[MichaelB]

Gallup Will this project be tall or spread out?

Good idea.... lets play 20 questions! Everybody gets one. Here mine:

East or west of Congress?! ( I'll still offer the cocktail bribe!)

[ATXboom]

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - 2:45 PM CST
Downtown plan being unveiled todayAustin Business Journal


Phase One of the Downtown Austin Plan, commissioned by the city of Austin for long-range, comprehensive planning of the city's urban core, will be released at 5 p.m. on Jan. 9 on the city's Web site. The release is in advance of a town hall meeting about the plan on Saturday, Jan. 12.

ROMA Design Group and HR&A Advisors will present the plan, which comprises initial findings and preliminary strategies for creating a more livable, diverse and sustainable downtown. Strategies include reshaping the downtown area into unique districts, creating affordable housing through density bonuses and other means, and comprehensive transportation planning.

An initial hour-long slide presentation will be followed by more detailed sessions on transportation, affordable housing, districts and other topics.

This input will lead to recommendations for Phase Two of the Downtown Plan, which will begin this spring and focus on implementation strategies for the priorities identified during the Phase One process.

The town hall meeting will take place at the Austin Convention Center, Ballroom A, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sign-in starts at 8:30 a.m. The Downtown Plan can be found at www.ci.austin.tx.us.

[Dragonfire]

That's the one. It's now a Tex-Mex restaurant.

I went to the restaurant a few weeks ago for a friend's birthday party, and didn't realize it was where the Real World took place until I got home. :haha:

[Strayone]

20?...mixed use w/office space?

[austin242]

Hope we get something tall to replace 5th & Co

[KevinFromTexas]

At the request of MichaelB, (he wanted me to post this here), here's a cool set of drawings of the original design for the UT Tower. Paul Phillipe Cret went through several designs before settling on the existing one.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/apl/blakeschoice/cret.html

UT's website on the building. There's a lot of neat stuff here. Old photos, construction photos. Photos from inside the very top around the bells. They also show a lot of detail inside and out. And of course pictures of the Old Main that was torn down for the UT Tower.
http://www.utexas.edu/tours/mainbuilding/

[MichaelB]

thanks Kev....

[Kevinb]

My guess is that when lenders have their acts together and have finished documenting their losses they will start to get busy again and at that time 7th and Rio will rise. It’s in such a sweet spot that they are sure to move forward eventually.



Google "7rio"

[Kevinb]

The town hall meeting will take place at the Austin Convention Center, Ballroom A, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sign-in starts at 8:30 a.m. The Downtown Plan can be found at www.ci.austin.tx.us.

Here's the direct link:

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/downtown/downloads/DAP_COMMISSIONS_BRIEFING_1-9-8.pdf

I imagine it's so quiet in here because you are all reading it right now! :D

Cool stuff!

[ATXboom]

ACTUAL PHASE I PRESENTATION ^^^^^




BY KATHERINE GREGOR





Defining Districts: A new plan and code tailored by Downtown districts could best respond to each area’s special features. This could protect and enhance a uniquely Austin character, match community values to locales, and build consensus for implementing the overall plan.
Source material provided by ROMA


That core question informs the Downtown Austin Plan, commissioned by the city and now being executed by the Austin office of ROMA Design Group. Early concepts and soft recommendations developed in Phase One (which stops at defining issues and opportunities) began a community review this week. A draft report received an enthusiastic reception at City Hall from council members, aides, and management staff; it was publicly unveiled on Wednesday, Jan. 9, at a joint meeting of the Planning, Design, and Downtown commissions. Now it's the community's turn to weigh in.

On Saturday morning, Jan. 12, a town-hall meeting (see p.26) will provide an opportunity for Austinites to learn about the work and research done so far – including a new approach to affordable housing Downtown – and to shape Phase Two. After gathering broad input, ROMA will proceed next month with the actual plan, which will take approximately a year to develop in detail. The crucial corollary is that the new Downtown Austin Plan, once completed, will include a council-approved implementation plan, to be enforced by city code. This commitment to execution and enforcement makes the urban design plan unlike any other in the history of Austin, according to its council sponsor, Brewster McCracken.

