The Bend Offers a New Living Concept With Four Acres of Parkland, Sold by Mailing Sensory-Rich 'Home Boxes' to Buyers' Homes

AUSTIN, Texas, September 2, 2020 (Newswire.com) - ​The Bend is a new open space concept residential community of 125 single-level homes along the South Congress corridor in South Austin. Behind the residences lies four acres of native green space along Williamson Creek with trails that lead to an urban homestead of back-to-the-land amenities. The condominium building occupies 30% of the total land area while the remaining 70% will consist of a private community park and future City of Austin park. Dictated by a critical water quality zone along Williamson Creek, the development team has conceived of new homesteading amenities such as an on-site apiary, garden beds for residents to grow food, owl homes, butterfly gardens, and a rewilding of native grasses and wildflowers.  With homes starting at $223,000, The Bend also attempts to offer obtainable market-rate housing prices along the burgeoning South Congress corridor and the new St. Elmo District. 

A New Approach to Real Estate Sales During COVID-19: 'Home Boxes'

The sales & marketing team behind The Bend, Brandon Miller Group, is taking an inventive approach to the sales process for the safety of agents and customers. Instead of a traditional in-person sales appointment at a sales center, customers will be mailed a sensory-rich Home Box. The Home Boxes cost $150 apiece and are refashioned artists boxes designed to provide a future resident with a 3-D experience that explores the five senses such as samples of building materials, project renderings, light-triggered sound, woodsy smells, tasting samples of honey, Polaroid pictures, and on-brand merchandising. The marketing team is making 60 Home Boxes to launch the development program and brings a real estate project sales center experience directly into customers’ homes. “Over the years, we’ve been more successful at selling homes virtually and, as the market gets more comfortable with purchasing real estate this way, we wanted to take it to the next level by making a substantial investment in a new kind of project brochure called the Home Box,” says Director of Marketing at The Brandon Miller Group, Philip Curcuru.    

Back to the Land

Within the four acres of greenspace, The Bend features walking paths, a grow-your-own-food community garden, fire pits, tree swings, and Frisbee golf, as well as a focus on “rewilding,” or the conservation effort to re-populate ecosystems with native species, including an on-site bee apiary, owl homes, native grasses, butterfly garden, and wildflowers. The Bend intends to provide residents with plenty of open space in high-density city living where typically the whole site is often developed. There is an expansive off-leash dog park with its own agility course. “You’re seeing residential apartment projects in other major cities like New York City attempt to provide more space for residents and we want to be on the forefront of that trend in Austin,” says developer Mitch Ely. Additional amenities include a gem-pool dubbed “The Bend Springs” with a sunning lawn, outdoor grills & dining, fitness studio, and lobby lounge.

Availability & Details

The Bend’s pre-sale program began in late August 2020 and has been overwhelmingly well-received with 48 homes with purchase contracts issued in the first 48 hours of the program launch. Construction is scheduled to start in Winter 2020. The developer is Mitch Ely who has developed three other condominium projects along South Congress starting with PUBLIC Lofts in 2015. PUBLIC Lofts was one of the first for-sale housing communities in the pioneering St. Elmo District, with 130 homes pre-sold in the first 90 days.  Other project consultants include Kelly Grossman Architects, Kevin Sloan Studio, and Michael Rivera Engineering.

Located at 4802 South Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78745. For more information, please visit www.thebendaustin.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Brandon Miller/Jonathan McEowen
512-800-5006
[email protected]

Source: The Bend South Congress