Redefining the Luxury Home

 

The 10th-floor Lawn includes an herb garden and native plants.  

Environmental and urban sustainability is the top priority at The Austonian high-rise luxury condominium development. Redefining the established notion of luxury in Austin real estate, The Austonian combines unparalleled amenities and services with sustainable, environmentally-friendly architecture and design.

Luxury home buyers are savvy about what it means to live a sustainable lifestyle. In addition to choosing hybrid cars and sustainable apparel, people who are in the market for new homes are focusing their real estate search in higher-density areas, and they are looking for designs incorporating green building principles.

Opening in June 2010, The Austonian stands alone in a luxury home class defined by beautiful architecture, deluxe amenities, panoramic views and excellence of service. At 56 stories, The Austonian will be the tallest residential high-rise condominium in the western United States. Residents will enjoy over 40,000 square feet of private amenity space that includes private spa treatment rooms, a fitness center with 360-degree views of the city, a billiards and game room, lap pool, dog park, outdoor kitchen, screening room, executive meeting room, bicycle storage and climate-controlled wine vault. The private amenities of the luxury residences are complemented by a staff dedicated to delivering the highest class of service. Life at The Austonian will be supported by a 24-hour staff of Austonian Assistants, a complimentary 24-hour valet, and select experts from Austin's food, fitness and beauty communities.

The Austonian will showcase how a luxurious lifestyle can support the living of an environmentally-conscious and sustainable life in one of America's most popular cities. Located in the heart of downtown Austin at 2nd Street and Congress Avenue, along major mass transit lines, this luxury home address is within a five minute walk to places of employment, retail stores, restaurants and entertainment venues. The building site itself occupies only one-third of a city block and, at 56 stories, offers luxurious high density living only blocks from the Texas State Capitol. A suburban residential community of 178 homes on one-acre lots requires at least 29 acres of asphalt and concrete. In contrast, The Austonian provides luxury homes for 178 families on less than three-quarters of an acre.

The location of this Austin real estate is complemented by an architectural design that supports energy and natural resource conservation. The Austonian is designed to allow for at least 75 percent of a unit's regularly occupied spaces to enjoy natural lighting and a view of the outdoors, resulting in fewer electrical lighting requirements. Furthermore, specially coated and insulated glass and a reflective roofing system provide year-round energy savings and comfort.

The Austonian is working with local green power provider Austin Energy to ensure that energy use is as efficient as possible. The building's heating and air conditioning (HVAC) system, which includes climate control in each of the 178 units, is connected to the City of Austin chilled water system. Using chilled water for air conditioning in lieu of over 178 individual condensation units results in more efficient production of cool air and a lower overall impact on natural resources. In common spaces, sensors and dimming ballasts will reduce the amount of lighting used when the areas are unoccupied. And, low-flow toilets and lavatories in each unit will reduce the use of potable water by at least 30 percent compared to typical fixtures.

The Austonian is pursuing a four-star rating from the City of Austin Green Building Rating System, which is the equivalent to the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Gold Rating. All construction materials used at The Austonian adhere to the strict VOC standards required of the LEED Green Building Rating System. These low-emitting materials achieve energy savings through reduced ventilation requirements and improve indoor air quality.

Compared to a typical Hill Country community of 178 families living on one-acre suburban lots, The Austonian will save up to 35.6 million gallons of water each year in landscape watering alone. This is due, in part, to the fact that The Austonian occupies very little land, and in part to its unique irrigation system, which uses condensation from the cooling system to irrigate the 10th floor rooftop urban garden, further conserving the public water supply of the City of Austin.

More information is available at www.theaustonian.com.

(Editor's note: This post from March 2009 was updated on February 12, 2010.)