A Songbird’s Fate in a Developer’s Hands

The Visibility of Austin Construction Projects

A large, weathered banner ironically reading “Texas Lives Here” hangs haphazardly over a chain-link fence, poorly masking the construction it means to. Once a hospitable University of Texas building — home to the Steve Hicks School of Social Work — the site was also once Austin’s first integrated junior high, University Junior High School. Now, it’s a dusty plot of rubble and crushed buildings, framed by wide stumps where full-grown trees once stood.

Living in Austin means living alongside constant construction. Residents are no strangers to pervasive projects, especially those that intersect with, and have an impact on, their daily lives. The city is a road map of detours, closed lanes and signs warning, ”Road Work Ahead.” The city of Austin is, itself, characterized by its ambitious buildings and newly built high-rises — and the infamous interstate highway that bisects it is currently getting a high-profile, major facelift.

Austinites navigate disruptions while watching their surroundings change form. These sorts of construction projects dominate the daily lives of residents, detouring traffic and rerouting pedestrians. But not all development unfolds so publicly.

Away from classrooms, apartments and work commutes, some projects lie hidden. These projects are ones that rarely interfere with our daily routines or make headlines, but they have a profound impact on the diverse ecosystems of Austin’s Hill Country.

What of the construction projects that don’t occur right under our noses, or right outside our apartments? How do those impact the daily routines of other living things?

The Four Seasons

Tucked into the hills of the Hill Country near the Pennybacker Bridge and overlooking Lady Bird Lake, lies one of these lesser-seen developments: the Four Seasons Private Residences in Lake Austin. This project promises luxury living on a different scale, offering 179 different chic units on 145 acres, each home at a $4 million starting price as steep as the hills they sit on. It also promises some environmental conflict, sitting just steps away from 2,000 acres of the officially designated Balcones Canyonlands Preserve, a protected habitat for several endangered species.

The not-so-humble abodes (not a typical Four Seasons hotel) are housed in 18 different buildings, each four stories tall. They boast bespoke features like two private restaurants and a clubhouse.

This luxe development quietly advances, simmering in development limbo in the habitat of an endangered bird found nowhere else on the planet.

The Warbler

Meet the Golden-Cheeked Warbler, a small bird recognized by the eponymous bright yellow color of its cheeks. Like other warblers, they are small, insect-eating songbirds. Most notably, they call Texas home.

The Travis Audubon Society, the county’s chapter within a nationwide network of birding organizations named after 19th-century ornithologist John James Audubon, focuses on protecting birds and their habitats across Central Texas — though the Golden Cheeked Warbler is special.

"The golden-cheeked warbler is the only bird that nests exclusively in Texas, and mainly in Central Texas,” said Maura Powers, a member of the Travis Audubon Board and chair of its Advocacy committee. “As we like to say, they are native-born Texans."

The Travis Audubon Society emerged from concern for these very warblers and the impact development can have on them.

“That’s why the Travis Audubon Society was originally formed — to help address concerns about the loss of this bird’s environment," Powers said. "The Golden-Cheeked Warbler’s decline is directly tied to habitat loss from development.”

Why There?

Though the warblers are native to the region, the land being actively developed has been privately owned since at least 1992. The area under construction that will soon house the pricey homes is known as the Camelback PUD (public utility district). Public utility districts are communities wherein people live among amenities like retail stores or parks. It was classified as such by the Austin City Council in the late 1980s when it was purchased by a ‘Camelback Corp’. The zone, directly west of the iconic Pennybacker Bridge, is named for its shape — which resembles a camel with a large hump. It was owned by the city until five years later.

Powers said the warblers can be found in that zone and throughout Central Texas’ wooded areas because their survival depends on a precise habitat.

"Golden-cheeked Warblers rely on oak and juniper trees for nesting," Powers said. "They use juniper bark to build their nests, and they're very particular about needing mixed areas of both tree types."

The specificity of their habitats of choice makes them vulnerable to the development of such regions.

“When construction fragments these areas, it disrupts their nesting and feeding patterns," Powers said.

The Golden-Cheeked Warbler breeds in these areas, which are increasingly threatened by urban expansion. With Austin constantly growing in both population and developed area, the warbler’s habitat could further become a prime target for developers.

The Man

Jonathan Coon, the entrepreneur behind the Four Seasons project, purchased the land in 2017 from ExxonMobil, which had held it elusively since 1992. It was considered for the fuel magnate’s potential headquarters, which never came to be, and stayed untouched. A 2013 Austin-American Statesman article called it ‘prime’ land and referred to Exxon’s ownership as a ‘25-year mystery’ which was only then revealed. Now, the land is the foundation for a project geared to include the high-end homes, offices and a funicular — a cable railway providing transportation up and down the steep hills.

Coon is a Richardson, Texas native. As per the above Texas Monthly article, he made his fortune starting a contact lens company, 1-800 Contacts, out of his Brigham Young University dorm room and later selling the Utah-based company for $900 million in 2012.

