Originally published on Austin Business Journal

By: Sahar Chmais – Staff Writer, Austin Business Journal

Aug 29, 2024

Mixed-use development The Bouldin is nearing completion on bustling South Lamar Boulevard, and some notable tenants have been lined up.

Split into two buildings, The Bouldin will host a luxury gym from Life Time Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LTH), wine bar Postino WineCafe, and breakfast and lunch restaurant Paperboy. It's a 4-acre project across blocks 1300 and 1400 of South Lamar. The Bouldin will have 309 residential units and about 75,000 square feet of office space. There are two levels of underground parking.

Austin-based Seamless Capital is developing the mixed-use project and is well underway. Apartments are anticipated to open near the end of the year, and the shell for office space is slated to be completed in the next few weeks, with tenants determining opening dates, according to a Seamless Capital representative. Endeavor Real Estate Group is representing the leases for Seamless Capital.

The Bouldin's location previously housed Genie Car Wash, Austin’s Automotive Specialists and Jiffy Lube, and it sits across the street from Ramen Tatsu-Ya and Saxon Pub.

Initially, plans called for one of the project's four-story buildings to be fully dedicated to office space — but as market needs changed, two stories were leased to Life Time, said Jonathan Tate, an Endeavor principal handling the leasing of the office and retail building. The shift leaves 75,000 square feet of space for office use, with “promising conversations with prospects,” though potential tenants were not disclosed.

“The project fits perfectly into the fabric of the established South Lamar entertainment and culinary district,” Tate said in a statement. “In today’s market where projects are competing to attract tenants through amenities and quality, the addition of Life Time’s athletic country club makes it stand out above the rest of the marketplace.”

Construction of the Life Time gym will begin later this year and is expected to be complete in mid-2025, according to the company. South Lamar’s rapid growth and proximity to downtown enticed Life Time to the site, a company representative said. This will be Life Time’s fifth location in the Austin metro. Chris Skyles at Elevate Development Partners introduced Life Time to the developers. The company didn't disclose its lease terms.

Life Time’s first floor will be dedicated to training and cardio. Its second floor will house its restaurant, LifeCafe with outdoor dining, as well as its Kids Academy and studios for group classes. This Life Time will include a full bar and social lounge, co-working space and a co-ed bath house with hot tubs, cold plunges, sauna and steam rooms.

Paperboy, founded by Ryan Harms, will open its second location at The Bouldin in the first quarter of 2025. The restaurant is about 3,000 square feet, plus some patio space, and it can seat approximately 120 customers, Harms said. Paperboy landed a 10-year lease plus options to renew, a deal brokered by Pierce Jones of Endeavor Real Estate Group, according to Harms.

“We knew that the location … made a lot of sense,” Harms said. “I mean, there's plenty of great and sort of powerful long-lasting concepts up and down that strip. South Lamar is as much of a highway in town as you can get, and we knew there would be good visibility.”

Paperboy’s location at the bottom floor of the residential building makes it an amenity for residents as well as people who work in the office space, Harms said. Additionally, South Lamar Boulevard has substantial vehicle and foot traffic.

The restaurant's concept works best in dense urban areas, according to Harms, which has been proven through its East Austin location.

It will take about $2.5 million to $3 million to finish out Paperboy on South Lamar, he said. The business raised about $4 million over the past year to fund the project, along with its wood-fired pizza concept, Loudmouth, that’s coming to East Austin at 1209 Rosewood Ave.

Postino is slated to open in the fall, according to a Seamless Capital representative. The planned 4,200-square-foot location is one of the two that the wine bar has planned for Austin.