Because it will have real power and comes amid such growth pressures, this urban plan is particularly deserving of citizen attention and input. Its implementation will require not just city action but leadership and ongoing collaborative efforts from Austinites across the board – the business community, the activist community, single-interest advocates, the doers, and the contras.

A fundamental challenge will be to overcome the default cynicism with which many Austinites regard city-planning efforts. A decade of neighborhood planning, without strong implementation and commitment to follow-through, has produced widespread frustration and distrust; this negative legacy colored, for example, the recent vertical mixed-use opt-out process. Similarly, Austin's failure to periodically update its comprehensive plan (see "The Bigger Picture," p.25) hampers us with a weak planning tradition. Relatively few community leaders, activists, and stakeholders have recent experience (or even knowledge) of good urban design and planning and of how it can positively shape the city around the Austin values we hold dear. As a result, they don't put much stock in the exercise. The Downtown Austin Plan offers a real opportunity to create an upswell of optimism – but only if consciously used by the city to earn and rebuild community faith in its planning efforts.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Place-Making With Districts



Streetcar Is No. 1: Austinites differ widely in the Downtown improvements they care most about funding. Transit and sustainability ranked highest with the more than 8,000 survey respondents. A density bonus program could let developers fund many of these needs, not only affordable housing.
Source material provided by ROMA
One big idea that emerges in the Phase One report: defining distinct districts. These would reinforce and build on the coherent city grid created in the original Waller plan of 1839. Among other virtues, districts offer a tailored mechanism for achieving specific community values. All would work in concert to promote overall goals: livability, sustainability, density, place-making for people, preservation of history and local character, and so on. ROMA's early draft of a district map shows Downtown divided into about a dozen specific districts. (For planning purposes, the city defines Downtown as the area north of the river, south of MLK, east of Lamar, and west of I-35, but the plan will reach beyond these boundaries for solutions on transit, connectivity, and compatibility.) Within each district, city policy and code would prioritize, promote, and reward particular community goals and values (as documented in this fall's Downtown Austin Plan Community Preferences Survey).

In short, a district approach could provide a place for everything. In principle, Downtown districts could also pre-empt or prevent battles by providing the community with clear assurances that each specific need (affordable housing, parkland, social services, new retail and office, etc.) will be promoted in an orderly fashion. Districts thus could reduce our free-floating urbanization anxiety – and pre-empt the fights that bog down real progress.

Each district would preserve and build on the special features and character that already exist in the area. This would promote a sense of place and unique Austin identity for each part of Downtown. For example, the remaining three public squares laid out in the 1839 Waller plan – Republic, Wooldridge, and Brush – would benefit from targeted upgrades and surrounding redevelopment to realize their potential as people-friendly parks and public spaces. In the northwest courthouse/historic district (north of Seventh Street, west of San Antonio Street), city policy and code would preserve neighborhood scale and the character of this area, rich in historic homes and tree-lined streets. Residential densification would be planned, but only appropriate to the existing character – e.g. small-scale, two- to four-story infill apartments, not soaring condo towers.

In the Waller Creek District, development codes would respond to the unique opportunities offered by the creek itself and the natural setting. That would include an attractive hike-and-bike trail, new open green space, and selected cafe and music venues (in tandem with the flood-control improvements making this land newly developable). In the Waterfront District along Lady Bird Lake – the public's favorite Downtown feature, by a landslide, on the survey – the plan would provide a unique response to the waterfront setting. A cohesive sense of place would run through the Rainey Street District on the east, the central Downtown waterfront, the Green site redevelopment and the Seaholm District to the west.

Other areas now lack the human scale, character, street life, and vibrancy that make a great Downtown; those would be reconceived entirely, following place-making principles. For example, in the Capitol District, 27 acres of state parking lots and garages could be redeveloped as mixed-use with housing. (This would require the city to actively engage state government in re-envisioning and redeveloping the area for the greater good – a major challenge and requiring city leadership and state responsiveness never heretofore seen but theoretically not impossible.)

