2005
october 26
City may open prime land
Today, Council Member Brewster McCracken will propose shrinking an Austin Energy substation on Cesar Chavez Street to free up 1.4 acres of waterfront land for redevelopment. The substation sits next to the former Seaholm Power Plant, where a massive redevelopment project is under way.
"It obviously limits what can be done there, because you'd have an electrical substation in the middle of a potential redevelopment through the rest of downtown," said John Rosato, a partner in Southwest Strategies Group, which the city chose to redevelop Seaholm.
But Rosato points out it would still be a great place for a mixed-use project, with enough residential spaces springing up downtown to support it. There are 900 living units within six blocks for Seaholm, and another 2,200 in the works, he said.
july 22
Guadalupe Gets a Makeover
By Daniel Mottola
Austin-based Southwest Strategies Group, owner and developer of the former Half Price Books site, is known for such projects as South Congress' Penn Field and the recently awarded downtown Seaholm Power Plant revamp. Partner Danny Roth says, "our emphasis is on local businesses still having a home." He says SSG has already inked agreements with three local outfits: Celebration!, a gift shop that's been in Hyde Park for 20 years; Boomerang's Veggie and Meat Pies, a restaurant he calls a "new concept" for Austin; and Gelato's, an ice-cream, coffee and panini shop with two other Austin locations..
The Guadalupe 31 project will go up on the former site of Expresso Lube, Ray's Steakhouse, and the adjacent strip mall.
Heavy Hitters Commercial Real Estate
Staying Power
CRE Heavy Hitters - Ranking by Category
Retail - No. 8 - Daniel Roth
Brokers are ranked by square footage leased. Only leases for a minimum of three years in length signed during 2004 were considered.
Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Firms
Rank 18 (2004 rank - 25), Southwest Strategies Group, Inc., 16.16 million, Alamo Drafthouse, former Academy Building
Daniel Roth, square footage leased: 46,544
What do you like the most about your job? The people in my office. Not a day goes by without a few chuckles.
What do you like most about working in Austin? I've lived here since 1970. The best part is the people I know and my connection to the town. Oh, and no tie.
Last book read? Death, Taxes and Leaky Waders by John Gierach.
Who would sit at your dinner table if you could invite anyone living or from history? Edward Albee, J.D. Salinger, Lewis & Clark, Thomas Jefferson
june 3-9
April 25-29
Stratus, Southwest Strategies Group win city bids
In Fact Weekly
The City Council approved contracts for two major downtown projects last night, agreeing to the sale of Block 21 to Stratus/Trammell Crow Co. and work with Seaholm Power, LLP to redevelop the dormant Seaholm Power Plant.
Seaholm Power, LLC ... was a team that included Southwest Strategies Group, Inc., Boston-based Design Collective, Inc., H.C. Beck, LTD and Centro Development.
John Rosato of Southwest Strategies Group said Seaholm Power, LLC's strength was the team members' experience in the restoration of historic buildings like the art deco Seaholm plant. Rosato said the preservation of Austin's history was a driving force in the team's desire to submit a proposal on the project. "If we had our druthers, we would always be working on historic structures," Rosato said. "It reminds us of our heritae and of our past. With everything new that's happening downtown, it's important to have a way for people to recognize our older buildings and relate them to our history."
The Seaholm project is intended to be a mixed-use project that also will serve as a transit hub for the community.
april 8
Four for Seaholm
What the City GOT:
1) Seaholm Power, LLC
Partners include: Southwest Strategies Group, Design Collective, HCBeck, Centro Development
Principal features: "A dynamic 24/7 environment where residents and visitors alike can live, work, and play." The concept includes a cultural entity (in the presentation, the Music Hall of Fame) in Seaholm itself, along with commercial, retail, and exhibition space, and two new buildings — a two story commercial building and new home for KLRU and Austin City Limits, and a 10-story residential tower with ground floor retail. All of these are linked by a "Grand Plaza" that can host outdoor events, along with other open-space amenities and linkages to Town Lake and the rest of Downtown.
Notes: The Seaholm Power concept presumes the relocation of the large Austin Energy substation directly east of Seaholm, although no plans for such a relocation are yet on the table. While architecture firm Design Collective is from Baltimore (where their portfolio includes a redeveloped power plant), the Seaholm Power team includes a number of key figures in Austin's long-running Downtown renewal effort.
