Brigadoon Town Homes

Brigadoon Town Homes have the distinction of being the first new condominiums constructed in the State of Texas following the mid-1980s recession. The project, completed in 1996, introduced Jay Symcox to what was then a completely underutilized sector of new construction in Texas—condominiums and town homes. Today, SDC is one of Austin’s leading developers in this highly specialized niche.

Brigadoon is a 64-unit development in northwest Austin, located one-half mile from MOPAC between Duval Road and Parmer Lane. A local homebuilder originally had developed the 6.5 acre site; due to the economic downturn, the project was turned back to the lender in the mid-1980s and sold by the RTC. At that time, 12 units had been completed and rented, and the lots had been finished for an additional 52 units. No subsequent work or upkeep had been done on the property when Jay Symcox and his partners acquired it in 1994.

Texas was adopting its Uniform Condominium Act just as Symcox began generating condominium documents for the project. Since the law was new and no condominiums had been built in the state for nearly a decade, it was hard to find either lawyers or lenders with the knowledge to proceed. Symcox finally located one of the original authors of the act, who provided outstanding, up-to-date documents as well as the expertise needed to get Fannie Mae and FHA approvals. She was assisted by the team’s highly qualified mortgage lender, who secured the commitment for financing on the completed units to the end buyers.

The partnership purchased the existing units with an acquisition and rehabilitation loan, and worked with the existing architecture and site plan to complete a total renovation. With the sale of the original 12 units, the group recovered its entire basis in the property; lot equity was used to develop the remaining 52 units. The entire project was completed and sold over the course of two years.