Priority-use districts would promote certain active uses, creating nodes with the required critical mass. Again, the city would tailor its policy, code, developer incentives (e.g., density bonuses), and programs to help each area develop in particular ways the community wants and needs. A Congress Avenue District and the Central Business District could power up new offices, employment, and other critical economic engines. Policies for Sixth Street and perhaps Red River could foster the live-music scene. The Second Street corridor could promote retail, restaurants, and visitors. Presumably an arts district could also mature. The holistic strength of Downtown would benefit from the synergy among the various distinct districts.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Affordable-Housing Solution



Subsidies Needed: Especially for high-rise construction, a daunting gap exists Downtown between what a household earning 80% of the median family income can afford ($87,930) and what an average one-bedroom condo costs ($468,669). How to close the gap? Collect “density bonus” fees and require more affordable units from developers, then add public subsidies.
Source material provided by ROMA
A second valuable big idea: We can get affordable housing Downtown by taking a very specific, strategic approach. The Phase One ROMA report benefits from new data, research, and analysis by top national experts (consultants HR&A Advisors, with local market and proprietary construction data from Charles Heimsath's Capitol Market Research). Its early suggested strategy thus appears more sound than anything we've seen to date – and cause for cautious optimism. It reveals the flaws in the compromise recommendations provisionally adopted by council from the Affordable Housing Incentives Task Force: That approach won't yield enough units (or fee-in-lieu dollars) to prevent Downtown from becoming an exclusive enclave for the wealthy. A key problem: The huge $380,000 gap between what the average new one-bedroom, high-rise Downtown condo costs and what a household earning 80% of the median family income can afford. If every unit needs a $380,000 subsidy, then very few will get built. Even free city-owned land makes relatively little difference. (While the rental market is less daunting, the same basic concepts apply.)

But the report shows another way to get there. The detailed data points to this package approach:

1) Target midrise projects for affordable housing rather than high-rise projects – because construction costs are dramatically lower in midrise (less than six stories).

2) Use "density bonus" fees paid by high-rise projects to fund affordable housing in other, midrise projects Downtown.

3) Require these midrise projects to make 10% of their units affordable. (That's far more than the task force recommendations, which require just 10% of bonus square feet, which translates to about 4% of units.)

The data shows this approach producing affordable units Downtown that would require just $20,000 in public subsidies – from local, state, or federal sources – to become affordable to 80% MFI households. For 100% MFI households, just a $5,000 subsidy would be needed – far less daunting than that opening $380,000 gap for high-rise construction.




A Brighter Picture: Affordability becomes far more achievable in mid-rise housing, when developers are required to include 10% affordable units in a market-rate project. The smaller public subsidies shown here would buy down the unit sales price.
Source material provided by ROMA
But if we're trying to densify Downtown – e.g., maximize the height potential of each and every buildable site – isn't that in conflict with building a bunch of new midrise housing?

Here's where the Capitol View Corridors swoop in wearing a dashing red cape – as the unintended saviors of Downtown affordability. The corridors create limits on building heights; last year the Downtown Commission made a controversial push to revisit them, in part because they also limit high-rise redevelopment. But parcels under Capitol View Corridor height restrictions offer ideal sites for the midrise structures that are cost-effective for affordable housing. Happily, many are located in districts – along Waller Creek, near homeless shelters and social services, and in the state parking garage wasteland – where new affordable housing is desirable and a good fit. (Musicians and artists enjoying subsidized apartments should be much more open-minded than $1 million condo investors, for instance, about having the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless as a neighbor.)