Treaty Oak BanK
Westlake Picayune
Austin Native * Texas Strong
Treaty Oak bank is proud to introduce the prestigious members of our Advisory Board
Darrell Royal | Coco Blackbird | Ray Benson | Angelos Angelous | Happy Feller
Doug Moss | Mack Ray Hernandez | Dave Stauch | Danny Roth | Bart Matheney
Mike Kuryak | Santosh Khanjeen | Tom Borders | John Rosato | Bryan Cumby
Don Cox | Fred Chozick | Jessica Kelly | Walt Collins | Marvin Bendele | Cord Shiflet
Paul Dlabal | Nancy Williamson | Julie Smith | Gary Raesz | John Butler | Grant Foster
march 10
Seaholm proposals showcase music
Public spaces most important part of most proposals
The Seaholm Power group proposed turning the 130,000 square foot mian turbine building into a gathering place where major events such as South by Southwest, New Year's Eve, or a Lance Armstrong victory celebration could be held. According to Southwest Strategies' John Rosato, the main building would retain its open-air structure, housing a mixture of cultural, commercial, retail and gallery spaces. Elsewhere on the eight-acre site would be a two story, 60,000 square foot cultural/commercial structure, a ten-story residential tower with ground level retail, and a Grand Plaza designed to host a wide variety of outdoor public events. The north edge of the plaza would contain a transit hub for bus, rail, bike and auto transportation. Two levels of underground parking is planned, with 225 spaces on each level. "It's important to preserve the power of the space of the turbine building," Rosato said. "It is an incredible structure. The main hall presents numerous opportunities for public space, including music venues, restaurants, galleries and other attractions. We want people to come away from it thinking 'City living is cool.'" Partners in the Seaholm Power Group include Southwest Strategies Group, Centro Development, H.C. Beck, and Design Collective.
FEBRUARY 18
2004
At the helM
Westbanker steers Eanes Education Foundation to next level of excellence
Westlake Picayune
When Danny Roth assumed the position as president of the Eanes Education Foundation in May, he took the helm of an organization that has gone through many growing pains.
... Today, Roth says current funding shortfalls have diverted funds to more basic district requirements such as teachers' salaries.
... "If I accomplished nothing else during this year, I would like to expand greatly the recognition of EEF to the public, as the fund-raising arm of the district so that when people think of EISD, they think of EEF," he says.
... Roth's degrees in sociology and public administration have supported his work with SWSG where he works closely with public agencies, such as the Austin Independent School District and the Austin Travis County Mental Health and Mental Retardation. Now, his skills guide him in his role as president of EEF.
october 14
October 1-7
southward, ho!
Eclectic mix of developers digging South Austin scene
Then there's that element of South Austin loyalty. Take Penn Field as one example. Six limited partners own the airfield-turned-business park, which prides itself on its historic rehabilitation of the buildings.
Two of the partners, Danny Roth and John Rosato, act as leasing agents on the project through their company Southwest Strategies Group.
Southwest Strategies also leases SoCo Center, which is owned by three more partners in the Penn Field project: Rob Lippencott, Abe Zimmerman and Stan Biderman.
... The space at Penn Field — about half the size of the new Frost Bank Tower downtown — is almost fully leased. Roth says tenants are attracted to the project because it is eclectic, an adaptive reuse of existing circa-1917 buildings.
"There's nothing else quite like Penn Field in Austin," Roth says. "Even when we were in the worst downturn of the office market, we had steady leasing activity at Penn Field."
"We told people who came and looked at the space that this was a certain kind of product. You could get cheaper office space elsewhere, but you won't get office space like this."
August 28
Sixth Street tax district created
"We want to encourage more live music venues in addition to daytime and nighttime retail use and dining," said John Rosato, a member of the Pecan Street Owners Association. "We want to take what's there and expand on it."
According to a preliminary budget drafted by the owners association, the district would operate on an initial annual budget of $125,000.
