Local news and fun, every day 6am.
Featured
austonia newsletter
Most viewed
Austin's 3D-printed homes hit the market Tuesday morning—a development of four community-forward homes snuggly tucked in East Austin.
Created by Austin-based construction technology company ICON and Kansas City developer 3Strands, two of the homes in the community sold within a week a few months back. Now the other two homes, which went live Tuesday for $765,000, are complete and the companies expect they will go quickly.
Co-founder and CEO of developer 3Strand Gary O'Dell said they could have sold the homes, each with four bedrooms and four bathrooms, several months ago but held out so the public would get a chance to see the finished product. "If we sold them by real estate metrics, that's good, but to be able to tell the story about what ICON can do, I think is really important," O'Dell said. "We've had lots of people really interested in the project."
The first floor of the energy-efficient homes is made with a concrete-based material called "lavacrete," which is made to withstand fire, wind, floods and be longer lasting than traditional building materials. The second story is made traditionally, with metal siding and a metal roof.
The home's interior finishes were inspired by the Texas landscape and brought to life by Austin-based designer Claire Zinnecker with earthy tiles, natural woods and warm colors to juxtapose with the metal finishes.
All four homes are set facing inward with open porches and expansive windows on the houses, which Senior Project Manager for ICON Conner Jenkins told Austonia was intentional because it fosters community.
"It is a little more unique and it does lean into what it means to provide healthy communities—not just a place to live but a place to share life together," Jenkins said. "As our community trends toward maybe not wanting to do that, it's nice to live in a community that maybe forces that because you almost never regret becoming friends with your neighbors."
A major part of ICON's mission is to alleviate some of the housing pressure Austin is facing in its red hot housing market, Jenkins said. Each of the units was printed in about a week's time from slab to the top of the wall, which replaces a few construction steps and makes ICON homes lightning fast to build.
Managing Austin's housing shortage is no easy task with no easy solution, but Jenkins said ICON is ready to throw itself into the ring. "For such a systemic issue, you need deeply ingrained, paradigm-shifting solutions, which is what we're working on," Jenkins said. "It's difficult, it takes a lot of effort, a lot of energy, a lot of innovation, and we're ready to tackle that."
ICON is not stopping at 3D printing homes—the company has already built homes in Mexico, is dabbling in space exploration with its Mars Dune Alpha and working with the Texas Military Department for 3D-printed training barracks. The company isn't ready to reveal where or when more 3D-printed homes are coming to Austin and the rest of the U.S.
"We have a lot of exciting projects ongoing," Jenkins said. "We feel a connection with Austin so we're doing a lot of things here. We have and are currently building in other cities and we don't plan on slowing that down anytime soon."
- Austin-based startup to open 66-unit micro home community - austonia ›
- Forbes' 2021 30 Under 30 list features 6 enterprising Austinites ... ›
- Austin startup ICON building 3-D launching pad to moon - austonia ›
- 3D-printing ICON builds military barracks in Austin-area - austonia ›
- ICON partners with NASA to create the 3D-printed Mars habitat ... ›
- Austin-based ICON building world's largest 3D home community nearby - austonia ›
- ICON debuts 3D-printed House Zero ahead of SXSW tours - austonia ›
- Preservation Austin pivots to historic sites tour this year - austonia ›
Popular
(Tesla)
Giga Texas, the massive Tesla factory in southeast Travis County is getting even bigger.
The company filed with the city of Austin this week to expand its headquarters with a new 500,000-square-foot building. The permit application notes “GA 2 and 3 expansion,” which indicates the company will make two general assembly lines in the building.
More details about the plans for the building are unclear. The gigafactory has been focused on Model Y production since it opened in April, but the company is also aiming for Cybertruck production to kick off in mid-2023.
While there is room for expansion on the 3.3 square miles of land Tesla has, this move comes after CEO Elon Musk’s recent comments about the state of the economy and its impact on Tesla.
In a May interview with Tesla Owners Silicon Valley, Musk said the gigafactories in Berlin and Austin are “gigantic money furnaces” and said Giga Texas had manufactured only a small number of cars.
And in June, Musk sent a company wide email saying Tesla will be reducing salaried headcount by 10%, then later tweeted salaried headcount should be fairly flat.
- Grand opening of Giga Texas faces push back from the community ... ›
- Giga Texas may start production of Model Y's this week - austonia ›
- Tesla hosts Cyber Rodeo grand opening party for Giga Texas ... ›
- Musk: Recently opened Giga Texas is a gigantic money furnace ... ›
- Elon Musk is spotted driving a Cybertruck through Giga Texas ... ›
- PHOTOS: Peek inside the Tesla Gigafactory producing Model Ys in ... ›
- Cyber Rodeo: what we know about the Giga Texas opening party ... ›
- Excitement over Giga Texas grand opening continues at Tesla Con ›
- Tesla's mileage range on new Model Y lowers - austonia ›
(Dullnig Ranch Sales)
You’ll have to leave city limits if you’re looking for a proper ranch property like 417 Acres Shipp Lake Ranch, aptly named for its acreage. The property comes built out with three farmhouses, one of which has bedrooms and two bathrooms and two of which have two bedrooms and one bathroom. The nearly untouched property, which surrounds the 100-plus-acre Shipp Lake, has remained in the same family since the early 1900s and gives you picturesque views for the making of a dream home. In fact, the previous owners ran a water ski camp on the property.
Sitting waterside on Lake Austin, this home gives you the unique opportunity to own a piece of the lush Hill Country with views of Mount Bonnell. The 2,750-square foot, three-bedroom, four-bathroom house allows you to integrate indoor and outdoor life with large windows opening to an outdoor living area. The crown jewel is the .76-acre parcel of land that tapers off to your own lakeside resort, featuring an covered outdoor kitchen, fire pit, stone boat house to store your water sports supplies and veranda sitting at the mouth of the water, perfect for an entertainer.
Got dreams of becoming a real Texas rancher? 7814 Brown Cemetery Rd. is the perfect place to start with 40 rolling acres of land and its very own swimming hole. Just east of Austin in Manor, the modest-on-the-outside home clocks at 4,412 square feet with five bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms, but there are an additional two living structures on the property. The horseshoe-shaped pond sits in the heart of the property and comes equipped with a water slide, diving board and a fishing dock.