This article originally appeared on MultiHousing News.
The 300-foot building is the tallest in the city’s West Campus area.
Standing at 300 feet tall, Icon is the tallest building in the West Campus and the surrounding neighborhoods. Image courtesy of Hoar Construction.
Park7 Group and Hoar Construction have completed Icon, a 555-bed student housing community near the University of Texas campus in Austin. The 300-foot tower is the tallest building in the city’s West Campus area.
Hoar Construction, the project’s general contractor, broke ground in 2023 on the tower, which will open for the 2025-2026 school year. The project marks the first time Park7 and Hoar have worked together.
Across its 33 stories, Icon features 216 apartments ranging from one to five bedrooms. On-site amenities include multiple student workspaces, a rooftop pool, a fitness center, a media room and a lounge. Parking is available on four below-ground levels.
Meeting challenges
From the construction starting in quarter one of 2023, the project was able to hit a significant milestone last September when it officially topped out.
Despite challenges regarding supply chain disruptions, and equipment and material laydown issues on a tight site, coordination with project partners enabled Hoar to deliver the project on time.
Park7 and Hoar worked with city inspectors and the fire marshal’s office to conduct mock-up drills and secure early inspections to speed up the process of opening the high-rise in time for the school year. Other team members included Rhode Partners, the project architect; DCI Engineers, structural engineer; and Blum Consulting Engineers, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer.
Texas’ growing student housing stock
Located at 2200 San Antonio St. in West Campus, Icon is less than a mile from the University of Texas campus. According to Yardi Matrix, more than 50,000 students were enrolled for the fall 2024 semester with an off-campus demand of over 34,000 beds. As of last year, the campus had 23,522 beds available, and Icon will help address the gap.
Other notable new student housing ventures in the state include a $353 million project near Texas A&M University in College Station. Subtext and Larson Capital Management recently broke ground on EVER, the first phase, which will consist of 176 units and 545 beds and is scheduled to open in 2027. A second phase will provide another 1,193 units when it comes online the following year.
