See which property on hip South Congress Avenue changes owners

Good afternoon, and thank you for subscribing to Building Austin, our weekly newsletter focused on real estate, growth and development in the Austin region. I'm Shonda Novak, the American-Statesman's real estate reporter.

There's never a dull moment on Austin's South Congress Avenue: Throngs of tourists. Locals. Bachelorette parties. Live music. Shopping. Dining. Vendors. Street musicians.

Among the latest changes is a sale: Saint Vincent, a mixed-use project at South Congress and E. Gibson St. across from Perla's, has a new owner. JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.), a global commercial real estate and investment management company, announced the sale in a recent press release.

More: 3-story project planned for South Congress site

Built in 2018, Saint Vincent is 100% leased. Its retail tenants are King Ranch Saddle Shop, Madewell, Marine Layer, Howler Bros and Garrett Leight, along with office tenant John Deere. Located at 1329-1333 S. Congress, Saint Vincent has 21,185 square feet of space in the heart of the South Congress district, which has consistently maintained retail occupancy levels above 95% for the past decade, JLL's release said.

Within the past couple of decades, South Congress has undergone major change as successive waves of redevelopment have transformed the once red-light district into a popular —and mostly upscale — shopping, dining and entertainment district teeming with tourists and locals, with still more projects planned.

More: EXCLUSIVE: $55 million mixed-use project gets going on South Congress

The Travis Central Appraisal District valued the Saint Vincent property at $11.6 million this year.

More: As South Congress redevelops, will the funky survive?

Before Saint Vincent was built, St. Vincent de Paul operated a thrift store and collection center on the site before moving to a bigger location on Braker Lane in 2016.

JLL's retail capital markets team (Chris Gerard, Ryan West, Erin Lazarus, Shea Petrick, Megan Babovec and Ben Pollack) represented the seller and procured the buyer for Saint Vincent. The purchase price was not disclosed.

JLL's release didn't say who the buyer and seller were. However, appraisal district records show the owner was an entity with an address in New York for Clarion Partners. And my sources say that Austin-based Pennybacker Capital was the buyer. Emails and a call to Pennybacker were not returned.

Pennybacker is a nationwide investment firm with $3.9 billion in assets under management and $250 million in equity raised to date, according to its website. The firm focuses on improving underperforming properties in key growth markets, the website says. In addition to its Austin headquarters, Pennybacker has offices in Charlotte, North Carolina, Denver and New York.

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: See which property on hip South Congress Avenue changes owners