Buyers cash in on downtown condos

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A developer auctioned off downtown condos and a penthouse for nearly half the previous asking price.

More than 100 buyers bid on 19 Brazos Place condos Sunday afternoon at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Austin. The successful auction, spurred by slow sales, provided a way for Michigan-based developer, PRS Development, to sell the remaining units in one day.

PRS Development started converting the old Commodore Perry Hotel into 74 condos and a penthouse in 2006. The starting bid for the smallest one bedroom, one bath condo started at $80,000. The unit sold for $162,000, which was $37,000 under the previous asking price.

The Kennedy Wilson Auction Group, based out of Beverly Hills, California wondered if the high-priced penthouse would sell. Previously priced at $1.5 million, the starting bid was $600,000. Local realtor Drema Brown snatched it up at $930,000 for an investor she was talking to over the phone.

"Our market is very good right now," said Brown who won another unit in addition to the penthouse. "You're getting properties at fantastic purchase prices and there's a lot of good deals out there."

The auction was an event the Austin condo market has never experienced before. Investors expect to see more Austin condos on the auction block in the near future.

"We're real ecstatic about the result and I think we'll see another two or three of these downtown over the next year," said Steve Pyhrr, Senior Managing Director with Kennedy Willson.

Here is a look at the previous priced condos, compared to what they sold for in Sunday's auction. Pyhrr said some of the condos did not meet their reserve price, but the builder decided to sell them.

 

Unit      Bedrooms/Bath       Sq. Ft.      Previously Priced       Winning Bid

705        1 bed/1 bath             891               $304,900                $221,000

706        1 bed/1bath              812               $339,900                $241,000

707        2 bed/2 bath            1399              $519,900                $406,000

708        2 bed/2 bath            1358              $519,900                 $316,000

709        1 bed/2 bath            1272              $414,900                 $244,000

710        1 bed/1 bath             623               $199,900                 $162,000

808        2 bed/2 bath            1324              $519,900                 $360,000

908        2 bed/2 bath            1324              $484,000                 $371,000

1007      2 bed/2 bath            1399              $479,900                 $326,000

1008      2 bed/2 bath            1324              $494,900                 $314,000

1103      1 bed/1 bath              832              $324,900                 $221,000

1107      2 bed/2 bath            1399              $489,900                 $384,000

1108      2 bed/2 bath            1324              $504,900                 $317,000

1109      1 bed/1 bath              884              $359,900                 $245,000

1207      2 bed/2 bath            1399              $499,900                 $402,000

1208      2 bed/2 bath            1324              $514,900                 $333,000

1210      1 bed/1 bath              623              $259,900                 $193,000

1203      1 bed/1 bath              832              $332,400                 $235,000

1302      1 bed/1 bath              802              $344,900                 $324,000

Custom Penthouse               2745             $1,575,000               $930,000