From there, construction could start in 18 months, which would deliver the first phase by late 2005, Milam tells GlobeSt.com. The developers are Milam's International Development Management, Dallas-based Lincoln Property Co. and Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises.
Milam tells GlobeSt.com that they haven't started to actively market the project, but have received good feedback from target tenants such as Lord & Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's and Nieman Marcus. Called the Hill Country Galleria, the project calls for 1.35 million sf of retail space with four anchor stores; a 60,000-sf to 65,000-sf movie house; a five-story, 350,000-sf hotel; and 500,000 sf of office space. Previous plans called for 1.5 million sf of retail, a taller hotel and more office space. The project would sit on 114 acres in Bee Cave between Bee Cave Road, Texas 71 and RM 620.
One of the village's requirements, to which the developers agreed, was to build a major thoroughfare through the development to connect Bee Cave and RM 620. Milam says the new road conceivably could eliminate 35% to 40% of the traffic now traveling Texas 71.
Milam says 1.1 million sf of retail would be the first to deliver. It would contain four anchors and other stores. The rest will be developed as the "market will accept them over the next seven years," he says.
Bee Cave, which has about 600 residents, is about 15 miles west of Austin and a seemingly unlikely place for such a big project. Milam says several factors combine to make it a good sell.
One is that the area around Bee Cave, which includes the Lake Travis area, grew about 60% in the past 10 years and is to grow another 40% in the next decade. The big-name department stores want to come to Austin, but are looking for a place where they can roost together. They can do so at the Hill Country Galleria. Another factor is that the area west from Austin's high-end residential neighborhoods to Lake Travis is "where the all the money is," Milam says. And, there's no other place to build such a development on Austin's west side, giving the project a monopoly. "You start to add all these things up and you see the rationale," he says.
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