Former Exxon Hilltop lined up for Luxe Homes

In Austin, When the guy from the world’s largest oil company first laid eyes on the property some 40 years ago, he wasn’t thinking about underground crude oil reserves.

This is not the Permian Basin. This is the Texas Hill Country.

Who gives a durn about mineral rights when you’re standing on a bluff about 400 feet above this stretch of the Colorado River known as Lake Austin. The views were phenomenal. Downtown Austin is in the distance. Old oaks cast deep shade on the shoreline.

In Maybe the Exxon guy was thinking about a Camp David, like retreat site for the company’s top officers. Maybe the secluded land was envisioned as a site for a high-security office building.

It’s ancient history now. Whatever the reasons were, Exxon bought the beautiful hilltop with the gorgeous waterfront. Its ownership was obscured under layers of legalese and LLCs and it stayed that way for 25 years.

That’s when Jonathan Coon came along and bought Exxon’s property, some call it Shepherd Mountain, about ten years ago.

Visionary Leadership

Coon is the founder of a contact lenses company called 1800Contacts, which he sold in 2012 for $900 million.

Coon and his partners have worked on an ambitious plan to transform the hilltop to upscale housing with a marina on the lakefront. Coon’s development group, called Austin Capital Partners, which includes Jason Subotky, and Eduardo Margain, worked through various iterations of the development. Hines labored on the development for a while.

Now the development plan has been fine-tuned. An additional 60 acres of adjacent land was purchased. Developer Lincoln Property Company is fired up and ready to go.

And Tyko Capital reported it has provided an $870 million construction loan.

One of the highest and largest lakefront sites Central Texas in is being prepared to meet its destiny.

Coon and his partners are starting construction of the Four Seasons Private Residences Lake Austin.

“This financing moves Four Seasons Private Residences Lake Austin from vision to construction,” said Coon.

Prices Start at $4 Million

The 210-acre development will have 229 residences with prices ranging from $4 million to $35 million.

It will not include a hotel, but it will have hotel-like services and management provided by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

The development is set to include 18 boutique residential buildings, along with 28 freestanding home lots ranging from 1 to 3 acres.

The residences and villas ranging from 2,000 SF to 10,000 SF.

The Four Seasons will have sports facilities, restaurants and the lake clubhouse is set to feature two private marinas with 50 boat slips, supported by a full-time staff.

An earlier internal transportation proposal has been scrapped. A “funicular” cable railway cars to move guests up and down the hillside was viewed as being too complex, and a future maintenance nightmare. Instead, Coon said, a winding road will provide passage to the waterfront.

With a deep roster of partners and contractors, along with $870 million in construction financing, it appears the Four Seasons flag will be flying soon.

“This is one of the largest construction loans ever made for a luxury residential project in Texas,” said Adi Chugh, Founder and CEO of TYKO Capital. “Lincoln Property Company and Austin Capital Partners are building something exceptional on this irreplaceable site.”

Exxon is long gone. The seasons of land banking are over. When 2029 rolls around, the developers say, the Lake Austin development will be welcoming new residents to the uber-affluent hillside and a mile of shoreline.