1201 Montopolis Dr is our second major development in the Montopolis neighborhood of East Austin. The Montopolis Neighborhood plan provides a unique set of infill development possibilities including the use of Cottage and Urban lots which provide a greater density of housing while promoting the use of individual legal lots.
Liquid is currently seeking equity-financing partners to help fund the construction of these three townhouses. Debt financing for the full construction budget has already been approved by our lender. We are expecting to receive the final building plans back from structural engineering some time in July, ’23 with permitting to start shortly thereafter.
The property was acquired in the middle of 2022. Multiple options presented themselves for this development. However due to the location of certain trees and drainage features, the decision was taken to use a simple subdivision into three cottage lots. The major advantage of this layout as opposed to the use of flag lots is time.
Subdivision into three cottage lots utilizing the city’s infill tools does not require a project assessment which means we’ll have shovels int he ground at 1201 Montopolis as many as 6 months faster than if we had gone the PA route.
The three cottage-lot layout requires 30ft of frontage for each of the lots. This avoids the need for shared driveways and allows for each unit to also sit on its own legal lot in case the decision is ever taken to sell the units.
When completed, 1201 Montopolis will consist of three legal lots, each with a 4-bedroom 3 1/2 bathroom townhouse. Utilizing similar floorplans and footprints will provide economies of scale in the design, permitting and construction processes for the project.
Part of our investment thesis has always been to focus on achieving higher-than-average bedroom counts in our residential projects. There is a noticeable lack of Four bedroom homes in the Austin rental market, with most developers preferring to maximize unit-count over bedroom-count. That means if held, these Montopolis townhouses will command a rental premium.
Liquid has secured debt-financing for our 1201 Montopolis project through our preferred construction financing lender. However, with the rise in interest rates during 2023, it makes sense for most real estate developers to take on equity partners to finance construction. Potential investors are welcome to apply today to place capital in this project or directly into our oz fund.