August 20
Seaholm Power Announces Team for Seaholm Redevelopment
Press release - Thais Austin (taustin@avanceconsulting.net)
"What distinguishes Seaholm Power and what we are proudest of is the depth of experience and commitment of the local companies on the team to Austin's downtown," said John Rosato with Southwest Strategies Group. "Additionally, our team brings extensive experience with the redevelopment of power plants and with historic preservation."
The Seaholm Power team has the proven ability to create dynamic cultural, retail and housing complex that will not only preserve the icon of the Seaholm Power Plant building but develop the surrounding site as a community destination with visual and experiential triggers that remind us of our history.
February 10
Visitors center to move to Sixth Street
The Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau's visitors center will move into new digs on East Sixth Street on March 1.
The center's new location will be the historic Grove Drug Building at 209 E. Sixth St. Austin-based Southwest Strategies Group, Inc. recently leased 3,000 square feet to the bureau. Southwest Strategies acquired the building in 1999.
2003
Sixth Street seeking renewal
By Matt Hudgins
A group of property owners in Austin's Sixth Street entertainment district is trying to identify ways the area can become more appealing to visitors and raise property values.
Organizers hope to present a study later to the Austin City Council as evidence of the economic benefits that changes on Sixth Street might bring to the overall community.
"The reasons for the study are the economic conditions on Sixth Street, which are not stellar at the moment," says Jerry Creagh, an associate at Southwest Strategies Group in Austin and co-chairman of the property owners' group financing the study.
"Sixth Street has become very much a one- or two-dimensional environment — It's just a bar district," Creagh says. "Sixth Street was a thriving multiuse district in the '80s, when it first experienced its current renaissance and gentrification."
January 27
2002
SH 130 builder to bring up to 120 jobs to Hutto
By Mary Alice Kaspar
December 8, 2002
The consortium behind the planned State Highway 130 is preparing to set up shop in Hutto, with as many as 120 employees occupying space there.
Lone Star Infrastructure LLC, a group of construction and engineering firms that will build SH 130, plans to begin construction on roughly 36,000 square feet of office space in January.
... Lone Star Infrastructure is a joint venture led by Fluor Corp., Balfour Beatty Construction Inc. and T.J. Lambrecht Co. Other members are Austin Road & Bridge, Raba Kistner Consultants Inc., Southwest Strategies Group Inc., Macias & Associates Inc., O.R. Colan Associates Inc., Dr. Dallas Little PE, DMJM + Harris, Dan Zollinger, S&B Infrastructure Ltd., CTL/Thompson Inc., Hicks & Co., TBE Group Inc., VMS Inc. and Bridgefarmer & Associates Inc. Chicago-based Edelman is handling public relations for Lone Star.
december 8
Area developers team for Gulf project
The Lower Colorado River Authority and a group of local investors have finalized a pre-development agreement for a $6.3 million lodge on the 1,600-acre Matagorda Bay Nature Park and Preserve.
Matagorda Coastal Partners and the LCRA will construct an 85-room tourism lodge on the preserve, which is on the coast at Matagorda Beach and southeast of Bay City. Principals of Matagorda Coastal Partners are local developers John Sanford of John B. Sanford Real Estate and Danny Roth and John Rosato, who are partners in Southwest Strategies Group.
June 14
Find contrasts, comparisons on downtown streets
There are two distinct markets with differing cycles on Fourth and Sixth Streets, according to Jerry Creagh. Creagh's experience in the areas includes his time as a Sixth Street real estate investor, past president of Old Pecan Street Association, founding president of East Sixth Street Community Association, co-founder of the Pecan Street Art Festival and now an agent with Southwest Strategies Group.
"Sixth was peaking when Fourth was down, and then Fourth took off. It had no where to go but up when it started," Creagh says, "but that was the same way for Sixth Street when I started there in the late `70s."
Sixth Street is experiencing something of a down market, Creagh says, while Fourth Street is a very vibrant market. "Therein lies the challenge and the opportunity," he says. It has gotten very expensive to do business in the Fourth Street district, according to Creagh. "Real estate is very dear," he says. "Parking and mobility are very challenging in that area."
april 15
Developer looks south of SoCo
By Shonda Novak
It's also an area in transition, evolving from an abandoned industrial area into a mix of residential, retail and office uses.
John Rosato, a partner of Southwest Strategies Group Inc., which is in the partnership redeveloping Penn Field, said Symcox's project is "visionary." "I think it will be successful because of its location and what's happening all up and down South Congress," Rosato said.