The flip side of the argument: The city shouldn't spend its scarce affordable-housing dollars on sites without Capitol View Corridors or other height limits. Let all unrestricted full blocks rise as high as possible: That serves the twin community goals of maximum density/sustainability and economic vitality, as driven by major office and mixed-use projects. Let height-restricted tracts add density in a different way (and you get a surprising increase from five-story infill projects, built cheek-to-cheek): That can serve the community goal of having Downtown neighborhoods that are more affordable, welcoming, and diverse. Council Member Brewster McCracken said that after his briefing, he was newly invigorated and excited by seeing exactly how that can happen.

It's this kind of "aha" moment that can be delivered only by comprehensive urban planning. Fresh solutions emerge when multiple community issues are synthesized and understood as interlocking parts of a whole. Those, in turn, can shift public attitudes. One example: Housing advocates recently have pressed the city to prioritize on-site affordable housing in the redevelopment of Green Water Treatment Plant. But the Phase One ROMA report suggests that a different approach would better achieve the root goal. On those full blocks without height restrictions, the city instead would encourage sky-high projects – yielding property taxes to match. Of those taxes, 40% already are earmarked for the city's affordable-housing fund. Those dollars – nearly $1 million a year at full build-out – would be invested in subsidizing new midrise projects (and perhaps existing apartments) nearby, say in the northwest district of historic homes or along Waller Creek. The potential result: Many more Downtown units affordable to average Austinites.

There's plenty more meat in the Phase One report. Other key issues it sets up include regional transit, transportation, and mobility; a whole section addresses economic viability – the need to ensure that Downtown Austin retains it regional pre-eminence, despite competition from suburban upstarts like the Domain. For certain, those who participate in the Jan. 12 town-hall meeting will have plenty to digest. But the meal is worth the chew.

[MichaelB]

Here's the direct link:

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/downtown/downloads/DAP_COMMISSIONS_BRIEFING_1-9-8.pdf

I imagine it's so quiet in here because you are all reading it right now! :D

Cool stuff!

Yeah, I just spent 30mins looking at it..... what a lot of info to take in! Back to work!

[priller]

Very thorough!!

[ATXboom]

from AndrewsUrban.com ...not up to date with the timeline but some decept specifics on the building next to the post office site.


Condominiums at 6th & Nueces

Location: 519 W. 6th St., Austin, Texas 78701

Development Partner: Novare Group, Inc.

Project Information:

425 residences: one bedroom, one bedroom with den, two bedroom, and top floor penthouses
37 stories
Approximately 420’ tall
25,000 square feet of ground floor retail
Architect: The Preston Partnership LLC, Atlanta, Georgia
Amenities:

Amenities for which Novare-Andrews Urban communities are noted
Timeline:

Groundbreaking: Fall 2007
Sales Center Opening: Spring 2008
Sales Begin: Spring 2008
Expected completion: Fall 2009
TWELVE Domain
www.TWELVEDomain.com



Location: Esperanza Crossing and Park Street, The Domain, Austin, Texas 78758

Development Partner: Novare Group, Inc.

Project Information:

360 residences: one bedroom, one bedroom with den, two bedroom, and top floor penthouses
130 hotel suites
28 stories
8.500 square feet of ground floor retail, including signature hotel restaurant
Architect: Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia

Amenities:

Amenities for which Novare-Andrews Urban communities are noted
Timeline:

Groundbreaking: Spring 2008
Sales Center Opening: Fall 2008
Sales Begin: Fall 2008
Expected completion: Spring 2010

To register for more information and for forthcoming floor plans and additional information on TWELVE Domain, please visit www.twelvedomain.com and www.twelvehotels.com.
360 Condominiums
LifeSurroundsYou.com


Location: 360 Nueces St., Austin, Texas 78701

Development Partner: Novare Group, Inc.

Project Information:

430 residences: one and two-bedroom and top-floor penthouses
44 stories
Approximately 563' tall
14,500 square feet of ground floor retail, including restaurant space
Architect: The Preston Partnership LLC, Atlanta, Georgia
Amenities:

Amenities for which Novare-Andrews Urban communities are noted
Timeline:

Groundbreaking - May 2006
Sales Center Opening - February 2007
Sales Begin - February 2007
Expected Completion - May 2008
For information on remaining homes, pleas visit www.lifesurroundsyou.com

[Mopacs]

A few interesting views I've noticed lately.

