FLASH BRIEFING

Got a spare $25 million?

30th floor penthouse of the Four Seasons Residences downtown is a record listing, agents say

Shonda Novak
snovak@statesman.com
The 30th floor penthouse in the Four Seasons Residences is currently listed for sale at $25 million. The 13,000-square foot unit features four bedrooms, a stone spiral staircase and a 500-bottle wine cellar. [JAY JANNER/AMERICAN-STATESMAN]

As a real estate agent specializing in the luxury market, Cord Shiflet has seen countless palatial homes — but nothing like the 30th floor penthouse in the Four Seasons Residences. Currently for sale at $25 million, he said it's a record list price for a downtown Austin condominium.

"I recently went to view it with the expectation of seeing an incredibly overpriced condo and was blown away by what this property had to offer," said Shiflet, with Moreland Properties in Austin. "This was the first place I've been in that truly felt like a downtown New York-style home." Among all downtown Austin condos, Shiflet said, "I haven't seen anything close."

The 13,000-square foot unit has four bedrooms, seven bathrooms, two full kitchens, four dining areas and a media room. It is being privately marketed by Juanita Thornton, an agent with Realty Austin.

The $25 million amount is a record both in terms of the total list price and the $1,923price-per-square-foot cost, Shiflet and other real estate agents said. By comparison, the most expensive of the last six residences in the 56-story Austonian luxury condo tower downtown will hit the market next year — a unit with just under 4,500 square feet to be priced at $6.75 million, said Trey Phillips, another Moreland agent who specializes in the high-end market.

"That shows you how unique and extraordinary the Four Seasons resale is," Phillips said.

Phillips estimates the highest-priced sale to date for a downtown Austin condo is near $6.7 million. That price could be surpassed by the sale of a luxury unit that is listed for more than $8 million in the new Austin Proper Hotel & Residences downtown, said Kevin Burns, a real estate broker who specializes in the downtown condo market.

As for the Austin Four Seasons price, Burns said a similar penthouse in a Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences in Boston reportedly sold for $40 million in 2017.

The Escobedo Group based in Buda built the 30th-floor condo in Austin's 32-story Four Seasons Residences, which involved combining two existing units and one larger unit. The unit has handcrafted cabinetry and millwork, wood ceilings, stone floors, a stone spiral staircase, a fluted limestone fireplace and a 500-bottle wine cellar with custom steel doors. The guest suite features a full kitchen, dining room, living room, den, bedroom and a full bathroom.

Custom-made furniture and an art collection from around the world are included in the price, Thornton said.

"Although this appears to be pushing the upper-end of the housing market spectrum, the value far outweighs the price," Thornton said. "This price point is not so rare for downtown. There are other penthouses and quite a few premium floors in various downtown high-rises that emulate a similar price-per-square-foot.

"As for Austin in general, there are remodel opportunities being purchased in the $10-million range with reinvestment costs doubling that amount."

The Travis Central Appraisal District values the three units that make up the Four Seasons residence at $9.8 million, and lists the owner as Alan Ruud.

Ruud is an engineer and lighting designer who is known as one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the lighting industry. He founded Ruud Lighting Inc. in late 1982, serving as chairman and chief executive officer of the Wisconsin-based lighting fixture manufacturer, which led the way in energy-efficient LED outdoor lighting. According to published reports, Ruud Lighting was one of the first traditional lighting companies to transform most of its business to LED-based systems.

In 2011, North Carolina-based Cree Inc. acquired Ruud Lighting for about $525 million in cash and stock, creating a market leader in indoor and outdoor LED lighting. Ruud then joined Cree's board, and his son, Chris, continued as president of Ruud Lighting, which became a Cree subsidiary.

In a written statement, Thornton said her clients built the home "not for show, but to be a place where their design team could be proud of their craft and for a place where their family and friends could gather and be close to all the vibrant amenities that Austin has to offer — from the music festivals to (Formula One)."

"Every detail of this property has been considered, from the framing to the flow of the floor plan to the art collection," Thornton said.  For instance, the unit has been isolated from the actual building, making it "almost a building within a building," she said.

In a video on Escobedo Group's website, company founder and owner David Escobedo highlights various features of the residence, including its six balconies, soundproofing, 360-degree views and many other elements.

"What I really like about this penthouse is that is it very elegant yet very warm. Even though you're 300 feet up in the air and have this incredible view, it still gives you the feeling of it being your home," Escobedo says. "The craftsmanship is extreme. There are things here that are obviously one-offs and will never be done again, because I won't do it again."

Moreland's Phillips said there are prospective buyers for such an "ultra-luxury" unit, but "it's going to take a little more time to find someone to write that check, and who wants to be in a condo and not an estate."

"Typically the downtown buyer is not looking for that much square footage," Phillips said. "I do believe, however, that we will see more demand for these ultra luxury, almost estate-sized condos" as Austin, and its downtown residential market, continue to grow.

With 30 percent of the region's jobs in the downtown area, many executives of companies relocating here "want to be close to where they work, and they don't want a house with all the upkeep, but rather want a lock-and-leave building versus an estate," Phillips said. "So it's not surprising for me to see this level of quality and price point, because we have shown that downtown is extremely desirable from a lifestyle perspective. And the buyer who can afford anything is finding — for the first time — really compelling downtown options that compete with the luxury homes."

Just prior to seeing the Four Seasons unit, Shiflet said he was prepared to "laugh, and tear it up on the price."

Instead, "I left with my head spinning," Shiflet said. All that week, he said he ran through his mental Rolodex of prospective buyers, trying to think "who can I show this to, to tempt them with something I don't think they know they're looking for."