California apartment developer plans first Austin project in over a decade

Major tech employers in the area a huge draw, developer said

Legacy Partners — a California-based real estate firm — is developing its first Austin apartment community in over a decade.

The multifamily developer is partnering with an opportunity fund sponsored by Bridge Investment Group to build Camber Ranch on Parmer, a 483-unit community on 35 acres at the southeast corner of Parmer and Yager Lanes in Northeast Austin, Legacy Partners said in an announcement.

Construction on the property is expected to start in December with the first residents moving in by late 2022, according to the developer. All of the apartments will be market rate.

The two-and-three-story building community was designed by Dallas-based Humphreys & Partners Architects to have the look and feel of a single-family building, according to Legacy Partners. Many of the units will have direct garage access. Provident General Contractors will build it.

The property is divided by a large greenbelt and wetland area that will provide walking trails for the community, according to the developer.

“The north side is the path of growth in Austin,” Spencer Stuart, senior managing director at Legacy, said. “While the city is growing in every direction, the west side is more restrictive because of the aquifer replenishment zone, which means you cannot build as much. We chose Parmer, in the north, since it is the main artery on this side of Austin, allowing ease of access to I-35, State Highway 130 and nearby tech centers that include companies such as Dell, 3M, Home Depot’s Innovation Center, and a big Samsung plant that’s always expanding.”

This is Legacy Partner’s first development project in Austin since 2009.

After the Great Recession, the company’s small Texas development team focused on developing projects in the Denver area, according to Legacy Partners. That team has expanded over the past few years allowing Legacy Partners to now expand its Texas portfolio.

In 2009, Legacy Partners developed the 32-story Windsor on the Lake apartment tower at 43 Rainey St. The property was later sold to CalPERS. Legacy Partners bought the 2,044-unit Riata Austin apartment community in 2006, and but later sold it to California-based IMT Residential.

Riata Austin, near Apple’s main campus on the north side of the Texas capital, is now owned by LivCor, a Chicago-based multifamily real estate company. The 180-acre campus is undergoing its first major renovation since being built in the late 1990s.

Legacy Partners is a privately held real estate firm that owns, develops and manages multifamily communities across the United States. Since 1968, the firm developed more than 60,000 apartments. Legacy Partners currently owns or manages over 60 multifamily communities with more than 14,000 apartment homes, with a gross value in excess of $2 billion.

Multifamily has remained one of the most stable asset classes in Austin amid the Covid-19 pandemic. At the end of the second quarter, there were over 29,000 apartment units under construction with over 14,000 expected to be complete over the next 12 months, according to the latest information available from ApartmentTrends.com, which is operated by Austin Investor Interests LLC. Excluding massive Domain-like developments planned over the long term in the region, there are currently 37,806 apartment units in the pipeline actively awaiting a permit or groundbreaking.