I noticed the Palisades West office building from North I-35. The view was from WAY out north between Austin and Round Rock, a good half mile or so north of Parmer. That general view also has a view of the tv towers in West Austin. You can also see the midrises at The Arboretum from there.

The 2nd was a view of Palisades West from South First Street & Ben White Boulevard/Texas 71. It was quite prominent there.

The 3rd spot was from northeast corner of Emerald Forrest Drive and Stassney Lane. They're tearing out a swath of trees in a vacant lot along Stassney there. With the trees gone you can see the overpass along Ben White. Beyond that I swore I saw Palisades West.

The other view is from Gobi Drive which is near my house. Tonight from that spot I saw the crane for 360. And also tonight I caught a glimpse of Frost Bank Tower's crown from the top of my street. And I also noticed 360's crane tonight from about midway down my street. There's never been a view of anything in downtown from our street, but there it was. I only saw it through the trees above the houses, and only since they cut down all the trees on that vacant lot along Stassney.

Boy does this building ever stand out! I was driving around the Lake Travis area yesterday, and Palisades is clearly visible from The Oasis and many points along 620 through Lakeway. I can only imagine it is visible from other areas.

[hookem]

Boy does this building ever stand out! I was driving around the Lake Travis area yesterday, and Palisades is clearly visible from The Oasis and many points along 620 through Lakeway. I can only imagine it is visible from other areas.

Makes you wonder what the view will be from the top floor of that building! Having a view that includes The Oasis, Lakeway, AND downtown?

[paulsjv]

... I’ve just confirmed that CLB’s 7th and Rio has been put on hold....
So do you know if they still plan to develop the two blocks at the current post office and the block west of it downtown?

[MichaelB]

So do you know if they still plan to develop the two blocks at the current post office and the block west of it downtown?

Different developers..... Those two are under the Andrews Urban/Novarre banner. (someone correct me please if need be). The one west of the post office is suppose to start soon.... the one on the post office site will follow....

Greg? you still around? timelines?

[texboy]

*Austonian Update*

-There WILL be a second tower crane located at the sw corner of the site.

-The crown will now be lit...by LED's...and on the outside of the crown...not from the inside.

[KevinFromTexas]

Great to hear about the lighting of The Austonian's crown. Should look beautiful.

Makes you wonder what the view will be from the top floor of that building! Having a view that includes The Oasis, Lakeway, AND downtown?

I know right. Just think, Lake Travis, The Oasis, Loop 360 and the hills, downtown, and UT, and probably more. I noticed it yesterday from I-35 just north of UT also and it was very visible there.

[MichaelB]

*Austonian Update*

-There WILL be a second tower crane located at the sw corner of the site.

-The crown will now be lit...by LED's...and on the outside of the crown...not from the inside.

Whooo Hooo... you're the best!

How is the gig going? Interesting?

[texboy]

I can't even begin to tell you how much Im loving it! I'm so blessed to have the opportunity to be on such an amazing project in such a great city! Im getting the BEST experience I could possibly get!

[Strayone]

Good stuff Aggie, thanks for the info.
There is a story in todays Statesman about the city getting involved with the parking situation DT Don't know if it's old news..link below.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/01/10/0110parking.html

[MichaelB]

I can't even begin to tell you how much Im loving it! I'm so blessed to have the opportunity to be on such an amazing project in such a great city! Im getting the BEST experience I could possibly get!

Hey great! Congrats! .... and Cheers.... which reminds me, I need a cocktail tonight!

[greenbelt]

*Austonian Update*
-The crown will now be lit...by LED's...and on the outside of the crown...not from the inside.

Heck yeah!!! :previous: Gig'em texboy!!

[Blakesalot!]

-There WILL be a second tower crane located at the sw corner of the site.



Sweet!:)

[Blakesalot!]

-The crown will now be lit...by LED's...and on the outside of the crown...not from the inside.