Rosato and his partners have leased 70 percent of the 230.000 square-foot Penn Field site.
march 29
2001
Preserving Penn Field
Developers revamp crumbling World War I barracks, armories
By Jason Spencer
Even the city's homeless residents were largely unaware of Penn Field's 168,000 square feet of brick barracks and armories built in just 62 days in 1918. In February 2000, when developer John Rosato and his partners at Southwest Strategies Group bought the land next to the Expose topless club, the only tenants inside the crumbling buildings were some foxes, raccoons and other varmits. Trees were growing out of missing roofs, and the elements had taken a toll on the buildings' longleaf pine floors.
November 7
Austin school officials dispute comptroller's views on district
By Maeve Reston
Austin school officials dispute a finding by the state comptroller that they could save $12 million by selling their downtown headquarters and moving district offices to Reagan High School.
... * The district's real estate consultants, Southwest Strategies Group, estimate that the district could sell the headquarters, which is across Sixth Street from restaurants, boutiques and other stores, for about $19.5 million.
July 24
Reuse -- from wood chips to computer chips
A few Austin developers have carved out a niche of business under the banner of "adaptive reuse," a trendy term among architects that suggests recycling. And that's exactly what it is. Yet, it's more than simple renovation, as materials or foundations or old designs are adapted for re-use in a new sturcture.
... The Majestic and Grove Drug building projects were the work of Austin's Southwest Strategies Group. The old Majestic Manufacturing facility was purchased in February 2000 for $3 million, clearly a far cry from what it must have cost when it was constructured in 1917 as Penn Field.
... Danny Roth, a partner in Southwest Strategies Group, is pleased the design combined old and new materials.
"We retained all of the old brick and, in fact, had to buy old Austin brick to do repairs on some of the work," Roth says. "We have brick accents on the metal building and metal accents on the brick features, so we've been careful about blending the current design with the history of the building."
Partner John Rosato says, "The old material has a lot of character and class, so we try to use it as much as possible. It also has some limitations, so how one goes about doing this in a cost-effective manner is a challenge."
July 9
2000
Designs on South Congress
Former training field going retail
by Sheryll Poe
A group of developers is practicing Austin's version of the three R's -- recycle, reuse, restore -- with a historic property on South Congress Avenue.
... While the partners would say only that they spent between $2 million and $5 million for the site, they are sure they will spend much more than that on the renovation. "This is a multimillion-dollar process," Rosato said. "We believe in rebuild and restore."
... The new developers think there are two reasons the property stayed on the market so long. "The real estate market needed time to mature to where a property like this could be redeveloped and put back onto the marketplace," general partner Daniel Roth said. "And the other thing is previous buyers were not necessarily looking at is as a redevelopment and utilizing the existing buildings. They were looking at it from a new commercial structure standpoint." The property was on the market for three years before Abe Zimmerman, Roth, Stan Biderman, Rob Lippincott and Rosato steped in six months ago.
This will be the first joint venture for the newly formed Majestic Partners Ltd. Rosato and Roth were involved in the six-month, $800,000 renovation of Grove Drug, the Sixth Street drugstore where the writer O. Henry once worked. Biderman and Zimmerman were instrumental in last year's renovation of San Jose Hotel on South Congress. Lippincott is best known for his development and renovation of Guero's Taco Bar, also on South Congress.
August 4
1999
Prescription for progress
Historic Sixth St. drug store gets modern renovation
by Matt Hudgins
A group of Austin developers are concocting a cure for the historic Grove Drug Building on East Sixth Street.
A partnership headed by Southwest Strategies Group has purchased the 127-year-old landmark at 209 E. Sixth St. and plans to spend $400,000 renovating and restoring the three-story structure to office and retail, or restaurant.
General partners John Rosato, Daniel Roth and Lee Aaronson have joined with five equity partners in the project.
"We're looking for a company that wants to have a part of Austin history," Rosato says of potential tenants. "You get a feeling of the history here that new buildings don't provide."
... Downtown property owner and developer Whit Hanks says Southwest Strategies Group has proven its urban renovation abilities with previous projects such as Fifth Street Market at 1114 W. Fifth Street.