I have always been in awe at the growth of Austin. Minus the near-decade I spent in Los Angeles after college, I have called this weird Texas city home since 1989. I’m one of the rare originals who doesn’t mind the city’s explosive growth. I cherish the diversity and culture that the expansion brings to the city, and being a part of that is so exciting. We will look back at this time in Austin and remember it as its golden age. Pretty cool stuff. All that said, Austin’s residential architectural scene has always been in need of…shall we say…a little extra help. Imagine lots (and lots!) of homes from the 80s & 90s screaming for love and attention. Oy so many weird angles, Tuscan kitchens, and Texas lone star decor.
It should come as no surprise that my love for rehabbing, building, and creating beautiful homes does not stop with the work that we do for our clients at BANDD/DESIGN. Somewhere along the way, perhaps during my own home remodeling project, my crazy love for tearing down and building new really emerged as a regular itch that needed to be scratched. This is where the initial seed for BANDD/DEVELOPMENT was planted.
The Long Road We Took To Get Here
Our firm launched in early 2017 and during the Summer of 2019. Once the design side of the firm was a mostly well-oiled machine, I realized that I was buzzing to expand into real estate development, specifically focusing on well-designed (duh!), high-end flip properties in and around Austin. I spent the remainder of 2019 prepping to set up that arm of our firm…when you guessed it, 2020 and a global pandemic hit. Ugh, at this point it’s a tale as old as time. All expansion plans were put on pause due to the uncertainty of the market in the early pandemic days.
Later that fall, an entrepreneur friend approached me about exploring this real estate development idea together. The excitement from a trusted source on my plans, really kicked my butt back into gear to finally get it up and going off the ground. It was just a few short months later, in the waning days of 2020 and early weeks of 2021 that we officially launched BANDD/DEVELOPMENT with the purchase of our first property –– Rimdale Drive.
Rimdale Drive
Rimdale is such an exciting start for us; great neighborhood, amazing street, lots of promise. Once we got to really get in there and walk the property (the Austin market is BANANAS and we bought this one sight unseen), we collectively agreed that tearing down the house and starting new was the right direction for us to go. Phew. So in the matter of 3 months, we went from an interior designer and investor to property rehabbers to spec home builders.
We hired an architect and a builder to round out the team and are currently finalizing the plans for the new construction…and let me tell you, this one is going to be crazy special. With construction kicking off in just a few months, we’ll be ready to roll in a year from now. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you hanging with just some (slightly horrifying) before photos and a sappy story. Here’s a little sneak peek at the inspiration that we pulled for the overall design concept.
As for the road ahead, don’t worry, BANDD/DESIGN is my first love – but our plan is to help beautify 6-12 Austin homes per year. Let’s face it, I’m a workaholic who is always looking for the next best thing; which might be why I’ve decided to flip and build my forever home under BANDD/DEVELOPMENT (surprise everyone!). We are only in the beginning phases for this one, but I’ll be sharing the nitty-gritty details along the way for those of you who want a backstage pass. Stay tuned y’all!
XX, Sara