And sweet!:)

[Saddle Man]

You were right after all Blake. :)

[shanny]

I was browsing on flickr today and found these pictures. If I remember correctly some of you wanted to see what the view from 360 was. Well, here it is. I cannot take credit for these photos. They belong to straight-nochaser from flickr. http://flickr.com/photos/straight-nochaser/. Enjoy! :banana:

http://pic15.picturetrail.com/VOL630/3951350/18290928/297910471.jpg

http://pic15.picturetrail.com/VOL630/3951350/18290928/297910277.jpg

http://pic15.picturetrail.com/VOL630/3951350/18290928/297910262.jpg

http://pic15.picturetrail.com/VOL630/3951350/18290928/297910253.jpg

http://pic15.picturetrail.com/VOL630/3951350/18290928/297910228.jpg

the view from the 45th floor:
http://pic15.picturetrail.com/VOL630/3951350/18290928/297910285.jpg

[arbeiter]

wow, a great set of photos there!

[ATXboom]

Las Manitas fate resolved
Revised Marriott project to break ground later in year.
Click-2-Listen
By Shonda Novak
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, January 11, 2008

The dispute over the fate of the popular Las Manitas cafe, which was tied to a plan for a downtown Marriott project, appears to have come to a peaceful resolution.

Landowner Tim Finley said a deal has been struck with the Perez sisters, who own the restaurant, that will allow them to continue operating at their existing location on Congress Avenue until June or July and then move to a historical building they own on the same block.


"We reached a mutually beneficial agreement that allows them to reopen in the corner building that they own, and do it without any lapse in their business," said Finley, vice president of the Finley Co. "They can operate in ours until it's ready, and there will always be a Las Manitas."

Marriott, meanwhile, has delayed breaking ground and changed its plans for the project. White Lodging Services Inc. now plans a single 1,000-room convention center hotel, with groundbreaking in late 2008 instead of early this year. The previous plan called for two hotels, and the first plan had called for three.

The hotel proposal caused a furor, however, because it was going to displace three local businesses, including Las Manitas, which is seen as a landmark. That debate attracted national media attention. Also affected were Escuelita del Alma, a bilingual day care; and Tesoros Trading Co.

Finley said Tesoros is expected to stay at its current location for a few more months and has already opened a new location on South Congress. Escuelita del Alma is looking for a new location but, like Las Manitas, can stay at its present location until early summer.

Finley declined to discuss terms of the agreement with the Lidia and Cynthia Perez.

"We've assisted them, but I can't get into specifics," he said, citing a confidentiality agreement.

In the past, the Perezes have said they would need about $844,000 to $1.13 million to renovate the new location at Third and Congress, currently the home of La Peña, a nonprofit community arts center.

The agreement ends a year and a half of tumult, during which Las Manitas faithful rallied behind the restaurant.

Last year, amid opposition from the community, the City Council approved a $750,000 loan to help the Perezes relocate. But the sisters ended up rejecting the partially forgivable loan, only a few weeks before the paperwork was to be signed. The Perezes said the situation "has become way too complicated and caught up in controversy, politics and misunderstandings." They also said they were not happy with some terms and conditions the city added to the loan.

The Perez sisters could not be reached for comment Thursday.

White Lodging, meanwhile, has changed course twice on the Marriott development. The first plan called for a 26-story Marriott convention center hotel with 650 rooms; an 11-story upscale Renaissance Hotel with 200 rooms; and a 15-story Springhill Suites with 150 rooms.

Then in June, White Lodging said it planned two hotels: a 31-story convention center hotel with 850 guest rooms and an 11-story hotel with 150 rooms.

At that time, White Lodging planned to break ground early this year and open the hotels in 2010. The price of the revised project was estimated at $250 million, up from $185 million originally.

On Thursday, White Lodging officials announced the new plan of 1,000 rooms in a single convention center hotel. Construction would take about 26 months to complete, said Deno Yiankes, White Lodging's president and chief operating officer of investments and development. The company did not comment on why the project was changed.

