Shonda Novak
Austin American-Statesman
Published 6:02 a.m. CT Sept. 16, 2024 | Updated 6:02 a.m. CT Sept, 16. 2024
Spurred by his passion for the urban lifestyle, Kevin Burns has lived in many of the high-rise condominium and apartment towers built within the past two decades in downtown Austin.
Burns is the founder and CEO of Urbanspace, an Austin-based firm specializing in downtown residential sales and development. Over more than two decades, his company has evolved to become known for marketing, selling, designing or furnishing countless downtown condos and apartments.
In recent years, he branched out in a big way. In April 2022, Burns launched construction on a condo tower he developed on his own.
His 56-story tower, named the Modern Austin Residences, is at Rainey and Davis streets on downtown’s southeastern side. The sleek glass tower, with a striking arched concrete entrance, adds a dramatic touch to the skyline.
“I put my heart and soul into it,” Burns said. “My entire career has been building up to the development of the Modern.”
The building joins other nearby high-rises in the Rainey Street district that continue to redefine Austin’s skyline as they soar to ever-taller heights.
The latest Rainey skyscrapers are just steps from Lady Bird Lake and the popular Butler Hike and Bike Trail. The district bustles with bars, eateries, hotels and a growing number of residential, hotel and mixed-use towers that have cropped up since city leaders rezoned that part of downtown for high-rise development in the mid-2000s.
Burns recently gave the media a tour of his project to commemorate a milestone: The Modern’s structural framework now is completed, an event known in the industry as “topping out” and signaling its pinnacle of construction.
The first buyers could move into the building at 610 Davis St. as soon as the first quarter of 2025. With a total of 319 condos, the tower is due to be substantially completed next summer.
Crews broke ground on Burns’ tower in April 2022 after receiving more than $300 million in financing from Peregren Capital Group. The real estate investment firm has offices in Dallas and Los Angeles and focuses on the western, central and southern regions of the U.S.
The Modern was Peregren’s first construction financing in Austin.
However, Tucker Hughes, Peregren’s co-founder and managing partner, had financed multiple condo deals in Austin before launching Peregren with Tripp Taylor. Two high-profile projects Hughes helped finance were the Seaholm Residences and the Independent (also known as the “Jenga tower”), each of which Burns’ Urbanspace marketed and sold.
“Kevin and the Urbanspace team know the Austin condo market better than anyone, and after working with them on Seaholm and the Independent, I was excited for the opportunity to partner with them in a bigger way on the Modern,” Hughes said in announcing the Modern’s financing in 2021. “The design, lifestyle, location and views, coupled with the experienced team that Urbanspace has assembled, make it a dream build for every future resident that will call the Modern home.”
Unit sizes range from 600 square feet to upwards of 10,000 square feet of interior and exterior space for its largest penthouse, which will include a 4,000-square-foot balcony.
Prices range from the $600,000s to more than $10 million.
Will there be any affordably priced units?
The Modern will have 299 units priced at market rates, plus 20 affordable units for income-qualified buyers.
The affordable units will be priced between $178,000 and $280,000, depending on unit size. For the below-market-rate units, the buyer’s mortgage and homeowners’ fees combined can’t exceed 30% of their monthly income.
Awais Azhar is executive director of HousingWorks Austin, a nonprofit advocacy, education and research group that works to increase affordable housing. He also is vice chairman of the city of Austin’s Planning Commission
“While the Modern increases overall housing opportunities in the Rainey Street district and downtown Austin, it also includes 20 on-site affordable units that will be available for families that earn 80% of the area median family income or less to purchase with a long-term commitment to affordability,” said Azhar, speaking in his role with HousingWorks. “These are households that get to own a home close to job opportunities and superior green spaces with proximity to transit, that otherwise may never afford to live in this part of town.”
Urbanspace also is contributing about $1.3 million to the city’s affordable housing fund, along with donating $500,000 to the Trail Foundation to complete the Rainey Street Trailhead.
Greg Anderson, also a Planning Commission member, said the Modern, like other downtown high-rise towers, checks a lot of boxes that add up to smart growth.
“It’s tax base. It’s housing. It’s walkability. It’s vibrancy. And it’s good-looking,” Anderson said of the Modern. “What’s not to like?”
What features will the Modern have?
Units will have custom finishes; Italian cabinetry; high-end appliances and plumbing fixtures; floor-to-ceiling windows and bathroom tile; and cove lighting in the master showers.
The 16th floor will have indoor and outdoor lounges; a pool and spa; fitness, Pilates and barre studios; and a dog run and dog washing area. The 34th floor also will have indoor and outdoor lounges, as well as dining rooms and guest suites with views of the skyline and Texas Hill Country.
Other amenities will include an outdoor theater, pingpong, foosball and dining and entertainment areas, each with their own TV, fireplace and grill. There also will be a social club on the ground floor, owned and operated by Urbanspace’s hospitality affiliate.
Sales began in February 2022, with a record-breaking launch in which buyers contracted for 98% of the units. Although some of those sales didn’t pan out, other buyers stepped in and nearly all the units are spoken for. The sales team says 70% of buyers are from the Austin area, 85% are from Texas, and most of the buyers from outside the Austin area have strong ties to the city.
One buyer from Austin is Urbanspace CEO Burns, who now lives in the 56-story Independent and will move into the Modern when it opens.
So will Burns’ sister, Lara Burns Boyda, who is Urbanspace’s chief operating officer. Boyda will live in the Modern with her family: husband, Matthew Boyda, sons Baer, 3 months old, and 2-year-old Boone, and the family’s two dogs, Biscuit and Sansa. Lara Burns Boyda said the maid of honor at her wedding, and her husband’s best man, also will be living at the Modern.