What do you do with 5 acres of infill land zoned for residential use in the bustling Northwest Austin submarket? Developer Robin Reshetar chose townhomes -- 68 of them, in fact. His Doylestown, Penn.-based Reshetar Development Group broke ground recently on the $12 million Lakeline Square Town Homes project near the intersection of RR 620 and Lyndhurst Street.

Located close to Lakeline Mall and the heavily trafficked confluence of RR 620 and U.S. Highway 183, the site appeared ideal for for-sale multifamily development over rental property, which is already more abundant in the area, says David Cavalier, owner of eTexas Realty and the broker on the project. "The property was zoned MF-3 and [Reshetar] did not want to do apartments, so we did our market research and figured out exactly what we felt would work at this location," says Cavalier. So far, the plan appears to be working. The first units won't be available until early next year but one-third of the project is already pre-sold, he says. All 68 units are two-bedroom with an attached garage and high-end amenities. Averaging nearly 1,400 square feet, the units are priced at $175,000 in the interior and $185,000 on the ends.

GH Contracting out of Pflugerville is handling site work and Reshetar's in-house construction team will field the vertical portion, which should begin in about a month, once roads are complete. Austin-based Venture Four Architects designed the development.

The site, a former baseball field, is across the street from an elementary school and adjacent to an upscale apartment complex and single-family subdivision. Lakeline Square Town Homes is seeking a four-star rating from the Austin Energy Green Building Program, Cavalier says. The developer has included a number of power-saving components in the project that will make it more energy efficient, he says. Katie Jensen, multifamily coordinator with the Austin Energy Green Building Program, says in its seven-year history the program has rated 47 multifamily developments representing more than 6,600 units. While development guidelines require that new multifamily developments fulfill at least a one-star rating, Jensen says just seven projects have met the minimum requirement while the remaining 40 have exceeded it.

So far this year, only three projects have been rated under the multifamily standards, a decline from the last three years. But Jensen attributes that partly to recent changes in the rating system that call for projects three stories and under to be rated as multifamily and those over three stories to be rated commercial. Meanwhile, townhomes will begin to be rated under single-family rules. Jensen also notes the swing toward high-rise multifamily projects around downtown--projects that take longer to build but account for more units. She says the number of inquiries from developers is definitely on the rise.

Reshetar had previously purchased property for two other projects in Pflugerville and Round Rock, but later sold the sites to other developers once they had been approved. This is the first project he will complete in the market.