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Fuddruckers and Luby's opened its new concept store—the side-by-side location of the two fast-casual family restaurants—just a few weeks ago at 415 W Slaughter Ln in South Austin. (It's like dating twins.) It's part of a roll-out to open about a dozen stores across the state this year.  Luby's COO Peter Tropoli tells us the Texas-based chains fit the foodie mold for the Austin market because both brands are made-from-scratch, never-frozen Southern foods, he says. (We have to do a few extra reps on the StairMaster because we like the Fuddruckers buns; Peter tells us his favorite Fuddruckers burger topping is grilled pineapple with a little bit of teriyaki sauce.) Sales have been strong at both stores, he says.  Fuddruckers was founded in San Antonio in the early ‘80s, so it's been in this region for years, Peter says, but now its eyes are on Austin. Luby's purchased the Fuddruckers chain a few years ago and has been studying and learning it, Peter says, and with a better understanding, it was time to expand. The Slaughter location is the 10th prototype store, and he says several stores are now also under construction across Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth.  In late January, Fuddruckers opened at The Shops at The Galleria in Bee Cave. (Here's the Lake Travis Chamber of Commerce welcome wagon.) Peter says he's always looking for new locations where there's a gap in the market. On the radar: El Paso, South Texas, and the major metro areas. The restaurants have flexible concepts, he says, including freestanding new construction or existing end-caps in trophy locations. Outside of work, Peter plays in a band with his company's CFO; his latest love is a new Fender Telecaster guitar he recently acquired. |
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Labored Development Development of San Antonio multifamily properties is seriously impacted by the labor market, according to experts at Bisnow's recent San Antonio Multifamily Summit. Embrey EVP of development John Kirk (here with Regions Bank's Kyle Shaw and Buddy Billings) says labor pricing has been increasing 0.5% per month, and it's up 48% in the last three years. (It's never been a better time to be a hammer.) On top of that, major subs are busy in Houston and Dallas and you have to pay a premium to get them down here. John has missed only two Aggie football games since he graduated, and he's taking his two-year-old to his first away game this fall.  Casey Development managing director Chris Harness (a self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie) has 600 units under construction and lease-up and 900 more in his pipeline. That includes some student housing, which Chris says everyone should pay attention to: Those residents are your future renters (assuming they're not future couch surfers), and they'll expect similar product when they graduate. Chris says UTSA is doing very well—occupancy is over 95%, and the 2,000 beds delivering this fall should absorb with no problem. Building new product for the university will be a major challenge; being walking distance to campus is very important, but it's nearly impossible to find such a site serving UTSA.  WholeLife Communities CEO John Lowery just broke ground on 156 units of luxury seniors housing across from the JW Marriott. He says seniors housing is changing as people live longer. In particular, he sees a void in the market for the 55-year-old guy who's still working. (His project serves that age and up.)  Our sponsor Stallion Funding director of operations Rachel Osterloh and founder/prez Vincent Balagia recently closed two multifamily deals in Austin, nearly $2M for 305 W 35th St (a 32-unit property) and $325k for 9049 Galewood (eight units). They tell us they've got money to lend, whether you're looking to refi or for acquisition dollars. |
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Tiptoe Through the Tulips...
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