official count had some 50,000 vehicles per day on Parmer Lane and 165,000 per day on the Interstate 35 side of the intersection. "That's why all the players are starting look now," Duhrman tells GlobeSt.com. Meanwhile, a residential developer is selling lots in a nearby 3,500-acre tract. "That's what is driving all of this," he says.

Duhrman & Bassett is in the midst of a 200,000-sf retail project, which is anchored by a new concept HEB supermarket. The 88,000-sf grocery store will include drive-through windows for pharmaceuticals and food and a service station.

Durhman currently is in talks with five anchor tenants for Center Park at Tech Ridge while close to sealing deals on restaurant outparcels for the project's first leg. And, he is holding the entitlements to another 100,000 sf of retail. "Actually, it could all happen over a 12-month period," he says.

Tech Ridge, he says, is Austin's "new emerging retail market" and will offer stiff competition to Round Rock's 850,000-sf La Frontera Village, which is positioned about five miles north of Durhman's land. Some of La Frontera's retailers are talking with Durhman about opening second locations despite the proximity of the two developments. The success of La Frontera and Center Park certainly lend credence to retail research that claims that Austin is under-retailed.

Gary Shaw of Austin has designed Center Park, which is being built by Workman Construction Co., also an Austin operation. Land Strategies of Austin is the landscape architect and Austin-based Huffcut & Associates, the civil engineer.

Durhman has yet to settle on a name for Center Park's abutting acreage. He does know that another 300,000 sf of retail, 500,000 sf of office and a seven-story hotel are on the drawing boards. Part of that acreage is being hawked to big-box retailers, most likely those that he's dealt with in the past.

Durhman & Bassett owns about 500,000 sf of existing retail in Austin, but also has a 400,000-sf project going in the border city of Laredo. He has managed to lure to that project names such as Target, Pier 1, Old Navy, Best Buy, Albertsons and a major theater.

Instant Insights /

Developer Laying Out 800,000-SF Office-Retail Project, Hotel

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