AUSTIN--Development is heating up for 2015 in the Austin market, spurred on by the capital city's uniquely, well, “weird” infrastructure.

The area's population continues to climb, cranes dot the landscape in the CBD, and multifamily and office submarkets prevail as hot commodities.

“It's multifamily and office right now,” says Karen Judson, vice president for marketing and research at Transwestern. “Retail is tight, and rates [are high].”

Which is all the more reason why the city is gravitating towards live-work-play models such as The Domain and Mueller Austin in the north/northwest quadrants of the city, she says.

The Domain continues to grow in scope – Seattle-based Nordstrom is set to open the city's second store this fall there, and it will anchor the third phase of the Domain's expansion, according to the American-Statesman. When the project is completed, the 304-acre development will include approximately 1.8 million square feet of retail, 5,000 multifamily units, 3.5 million square feet of office and nearly 1,000 hotel rooms.

Other mixed-use projects in the works include Transwestern's recently announced 1645 E. 6th St./The Arnold development in the east Austin corridor.

“We are very pleased to get started on this exciting development,” says Transwestern Development Co. associate vice president Josh Delk, who is leading the development team. “This location is in the center of one of Austin's most culturally rich and defining neighborhoods, and we are thrilled to be bringing a project of this caliber to the area.”

Other projects of note include Waller Creek, an approximately 1.4 million-square-foot office, residential, hotel and retail space that will comprise three buildings, the tallest of which is expected to exceed 50 floors.

And Ryan Cos'. The Waterfront, a 625,000-square-foot campus that fronts Town Lake, is set to feature wide floor bays that will offer floor plates not typically found in or near the CBD.

“It's a challenge, the size of the floor plates [in the CBD],” says Mark Emerick, senior vice president with CBRE Austin. “It's been a criticism…companies don't want to split up over four or five floors.”

That's all the more reason, Emerick says, why The Domain has risen in stature in the office/flex market.

“The Domain is a similar ecosystem [to the CBD],” he says.

Another big catalyst for the overall market will be the new UT Dell Medical School, set to open next year adjacent to the Frank Erwin Center, north of the CBD.

“[The medical school] is going to pull a lot of biotech companies to that area,” says Judson.