Rainey Tower is First to Combine Retail, Office, Housing

AUSTIN, TX—When it opens in the first quarter of 2021, The Quincy will be the first to combine retail, office and residential uses all in one building within the Rainey Street District. Endeavor Real Estate Group and joint venture partner MetLife Investment Management, MetLife Inc.’s institutional asset management business, recently broke ground on the 30-story mixed-use tower.

“The Rainey Street District has evolved into a thriving, organic, walkable neighborhood full of unique bars, restaurants, hotels and housing adjacent to Lady Bird Lake on the hike and bike trail. The Quincy will weave nicely into the fabric of the neighborhood and establish a new front door to the district,” said Jamil Alam, managing principal for Endeavor.

The Quincy will include ground-level retail with separate dedicated residential and office lobbies. The three floors of class-A office space total approximately 77,540 square feet. The retail space totals approximately 10,360 square feet and includes one level of below-grade parking.

There are also seven floors of above-grade parking, including an office parking ratio of up to three spaces per 1,000 square feet. Features include outdoor terraces with lake views, secured bike storage, a dedicated ground-floor lobby separate from the residential tower and showers on every floor.

There are 19 floors of residential units with a total of 347 apartment homes for lease. The amenities include a terrace complete with a pool, fire pit, cabanas, observation deck and an exercise lawn. These are in addition to a 30th floor indoor/outdoor sky deck overlooking Lady Bird Lake.

Inside, there will be a dog grooming spa, sports lounge, media room, large co-working space and business center, ample package lockers, as well as a lounge/waiting area for ride share transportation companies.

The entire building will merit two stars from the Austin Energy Green Building rating system.

“Since first investing in the downtown Austin market more than 30 years ago, we have continued to see the city evolve into an attractive convergence market,” says Kurt Day, managing director of real estate, MetLife Investment Management. “This partnership opportunity with Endeavor on The Quincy pulls together many of our favorite traits about mixed-use developments, and we are excited about contributing to the evolution of the Rainey Street District.”

The Quincy’s site on Red River Street is bounded by Driskill Street to the north and Davis Street to the south, where two parking lots presently reside. Nearby, a new Whole Foods Market is slated for Saltillo, another Endeavor project, located in between 4th and 5th streets, along IH-35.

Even closer are the Austin Convention Center and two major hotels, Hotel Van Zandt and Fairmont Austin. Restaurants such as El Naranjo, Emmer & Rye and Iron Works Barbecue are a short walk away. Additionally, the site offers immediate access to Lady Bird Lake, along with the Ann and Roy Butler hike and bike trail.

Ziegler Cooper Architects designed the 360-foot-tall tower, while Kimley Horn is serving as the project’s engineer, Brockette Drake Davis is acting as the structural engineer and Blum Consulting Engineers is acting as the MEP engineer. IBC Bank is the lender on the project and Rogers-O’Brien Construction Company Ltd. has been brought on to serve as general contractor.

Adam Zimel, Dan Frey and Michele Gary, all retail specialists with Endeavor, are tasked with leasing the retail space. Jonathan Tate, principal of office/industrial properties for Endeavor, along with Luke Barney, are overseeing the office leasing for the space to be called Offices at The Quincy.

Tate says this part of downtown is ready for forward-thinking high-rise office space. Even before starting marketing efforts, he says the space is already generating interest from a range of potential tenants from tech/creative firms to financial groups.

“The Quincy’s location alone is an incredible amenity,” Tate says.

And, Walk Score has rated The Quincy location as both a walker’s and biker’s “paradise”.

“Given both downtown Austin and East Austin’s tremendous growth, the Rainey Street neighborhood and The Quincy specifically finds itself within a 5- to 10-minute walk or 3-minute scooter ride to an impressive and expanding list of employers, retailers, food and beverage options, entertainment venues and public amenities,” Alam tells GlobeSt.com. “The ability to walk to work along the Roy Butler hike and bike trail to the new downtown Google offices, scooter to the new Saltillo Whole Foods, bike to the new East Austin Oracle Campus, or step out your door and jump on a stand-up paddle board is really unique.”

Alam tells GlobeSt.com that The Quincy’s greatest asset will be its immediate proximity to Lady Bird Lake and the trail, and the future development of the new Waller Creek chain of parks across the street. “This will add 37 acres of open space and act as a great north-south footpath to the UT campus and the emerging Medical District–without the need to drive,” he points out.

Alam notes The Quincy is most similar to Endeavor’s first downtown Austin tower that combines retail, office and residential uses called The Bowie. The development company that’s best known for developing The Domain aims to strike a similar tone as The Bowie at The Quincy: elegant, modern, yet personal.

The aforementioned lifestyle characteristics and economic factors have strongly contributed to Austin being a consistent candidate for corporate headquarters and commitments. Despite its relatively small population, Austin is home to many diverse and highly recognizable companies’ corporate and regional headquarters: Amazon, Yeti, Dell, eBay, Facebook, Whole Foods, Visa and Hewlett-Packard to name a few. Austin’s low cost of business, accommodating city government, and contemporary infrastructure and transportation systems make it a favorite candidate for corporate relocations.

Austin’s January unemployment rate ticked up to 3.2%, which is below Texas’ rate of 3.8% and the US rate of 4%. Austin employment expanded at a moderate 2.4% in 2018 with performance by sector mixed, according to a recent NAI Partners office report.

Growth was primarily led by financial activities and information sectors, both of which grew at an annualized rate of close to 10%. While leisure and hospitality also experienced healthy gains, government payrolls continued to decline. The professional and business services, along with construction and mining sectors also tapered off, says NAI Partners.