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Written by Rachel Youens Wednesday, 07 February 2007

Upscale shops and urban living replace landmark

To shoppers, The Domain means trying on rings at Tiffany’s. To Endeavor Real Estate, the Domain means defining the urban Austin lifestyle for the next 100 years.

As the city has expanded, Northwest Austin has largely been regarded as a suburb, but recently new attention has been focused on the area. When The Domain opens March 9, it will create a new model for Austin growth.

“Endeavor envisioned The Domain as a dense, urban, transit-oriented development, with a vertical mixed-use element,” said Chad Marsh Endeavor Principal in charge of The Domain. “It will take a lot of cars off the roads and have all the things people want close by.”

Boom and Bust

In 1999, at the peak of the tech boom, IBM stopped manufacturing operations and sold the 2.8 million sq. ft. of property wedged between MoPac and Burnet Road. Endeavor bought the land intending to capitalize on the boom by building a business park named The Domain.

Today, Endeavor displays a near-magic ability to forecast an area’s worth, brokering landmark property deals opening the way for retail centers such as IKEA and Gateway. But in 1999 Endeavor was just getting started, and The Domain was supposed to be their first success story.

Then, in 2001, the technology boom went bust, leaving The Domain’s future up in the air.

Rebirth

Four years later, Endeavor decided to pick up the pieces and reinvent The Domain. When they first pitched a large-scale multi-use complex to the Austin City Council in 2003, council member Betty Dunkerly complimented Endeavor Real Estate Group for being “willing to take a risk, to step out and do something unique in a community that’s in a downturn.”

Converting The Domain to retail was an opportunity to capture the shopping dollars being spent outside of Austin in places like Round Rock and San Marcos.

Simon Properties

In 2005, Simon Property Group came on board as a partner. If Endeavor is king of Austin real estate, then Simon is the king of retail. To the north, Simon owns Round Rock’s new Premium Outlets and to the south Barton Creek Square Mall. In between lies the Arboretum, Gateway Shopping Center and Highland Mall.

“What we particularly liked about The Domain location was that it had all of the general retail needs,” Simon spokesman Les Morris said. “It’s big and easily accessible, but it’s also got a real sense of place and a nice history.”

Beyond interesting architecture and high-end shopping, the new Domain has natural beauty. The land, formerly IBM’s Century Oaks recreation park, is dotted with 100 year-old trees, most of which were spared during The Domain’s construction, giving an historic presence to the new center.

Many of The Domain’s retailers are new to the Central Texas market. Barneys CO-OP, Tiffany & Co., Neiman Marcus, Intermix and Lacoste will all be opening their first Austin locations, while businesses like St. Thomas Boutique and J. Crew will be moving from their previous Austin locations.

“Most of the stores opening up in The Domain are the kind where there’s only one in a market,” Marsh said. “So if they’re here versus San Marcos or Georgetown, it creates good destination retail for the area.”

As a part of their agreement with the city, Endeavor earmarked $1 million to help local retailers, such as Bettysport, an Austin-owned sportswear store, set up shop and pay rent in The Domain.

“It’s important that we bring in new nationally-recognized retailers, but we also wanted to give a chance to local entrepreneurs who have a following in the community,” Morris said.

Live, Work, Play

“Live, work, play” is the newest mantra in city planning. It is also the concept behind The Domain.

The phrase comes from the phenomenon that Austinites frequently live in one part of the city, while working and playing in others. By centralizing these activities, the city can ease sprawl and congestion.

“Cities want to contain urban sprawl, and the only way to do that is to go vertical,” Marsh said. “If Austin wants to be more efficient, it needs to densify.”

The city has already exercised a vote of confidence for the “live, work, play” ideal in the form of $37 million in property and sales tax rebates for The Domain. It turns out that all those features that make The Domain appealing to the city (green space, tall dense buildings, landscaping) also make it expensive. In 2003, Endeavor appealed to the city council for help offsetting the costs, and with Mayor Will Wynn’s support, Endeavor received rebates.

When The Domain opens, Simon has said there will be 390 residential units mixed with 60 different stores, 14 restaurants and 75,000 sq. ft. of office space. According to Domain spokesperson Lauren Harris, the Domain is Simon’s most complete and most upscale example of mixed-use development.

More to Come

What shoppers see when they enter The Domain occupies less than a quarter of the land Endeavor owns. The Domain’s phase two is slated to open in Spring 2008 and will add another 350,000 sq.ft. of retail.

Across The Domain’s main street, Domain Drive, Endeavor is demolishing IBM’s old manufacturing buildings to make way for new office space, a hotel and parking garages.

Within the next 12 years Endeavor expects the entire Domain area to house 3,400 residential units, 3 million sq. ft. of office space and 10 acres of park space.

“People are really going to be surprised by the beauty of The Domain and what we’ve been able to do with the architecture and location,” Morris said. “We’ve created a place where you want to spend a lot of time whether you’re living or shopping or just hanging out. It’s really a showpiece for Austin.”

Live, Work, Play in The Domain