DBOX is a global marketing and communications agency specialising in property and architecture. From our studios in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, London, Budapest, Lviv and Hong Kong we have delivered highly successful campaigns and acquired valuable knowledge of HNWI and multi-lingual audiences throughout Europe, the Middle East, China, Southeast Asia and the Americas.

DBOX is a global marketing and communications agency specialising in property and architecture. From our studios in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, London, Budapest, Lviv and Hong Kong we have delivered highly successful campaigns and acquired valuable knowledge of HNWI and multi-lingual audiences throughout Europe, the Middle East, China, Southeast Asia and the Americas.

DBOX – Branding & Marketing for /Four Seasons via Dancie Perugini Ware Public Relations

A piece of Austin land once held by one of the world’s largest oil companies is getting a very different second act: multimillion-dollar homes, private marinas and Four Seasons service overlooking Lake Austin.

Construction is underway on Four Seasons Private Residences Lake Austin, a luxury residential-only resort planned for a former Exxon-owned hilltop west of the Pennybacker Bridge. The project team confirmed the development sits roughly 380 feet above Lake Austin and spans 210 acres with nearly a mile of shoreline.

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And living there won’t come cheap.

The development is planned for 229 residences, with prices ranging from $4.1 million to $35 million, according to a project fact sheet provided to Chron.

The land itself has a history that stretches back decades.

Exxon acquired the secluded hilltop roughly 40 years ago and held the property for about 25 years. Jonathan Coon, the entrepreneur who founded 1-800-CONTACTS, later acquired the property and began working with partners on plans to transform it into luxury housing.

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DBOX’s work has been recognized by organizations including the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmy® Awards), Communication Arts, The Art Directors Club, World Luxury Award, American Design Awards, and The International Property Awards, and has been exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, The Art Institute of Chicago, and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. DBOX was founded in 1996 and maintains studios in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, London, Budapest and LVIV

DBOX’s work has been recognized by organizations including the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmy® Awards), Communication Arts, The Art Directors Club, World Luxury Award, American Design Awards, and The International Property Awards, and has been exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, The Art Institute of Chicago, and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. DBOX was founded in 1996 and maintains studios in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, London, Budapest and LVIV

DBOX/Four Seasons via Dancie Perugini Ware Public Relations

Austin Capital Partners is developing the project, with Lincoln Property Company serving as development manager. The project took another major step forward earlier this summer after TYKO Capital provided an $870 million construction loan.

“This financing moves Four Seasons Private Residences Lake Austin from vision to construction,” Coon said in a public statement. 

The project has changed considerably since Houstonians first got a look at it.

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The Houston Chronicle reported in 2023 that plans at the time called for 189 residences across 18 buildings on 145 acres, with homes starting at $4.1 million. Developers also envisioned a private marina and an elaborate $300 million amenity complex complete with restaurants, a theater, a spa, basketball and racquet courts and an indoor citrus garden.

DBOX’s work has been recognized by organizations including the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmy® Awards), Communication Arts, The Art Directors Club, World Luxury Award, American Design Awards, and The International Property Awards, and has been exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, The Art Institute of Chicago, and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. DBOX was founded in 1996 and maintains studios in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, London, Budapest and LVIV

DBOX’s work has been recognized by organizations including the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmy® Awards), Communication Arts, The Art Directors Club, World Luxury Award, American Design Awards, and The International Property Awards, and has been exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, The Art Institute of Chicago, and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. DBOX was founded in 1996 and maintains studios in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, London, Budapest and LVIV

DBOX/Four Seasons via Dancie Perugini Ware Public Relations

One of the project’s more unusual features was supposed to be a $30 million funicular—essentially an inclined railway—to ferry residents down the steep hillside to the waterfront.

That’s no longer happening.

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After developers acquired neighboring land and expanded the project, Coon told the Austin American-Statesman in June the funicular had been dropped because of its cost, complexity and potential effect on the construction timeline. Realty News Report similarly reported that a winding road will instead provide access to the waterfront.

The luxury, however, hasn’t exactly been scaled back.

DBOX’s work has been recognized by organizations including the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmy® Awards), Communication Arts, The Art Directors Club, World Luxury Award, American Design Awards, and The International Property Awards, and has been exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, The Art Institute of Chicago, and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. DBOX was founded in 1996 and maintains studios in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, London, Budapest and LVIV

DBOX’s work has been recognized by organizations including the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmy® Awards), Communication Arts, The Art Directors Club, World Luxury Award, American Design Awards, and The International Property Awards, and has been exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, The Art Institute of Chicago, and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. DBOX was founded in 1996 and maintains studios in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, London, Budapest and LVIV

DBOX/Four Seasons via Dancie Perugini Ware Public Relations

Current plans include 18 boutique residential buildings and 28 freestanding home lots ranging from one to three acres, according to the project team.

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Plans call for more than 100,000 square feet of private amenities, including a 96-seat theater, golf simulators, pickleball and tennis courts, a spa and wellness club and a 300-foot infinity-edge pool overlooking Lake Austin and the Austin skyline.

Then there are the boats. Plans call for two private marinas with 50 slips.

Despite all that Four Seasons branding, this isn’t another hotel headed for Austin. A spokesperson for Four Seasons Private Residences Lake Austin confirmed to Chron that the development is separate from Austin’s Four Seasons Hotel and will instead be the brand’s first purely residential private resort.

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There will be no hotel, in other words, and its amenities will be reserved exclusively for homeowners, club members and their guests. Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts will manage the resort’s amenities and services.

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DBOX is a global marketing and communications agency specialising in property and architecture. From our studios in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, London, Budapest, Lviv and Hong Kong we have delivered highly successful campaigns and acquired valuable knowledge of HNWI and multi-lingual audiences throughout Europe, the Middle East, China, Southeast Asia and the Americas.

DBOX is a global marketing and communications agency specialising in property and architecture. From our studios in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, London, Budapest, Lviv and Hong Kong we have delivered highly successful campaigns and acquired valuable knowledge of HNWI and multi-lingual audiences throughout Europe, the Middle East, China, Southeast Asia and the Americas.

DBOX – Branding & Marketing for /Four Seasons via Dancie Perugini Ware Public Relations

The project has also grown beyond its private gates. The Austin American-Statesman reported in June that the additional acreage expanded the development’s shoreline and that portions of the property are expected to remain parkland or protected open space. Plans also preserve public access around the popular Loop 360 overlook near the Pennybacker Bridge.

If construction stays on schedule, the former Exxon property should look considerably different by the end of the decade. Construction began in June, with the first residences anticipated for delivery in 2029, according to the project team.