Marshall Tract Zoning Profile Report

The picture below is the Zoning Profile Report for the Marshall Tract from the City of Austin. Following the link to the ordinance creating the zoning for the tract and its annexation into the city was signed in 2008. The Marshalls were happy with the zoning to single family residential (SF2) and the city planned the whole Las Cimas land annexation at that time. Someone must have know in 2008 that this zoning was appropriate for its location.

Here's the whole Las Cimas annexation. Note that the "Lost Creek Commercial Area" is clearly marked.

Developers Plan Loop 360 Office Buildings

By Katie Urbaszewski
Austin Community Newspapers Staff

Developers have begun the process of trying to build on the Marshall tract in Lost Creek.
The vacant, undeveloped 37-acre property is currently zoned for houses only, but now Atlanta-based Cousins Property Inc. is beginning the process of asking the city of Austin to rezone it. Developers said they are interested in building an office complex and possibly selling part of the land for an assisted living center or to the city of Austin for a fire station as part of the city’s annexation plan.

Cousins Property has filed a formal development assessment, the first step in the rezoning process. The developer is estimated to file site plans in October, and the Austin City Council is expected to vote on the rezoning and project early next year, city spokeswoman Sylvia Arzola said.

The land is currently owned by Dan Marshall, and Cousins has it under contract, said Tim Hendricks, Cousins’ senior vice president.

Read more by clicking link below:

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/developers-plan-loop-360-office-building/nhJK8/

Cousins - Trophy Assets and Opportunistic Investments

This speaks for itself.

Cousins Properties, 2013 Annual Report

"Our mission has been clear since the start of 2012—simple platform, trophy assets and opportunistic investments. In January 2012, our equity market capitalization was $665 million with 46% of Net Operating Income coming from urban trophy office buildings. Today, it’s over $2 billion with 85% of Net Operating Income coming from urban trophy office buildings. At year-end 2013, our total shareholder return was 25.6% on a one-year basis and 31.9% on a three-year basis. This compares to 6.6% and 21.0%, respectively, for the SNL US REIT Office Index. As in everything we undertake, the ultimate goal is to provide attractive total returns for our shareholders.

We have timed this cycle well, acquiring $1.6 billion of trophy assets in 2013 at an average discount of 57% to replacement cost. Our most notable move during the year was the acquisition of Crescent’s Texas portfolio in September. This transaction was accompanied by the successful issuance of 69 million common shares, enabling us to grow the company’s total market capitalization by 57% overnight, while adding 5.3 million square feet of Class A office assets in Houston and Fort Worth. In the first half of the year, we acquired Post Oak Central in Houston and 816 Congress in Austin. Our Texas presence now represents 52% of our total portfolio square footage and is exclusively located in the three major markets of Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Austin."

Larry L. Gellerstedt III
President and Chief Executive Officer

Xeriscape Demonstration Garden

Xeriscaping is the art of creating water-conserving landscapes by efficient watering techniques and selecting plants that are appropriate to the natural environment. The term xeriscape is derived from the Greek word, Xeros, which means dry. Xeriscapes are not dry and dull! Well-designed xeriscapes are beautiful and functional.

The best xeriscapes use a fraction of the water needed by traditional lawn-dominated landscapes. Some xeric plants require little or no supplemental watering once they are established and xeriscapes require far less ongoing maintenance

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In today's world of concerns about depreciating water resources, xeriscape is an ideal way to "live green." More than fifty percent of residential water used, in the western United States, is used to keep landscapes and lawns green. Xeriscape can reduce this by 60% or more.

With water demands and usage increasing rapidly, we need to find ways to use water more efficiently. Efficient water use means finding ways to have attractive, landscapes without excessive water use.

Xeriscaping will help beautify your home and increase its value - as much as 15%! Using plants and landscaping that is native to the area in which you live can conserve water, time, money and the landscape will retain its beauty during times of drought.

The first part of this proposal is factual. Water is a precious, scarce and declining resource. We use up to 60% of our residential water on watering our lawns and gardens. The second part of this proposal is opinion - that a xeriscape demonstration garden would help us in Lost Creek find ways to reduce our use of water, and that one should be part of the Marshall Tract development..

Here's an outline of the proposal:

• What is xeriscaping?
• Why do we need it?
• What is a xeriscape demonstration gardne?
• What are some examples?
• What are the benefits of xeriscaping?
• What is the Marshall Tract?
• Why does Lost Creek need a park with a garden?
• Why should the Marshall Tract not be developed other than into a park?

You can read the proposal here.

Property Tax Revenue

Estimated annual tax revenue from the development of the Marshall Tract is shown below:

• Undeveloped - $106
• Residential ($700,000 to $1,000,000 per house) - $1.2M to $1,7M
• PUD - $3M

Of particular interest is the Eanes ISD revenue, because the residential option will add more children to the school district. A residential development will generate between $609K and $870K in tax revenues for Eanes ISD, the PUD will generate $1.5M.

 

According to the Eanes ISD budget for 2014 - 2015, the state will recapture 47% of Eanes ISD revenue (Robin Hood). In addition, the state will pay Eanes ISD $973 per student.

The net of this is that if the Marshall Tract residential development has as many children as the average household in Zip 78746, 2.3, the following results:

• Eanes ISD budgets $8,260 per student after the recapture and additional state funding.
• The Marshall Tract residential development will generate between $2,840 and $3,640 per student after recapture and additional state funding.

The Eanes ISD budget for 2014 - 2015 shows a deficit of $4.1M. The $1.5M from the PUD is going to look attractive.

Impact on Property Values

To obtain the impact of office development on houses and land adjacent to the Marshall Tract, I analyzed some houses (75) in Lost Creek that had three different kinds of backyard neighbors - other houses, office buildings, and green belt. I used the Travis County CAD system to examine the 2013 appraised value for the house and the land. I normalized them to the square feet of the house and the size of the land (acres). Houses with swimming pools were eliminated from the analysis.

The findings of this analysis were:

• House appraisals were independent of location
• Land appraisals depended on location
• Land  with greenbelt behind it was appraised 13% higher than land with houses behind it.
• Land with offices behind it was appraised 9% lower than land with houses behind it.

Comparison of Usage of Electricity

According to the EIA (Energy Information Administration), an average home in Texas consumes 1,168 kwh per month of electrical power. This means an average house consumes 14,016 kwh per year, and 74 homes would consume 1,037,184 kwh per year. According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), an average office in Climate Zone 5 consumes 20 kwh per square foot per year. The two Cousins buildings (373,000 square feet) would consume 7,460,000 kwh per year. That's 7.2 times what residential development would consume. The senior living center would add more energy consumption. The EPA did not provide energy consumption of a senior living center, and I don't know how many square feet would be in the proposed building.

Please note that these are all based on average performance. Actual results could be different.