Developer Building 17-Story Student Housing Tower Near University Of Texas-Austin

AUSTIN, TX — Construction is under way on a 17-story student housing tower on Rio Grande Street across from the nearby University of Texas at Austin campus.

According to a site plan application filed with the city in October 2015, the project is called Aspen West Campus, being built by Austin-based developer Aspen Heights Partners in partnership with Grand China Overseas Investment Management Ltd. The project is located at the corner of 21st Street with Rio Grande Street.

The tower reportedly will contain 166 units and 464 beds, and is expected to be completed by the fall of 2018. The site will feature five levels of underground parking, 15 residential levels and associated private utilities, according to the site plan posted on skyscraperpage.com.

Aspen West Campus developers told the Austin American-Statesman the construction represents their first student housing project. The company developed two other local properties — the 346-unit Concord in South Austin and the 22-story Concord at West 8th and Nueces streets — but Aspen West Campus represents their first student housing undertaken.

“As we develop our first student housing high-rise in our own backyard, our team feels particularly proud of this project that will not only bring value to one of Austin’s most desirable neighborhoods, but serve the housing needs of students attending UT,” Ryan Fetgatter, vice president of development for Aspen Heights, said in a prepared statement. “Our partnership with China Grand Fund also speaks to the strength of this project given their successful track record of investments over the last five years.”

Fetgatter added the project is expected to cost $60 million to build. Units will range from efficiency apartments to five-bedroom floor plans, he noted.

Real estate development tailored to student enrollment growth at UT-Austin has sprouted near the campus. The university now has a student base of some 50,000.

>>> Read the full story at Austin American-Statesman

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