With the new agreement, Finley said he is looking forward to moving ahead with the project, which is expected to generate 600 jobs and $7 million a year in tax revenue for the city.

"It's a real opportunity for Austin to get this hotel," Finley said. "A 1,000-room Marriott at that location is one of the best things that could possibly happen to the (nearby) Second Street retail corridor.

"All of those guests are potential customers for all of those retailers that the city has invested so much money in," he said.

[ATXboom]

Downtown garages proposed

The Real Estate Council of Austin on Thursday released a $101 million proposal for five government-built-and-run garages ringing downtown Austin, along with a bus circulator system.

The business group envisions 1,000-space garages west of Lamar Boulevard near Fifth Street, near the House Park football field, near the Erwin Center, near the downtown Hilton Hotel and near the Palmer Events Center south of the river. The bus circulator, under the proposal, would run in a rectangle much closer to downtown's core.

The plan is not directly related to a proposal the Austin City Council is considering to create a city parking enterprise fund to build and operate parking facilities in the central business district.

[Saddle Man]

The capitol dome needs to be painted. I believe that the repainting is year or two over do. Does the Lege have to authorize each repainting?

[Saddle Man]

Is anyone going to the downtown plan meeting tomorrow? And if so, would said persons like to go together?

[DTAustin]

If you're looking for good views of downtown from a relatively higher floor that is open to the public, check out the restaurant and bar on the 18th floor of the Hilton Garden Inn. I usually check it out once a year during SXSW. The awesome view faces west. The hotel is located on 5th and I35.

[Mopacs]

If you're looking for good views of downtown from a relatively higher floor that is open to the public, check out the restaurant and bar on the 18th floor of the Hilton Garden Inn. I usually check it out once a year during SXSW. The awesome view faces west. The hotel is located on 5th and I35.

My GF and I ate there on New Years' Eve... What a stunning view, and great atmosphere! I've been there many times in the past, but they have since remodeled and has become more upscale. This hotel is adjacent to the new Waller Creek condo building

[priller]

This hotel is adjacent to the new Waller Creek condo building

The Sabine. We'll be parking in the Garden Inn and can use their room service. And I think I've heard something about using their cleaning people, too.

And we got an email saying the first tenant has moved in to the Sabine, on the 9th floor. They're very much the guinea pig, because I don't think the mailboxes are done, and I'm not sure about phone and cable. Let them work the kinks out of the system before we move in (currently scheduled for mid-Feb).

[Saddle Man]

It looked like they had all their lights on last night too.

[Blakesalot!]

You were right after all Blake. :)

Thanks, Kirby. :D

[Saddle Man]

You're welcome. :)

[Saddle Man]

Those are some great pictures, but I one of the Monarch pisses me off. That garage should have a green roof. It would have been a great amenity for residences of the Monarch, and made for a better view for residences of the Monarch and Austin City Lofts.

[JAM]

Those are some great pictures, but I one of the Monarch pisses me off. That garage should have a green roof. It would have been a great amenity for residences of the Monarch, and made for a better view for residences of the Monarch and Austin City Lofts.

I suppose that would be nice, at least while you were on it at roof level. But above it one already looks down on a sea of concrete, roads, parked cars, building tops with A/C units and other muck, it wouldn't have made too much of a difference anyway. I suppose that is why green open spaces like city parks are so important.

[Saddle Man]

It would make a huge difference. Green roofs should be required, and that garage is a prime example why. All that space just wasted.

[KevinFromTexas]

Not to mention the heat generated by more concrete there. Also just think of a green roof being a better view to the residents of The Monarch and Austin City Lofts. Less glare and ugliness to look at. And are you guys talking about having an amenity level up there, open to the residents, or just a green space?

[jsoto3]

Those are some great pictures, but I one of the Monarch pisses me off. That garage should have a green roof. It would have been a great amenity for residences of the Monarch, and made for a better view for residences of the Monarch and Austin City Lofts.
I agree, but . . . .

