Developer buys Austin retail center that is home to Waterloo Records

A retail center that sits at one of Austin’s highest-profile intersections and houses two Austin favorites — Waterloo Records & Video and Amy’s Ice Creams — has a new owner.

Austin-based Endeavor Real Estate Group is now the majority owner of the 1.1-acre site at the northwest corner of West Sixth Street and North Lamar Boulevard.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The property has an appraised value of $7.55 million, according to the Travis Central Appraisal District.

The 600 N. Lamar site also is home to 24 Diner and Snap Kitchen and sits catty-corner to Whole Foods Market’s flagship store and company headquarters.

Bryce Miller, an Endeavor co-founder and managing principal, said the firm has no immediate redevelopment plans for the site. The property was owned by Roger Joseph of Roger Joseph Developments Inc. and Scott Young of Scott Young Properties.

Joseph and Young redeveloped the property in 1987 by converting it into one of downtown’s first retail centers.

“We are pleased to be involved in one of the more visible and well-recognized corners in our community,” Miller told the American-Statesman. “This site has that kind of city-wide recognition and visibility.”

Young said the decision to sell a controlling interest to Endeavor was driven by timing and market conditions.

“Due to the rapid rise of property taxes, we know that over time it will become more difficult for 600 Lamar and our tenants to make the numbers work as a single-story building,” Young said. “Our primary concern was for all of our tenants, particularly Waterloo Records and Amy’s Ice Creams, which have been in the center from the beginning.”

Young said he believes Endeavor “will do everything in their power to make this a smooth transition for all involved.”

Miller said Endeavor will try to find a way to keep 600 N. Lamar tenants either within the redeveloped site or elsewhere with close proximity to downtown.

One possibility, Miller said, could be the large waterfront development planned for the site that currently houses the American-Statesman newspaper offices at 305 S. Congress Ave.

Endeavor has proposed a redevelopment plan for the Statesman site that would include high-rise towers with offices, apartments, condominiums, hotel rooms, shops and restaurants. Endeavor is partnering on a proposed 3.5 million-square-foot development with the landowner, the Atlanta-based Cox family that formerly owned the newspaper.

In Austin, Endeavor is known for developing high-profile projects that include the Domain, Southpark Meadows and the Bowie mixed-use tower in downtown Austin.

In May, Endeavor bought the property at 312 Barton Springs Road that for 16 years has been home to Zax Restaurant & Bar. Miller has told the Statesman that Endeavor has no immediate plans for the property.

Endeavor also owns the site south of Lady Bird Lake that formerly housed Joe’s Crab Shack.

Currently, Endeavor and partner MetLife Investment Management are under construction on a 30-story tower in the Rainey Street District called the Quincy. With a targeted 2021 opening, the Quincy will have 347 apartments, plus office and retail space.

Endeavor also is developing the Saltillo mixed-use project in East Austin that has attracted tenants including Google Inc., Target and Whole Foods Market, among others.

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