Blackstone Eyes Massive Multifamily Development in North Austin

A Blackstone subsidiary is gearing up for a big multifamily project in North Austin.

Link Logistics Real Estate Management, led by CEO Luke Petherbridge, filed to rezone the 6-acre site at 11209 Metric Boulevard to allow for a five-story complex with nearly 500 units, the Austin Business Journal reported.

The project, called LL Braker, according to city filings, is also slated for 5,000 square feet of retail space and structured parking. It’s unclear if the residential units will be apartments or condos. A one-story warehouse, built in the 1980s and spanning 85,000 square feet, would be demolished for the project.

Link Logistics is requesting to change the property’s industrial zoning designation to allow multifamily and retail uses. Austin’s Zoning and Platting Commission is scheduled to discuss the matter on Jan. 30.

Multifamily developers are flocking to Austin to capitalize on the city’s unprecedented growth. Roughly 18,000 units were built during the first nine months of 2023. Over 7,500 units were built in the third quarter alone, nearly doubling the 4,000 completed during the same stretch in 2022.

It’s possible builders were a little overzealous. Austin’s apartment occupancy rate fell to 89 percent in the third quarter in part because of oversupply. That’s down from 92 percent one year prior, the outlet reported.

Blackstone is the largest commercial property owner in the world, and its Austin portfolio holds roughly 9 million square feet of residential, hotel, retail, storage and logistics space.

Blackstone has been especially active in the industrial space. Link Logistics is developing a $28 million, three-building complex totaling 370,000 square feet in Round Rock, just north of Austin. The firm is also nearing completion of Settlers Grove, a $38 million, 631,000-square-foot warehouse project in the same area.

—Quinn Donoghue