First Development for Team Goes Big in University Park

AUSTIN, TX—Austin-based Wayfinder Real Estate recently broke ground on The Troubadour, a 321-unit apartment community located within the University Park master-planned community. The 2.34-acre site is one mile north of downtown Austin, located at the southwest corner of Concordia Avenue and Interstate 35.

The six-story project is scheduled to open in late-2021 and will be the first development for Wayfinder– a firm founded by industry veterans Mac McElwrath and Chris Sipes. McElwrath and Sipes will be the day-to-day operators and developers of all the firm’s projects for the foreseeable future.

McElwrath tells GlobeSt.com why this was the best project to take on as the first one for the firm.

“Wayfinder focuses on high-growth areas with easy access to major employment centers and entertainment amenities. This project fits those parameters perfectly,” he says.

One of the final projects in the planned mixed-use redevelopment of the former 22-acre Concordia University campus, The Troubadour will be north of the University Park office building and oriented toward Harmon Avenue. All units will face away from Interstate 35 with views of either one of the building’s three courtyards or the Hancock neighborhood.

“The Troubadour is one mile north of downtown Austin, where 110,000 people work each day,” McElwrath tells GlobeSt.com. “That number continues to grow with more than 4.5 million square feet of office space under construction in and around downtown. This community will be highly desirable for nearby workers who want to live near their jobs and avoid long commutes. It’s also close to popular restaurants, bars and entertainment venues downtown and in East Austin. This site is unusually accessible and visible with 220,000 vehicle trips per day passing right by on I-35.”

The Troubadour will offer one, two and three-bedroom units. The community will feature a pool, 24-hour fitness center, an indoor bike storage and maintenance facility, and two rooftop decks including one equipped for outdoor movie screenings.

The Troubadour project team includes lender Vantage Bank, general contractor Oden Hughes Construction, architect Davies Collaborative, civil engineer Jones Carter, structural engineer C|P|H Structural Engineering, MEP engineer MEP Delta Design, interior designer PPDS and landscape architect Blu Fish Collaborative.

Wayfinder anticipates announcing additional communities later this year. The company will focus primarily on multifamily and mixed-use development in high-employment and high-growth areas of Texas.

“We seek to provide a high-quality product to residents at a competitive price while simultaneously earning above-market returns for our investors,” Sipes said. “It’s very difficult to achieve all of these goals in every deal, and consequently we may do fewer projects than many of our competitors. One of the great things about owning our own company is that we can decide to focus and work diligently on just a few hallmark deals that excite us.”

McElwrath previously served as managing director of the Austin-based multifamily development and general contracting firm Oden Hughes LLC for more than eight years. Prior to that, he was a development associate at Simmons Vedder Partners. McElwrath has developed more than 10,000 apartments in Texas with a total value of more than $1.5 billion.

Sipes most recently served as managing partner and chief investment officer for Caprock Partners, a family office that manages the investments of the co-founders of Quantum Energy Partners. Prior to that, he was director of operations at Austin-based JLM Financial, where Sipes oversaw distressed debt acquisitions and value-add efforts across the portfolio.

“We’re extremely fortunate to have gained the amount and diversity of experience we did on the development and finance side of our industry over the last 12 years. We’re excited to leverage that to build a company of our own from the ground up,” McElwrath said.