A Philadelphia real estate developer is gearing up to begin construction on the first phase of a massive mixed-use project across Burnet Road from North Austin’s Domain complex.

The more than 6 million-square-foot Broadmoor redevelopment project promises to burnish the Domain area’s rising status as Austin’s “second downtown.”

The $321 million first phase of Brandywine Realty Trust’s Broadmoor project will consist of 363,000 square feet of office space in a 14-story tower, 341 apartments, and 15,000 square feet of retail space. Construction is scheduled to get underway before the end of the year, company executives said recently. In the first quarter of 2022, Brandywine plans to launch construction of a 272-unit apartment building at a cost of close to $120 million.

Brandywine had planned to start construction at Broadmoor in mid-2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the project.

The 66-acre Broadmoor project — now featuring roughly 1 million square feet of office space, with IBM as the primary tenant — eventually is supposed to encompass:

• 3.2 million square feet of new office space
• 2.9 million square feet of new residential space
• 382,000 square feet of new retail space
• 248,000 square feet of new hotel space
• 11 acres of new green space
• New MetroRail station

Brandywine says Broadmoor will evolve into “a talent magnet for organizations, a cultural and entertainment district for the community, and a vibrant place for all Austinites to share.”

Gerard Sweeney, president and CEO of Brandywine, told Wall Street analysts October 26 that the company has slightly over 500,000 square feet of potential Broadmoor office leases in its pipeline and has fielded Broadmoor office leasing inquiries representing another 1.5 million square feet.

“We think Austin is in a very good position with a lot of eyes outside of Austin looking at Austin as a potential place to go,” Sweeney said during an April call with Wall Street analysts.

Brandywine executives couldn’t be reached for comment.