With this fortune, Coon proposed many uses for the land, but announced in 2021 how the land would house the luxury residences project called Four Seasons Private Residences Lake Austin, transforming the development into an exclusive residential project.

The Land

The property's journey is as layered as the geological strata of Austin's hills.

In 2018, KVUE called the location “one of Austin’s most photographed spots” and described the public’s support for the construction project. That year, Coon had the approval of over 90 organizations representing more than 3,000 residents near the area in question. The same article cited his “honesty and decency” as the reasons why they supported his project.

That year, when the plans consisted of office space and a senior living center, the Austin Chronicle named several homeowner’s association’s that supported said proposed project. One member of The Westminster Glen HOA praised Coon’s "respect for our environmental and zoning laws".

Coon told Paper City Magazine how his initial plans included not just residences, but a boutique hotel, commercial spaces and a restaurant overlooking Lake Austin. Most notably, he proposed the idea of relatively affordable housing, or, at least, multifamily housing.

It seems there once was a greater impetus to develop something which would better benefit a greater number of people, at least relatively — which seems to have been abandoned in the name of luxury living.

At the time, the 145 acres had been colored differently. According to the Austin Monitor in 2018, Coon had planned to not only build a home for his family, but also “between 62 and 200 condo units” which might have been “single-family homes, town houses or multifamily buildings, “or [a] combination thereof.”

These plans have obviously changed since then. In 2021, Four Seasons’ involvement was announced. The same year, the Statesman called this development a “departure from earlier plans.” Coon, the CEO of Austin Capital Partners, is now working alongside Four Seasons and Houston-based developer Turnbridge Equities.

Why the change? According to Redfin, during the period between Coon’s purchase and Four Season’s involvement (2017–2021), Austin saw an increase of out-of-town buyers, who spent on average $22,500 more per home than residents. Texas as a whole saw record increases in high-end home values in the same period; the demand for larger, single-family homes skyrocketed.

Still, the development seemed relatively environmentally conscious and uncontroversial, for Coon ensured in the aforementioned Austin Monitor article that 90 of the 145 acres would be preserved or kept green. And to the Statesman, he said he planned to donate half the waterfront acreage to the city for a public scenic overlook and create 16 acres of public open space with walking and biking trails. Coon’s plans assured that the property’s hillside would remain undeveloped and would always belong to Austinites.

This act of public service contrasts with the luxury compound’s exclusive amenities (think a private restaurant manned by a Michelin-star chef).

Construction began fall of 2024, with completion anticipated by late 2027.

The bird's decline mirrors Austin's growth.

"(Golden-Cheeked Warblers) used to be quite abundant," Powers said, "but as development has increased, especially since the 1950s, their habitat has shrunk."

And The Rules (Considering the Environment)

The site is within, and is immediately surrounded by, the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve, one of the nation’s most comprehensive habitat protection efforts. Spanning more than 33,000 acres — roughly 50 square miles — this preserve is a tapestry of 140 individual tracts of land managed by both public and private owners. However, 80% of the preserve falls under the stewardship of Travis County or the City of Austin.

This preserve is not merely a patch of protected land, but home to seven species who receive special environmental considerations through the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan. Land holding these animals specifically is subject to the plan. One of these animals is our Golden-Cheeked Warbler.

A recent article by a broker suggested that, as a conservation effort, construction on the Four Seasons property waited to commence until after the warbler’s nesting season ended this August.

For landowners who want to develop their land in this area and find themselves face-to-face with an endangered species, there are several mitigation efforts they must make, and it is their responsibility to follow federal law.

And, to developers eyeing land west of Interstate 35, the legal guidelines for development in this area are not ambiguous. The camel-shaped Four Seasons Lake Austin project is firmly within this regulatory zone.

According to Travis County, developers have two routes to legal compliance with the Endangered Species Act. The first track is longer and involves direct consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, surveys of species across several years, detailed proposals of mitigation efforts, and processes that include public involvement.

The more efficient, streamlined path is the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan Incidental Take Permit. It asks for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decide either the mitigation requirements or determine the harm that would be done to eligible endangered species. It also asks for fees of $5,500 an acre for confirmed warbler habitats and $2,750 for unconfirmed habitats. Once a contract is signed and the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan permit is obtained, one can begin clearing their habitats.

According to Travis County, since the conservation plan’s inception, more than 1,200 private landowners and developers have obtained permits, facilitating development on over 17,100 acres.

There exists a slight irony in the Four Seasons name. While it evokes a sense of harmony with nature, the brand references its global property locations, whether in Toronto or Sydney, rather than any sort of environmental stewardship.

But because of its location, this construction site in particular (one of only a few standalone residences worldwide for the brand) sits at an intersection of luxury living and environmental consequences.

Meanwhile, as heavy machines rev their engines, the Golden-Cheeked Warbler watches, perched in its increasingly fragmented habitat, a singing witness to the city's relentless transformation.