Four Seasons Targets Lake Austin for Its First Residential Complex, Defying Market Softness

Legendary luxury hospitality brand Four Seasons is building out its first residential-only complex in the country, and it's on the shores of Lake Austin in Texas.

A 22-mile long man-made reservoir on the outskirts of Austin, TX, Lake Austin has among the priciest real estate in the Lone Star State, and shows no signs of the slowdown that has affected the rest of the Austin luxury market.

In August, the Austin metro posted the biggest drop in the country for luxury real estate, with its luxe entry point (top 10% of sales) threshold down 9.6% year over year to $1,262,726, more than three times the national pace, according to Realtor.com® data.

But the waterfront areas of Lake Austin are bucking that trend, with about 950 properties along the shoreline up 30% year over year, with the majority of transactions over $10 million, according to Eric Moreland, founder of Eric Moreland Group realty, who grew up in Lake Austin.

The agent specializes in the area's high-end real estate—the kind of place where people routinely pay $4 million for a "lake cabin"—and is handling sales for the project.

The Austin luxury housing market also moves faster than any other segment in the area.

Homes listed between $250,000 and $300,000 averaged 82 days on market, while homes from $700,000 to $800,000 averaged 54 days and those from $800,000 to $900,000 averaged only 52 days, making it the fastest moving segment of real estate in the area, according to Austin Board of Realtors market research advisor Vaïke O'Grady.

Lake Austin's luxury market defies local trends

It's into this robust upscale market that Four Seasons Private Residences Lake Austin is making its debut. The 210-acre luxury waterfront community will boast 229 private residences for delivery in 2029, with prices ranging from $4.5 million to $35 million.

Lake Austin is the "the calling card for the city and region," Moreland tells Realtor.com. "Whenever we get a new company coming to town or a business owner or entrepreneur, they want to move to the lake. It's an incentive for them for their entire career—like you'd see with the Hamptons or Aspen. That's what Lake Austin has become."

"They are naturally drawn to Lake Austin because of the exclusivity of it."

Eight years ago, eclectic entrepreneur Jonathan Coon—who founded 1-800-CONTACTS while still living in his college dorm room, and later financed the iconic indie film Napoleon Dynamite—snapped up the enormous plot of wild land along the lakefront.

Coon said that he decided to built a luxury complex on the site after realizing he wanted to live there himself. "Most things I get involved with I start by wanting to be the customer," he told Paper City.

"He's not a long-term developer, he likes to focus on a project and do it better than anybody else," says Moreland.

Coon and his team at Austin Capital Partners set their sights on Four Seasons as a hospitality partner. "We chose the brand for what it represents," says Moreland. "It's a known global brand with highest level of service. We felt like they were the gold standard."

High-end hospitality brands such as Cipriani and Ritz-Carlton are increasingly moving into the residential-only arena and its higher margins.

Areas such as Pompano Beach, Houston, and Boca Raton—metros that a decade ago may not have attracted top luxury brands and the prices they can command—are becoming prime candidates for branded luxury projects.

Once finished, Four Seasons will be the only branded residential development along the shores of Lake Austin—and given the lack of large plots of available land, may stay that way for quite some time, perhaps forever.

"There are no sites left on the lake," says Moreland. "The only large tracts of land are privately held with no intention of being developed."

For years, the developer worked intensely with the surrounding neighborhood groups and HOAs, and eventually ended up with everyone's full support for the project, something that is "unheard of," says the broker. Like most large-scale development projects, that approval didn't come without concessions.

Coon and his team ended up donating 1,466 feet of cliff to the city so it could build a park and improve upon walking trails already there, making them safer.

Concessions also included a development that will be much less dense than zoning allowed, with 174 acres out of the 210 to remain permanently undeveloped as well as 2,400 feet of shoreline.

While there will be 18 residential buildings, each with about eight condos, ranging from three bedrooms to penthouses; there is will also be free-standing homes on large tracts of land, ranging from one to three acres.

Welcome to Four Seasons

The development aims to offer buyers the type of white glove concierge service that the brand's hotels and resorts are known for, which the development team terms a "frictionless lifestyle."

For instance, each residence comes with a private closet accessible by the outside corridor, so that staff can pick up or drop off packages or room service, without ever knocking on the door. At the private marina down on the water, residents can hire a boat captain for themselves or their children.

The development comes with 100,000 square feet of amenities including a 20-acre waterfront site with over 2,000 feet of frontage boasting pickle ball and racquet courts, a private beach, a pitch-and-putt, and a 39-slip private lakeside marina, where owners can either park their own boat or reserve one from the boat club.

And, this being the Four Seasons, Moreland says residents can have "whatever you want waiting in the cooler."

Additionally, Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud will oversee a lakefront restaurant, Café Boulud Lake Austin, as well as a primary restaurant and room service dining.

The lakeside restaurant—for residents and their guests only—was "almost impossible to get permitted," says Moreland. But he says the land donation came with "entitlements,"—the private waterfront restaurant being one.

Other amenities include a 5,000-square-foot gym and spa, a 100-seat sports lounge, and a 300-foot infinity-edge pool overlooking the lake.

A private 96-seat theater comes with a state-of-the-art audio-visual system for business events, TED Talks, or private concerts.

There's 24/7 security and no traditional keys—entrance is granted by facial recognition software.

Moreland wouldn't reveal the number of sales, but says he has been "pleased" with the response.

Thus far, buyers, 60% of whom have multiple residences, have ranged from local downsizers in the Houston-Dallas-West Texas area; to University of Texas alumni or downtown Austin residents who have "always wanted to live on the lake;" to people from the West Coast or the Northeast pouring into the state for business opportunities and lower taxes.

And then there are the buyers who are Four Seasons loyalists, making the brand their choice for hotel and resort stays.

"They understand the lifestyle and what Four Seasons does in terms of service," says Moreland. "They know what they’re going to get and are excited about it."