E
lysian Real Estate Group has acquired Austin's first mass timber residential building, a 24-unit apartment complex at 400 Comal Street, with plans to convert it into a boutique hotel called Boheme. The $6 million project involves transforming the existing studio and one-bedroom apartments into 20 rooms, including 14 studios and six suites, along with a ground-floor bar and rooftop lounge. Pending city approval, the hotel could open as soon as next summer.

    Elysian's founder, Walker Molinare, believes the building's compact size and proximity to East Sixth Street make it an ideal location for a hotel. The firm has enlisted Baldridge Architects to oversee the redesign and Nova Hospitality to handle food and beverage services. Elysian plans to operate Boheme under its own management, offering features like customizable guest experiences and automated check-in systems.

    The company aims to expand Boheme into a national chain of 12 hotels. Juno, the San Francisco-based developer that built the mass-timber apartment building earlier this year, uses custom software to break down its developments into pre-cut components that can be assembled on-site like giant Legos. The Austin project was Juno's first outside of a prototype and was designed to be efficient and sustainable.