It would make a huge difference. Green roofs should be required, and that garage is a prime example why. All that space just wasted.
I don't know about green roofs being required, but the City should provide zoning/development bonus incentives for providing them. The top of the garage is technically not wasted space, it is for parking spaces required by the city. I say "technically" because the reality is that the top level of any garage is rarely full, if used at all.

To have a green roof, ZOM would have had to build another roof structure above the current top level of parking, and that would be a huge expense for which they would see little-to-no return in increased rents. I think it will take large subsidies from the city for developers to build green roofs atop parking garages. Putting a green roof on top of a building, however, potentially results in tangible benefits which eventually offset the cost.

[hookem]

I must admit I don't recall ever seeing a "green roof" on a garage.. are you talking about a place with no parking spaces as the roof, or just something with planters and less parking spaces? Or something completely different? Is there an example of this anywhere in Austin, or in Texas?

[JAM]

:previous: jsoto3 & hookem both bring up excellent points. Kevin when you mentioned the Austin City Lofts in the same sentence it made me think of the back side of that building. Not real pretty IMO. If there are going to be green roof requirements, then the building facade should be even more important, since that is what everybody in Austin (and our visiting guests) have to look at.

[priller]

The initial crane pieces have been delivered for the Austonian and they started putting it together:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2287/2187901629_e5f69bd66c_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2244/2188681600_c902803c8f_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2199/2188681596_05ebc0607d_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2274/2188681590_959f3d7799_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2241/2188681586_c569d72c18_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2237/2188681584_7589a1faab_o.jpg


Altavida making steady but kind of slow progress. They seemed to be working on the front portion of the building more this past week.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2370/2188866092_d26e2ac26a_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2123/2188078887_3cb36f5b90_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2400/2188865174_fc691a9cbf_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2268/2188865462_1191759419_o.jpg


Legacy, on the other hand, is going up really fast:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2316/2188866544_ed4dd18b98_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2370/2188866934_dd4559def2_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2105/2188866762_edd2724f06_o.jpg

[Jdawgboy]

How strange I didn't even notice that they were putting up the crane at the Austonian site and I drove right near there ealier today LOL. Yea the Legacy tower is probably the fastest building Ive ever seen go up.

[MichaelB]

Green roofs on Parking garages. I get the "economic challenge"...but I think it is a Great Idea. It would add so much to the elevated landscape" of the city. Hughe aesthetic plus for residents who live above it. It would indeed also relpace/replenish lost green space..... great environmentally. It was a "duh" moent for me!

[greenbelt]

Awesome to see the pics of the Austonian crane going up. I like the 5th shot down in priller's pics, from that perspective the crane is well taller than the Frost, which is only a sign to come of how big brother's going to look next to Frosty.

Hope everyone's doing well this New Year. I finally got that Russian camera figured out and hope to take some shots and post soon. (;

[shanny]

hopefully the austonian rises a little faster than altavida

[Mopacs]

Great shots Priller! I also took a few 'drive-by' shots downtown yesterday (1/12):

I-35 at Riverside. Legacy can be seen in the foreground

http://images31.fotki.com/v1085/photos/5/54967/5804014/P1040290-vi.jpg

http://images32.fotki.com/v1091/photos/5/54967/5804014/DSC_1162-vi.jpg

From Congress bridge. Altavida to the left, and the new Austonian crane, center...

http://images31.fotki.com/v1097/photos/5/54967/5804014/DSC_1201-vi.jpg

http://images32.fotki.com/v1105/photos/5/54967/5804014/DSC_1190-vi.jpg

http://images31.fotki.com/v1086/photos/5/54967/5804014/DSC_1192-vi.jpg

Legacy and Milago

http://images34.fotki.com/v1082/photos/5/54967/5804014/DSC_1223-vi.jpg

Legacy... with parking garage in early stages, in the foreground.

http://images31.fotki.com/v1086/photos/5/54967/5804014/DSC_1230-vi.jpg

The Shore

http://images34.fotki.com/v1081/photos/5/54967/5804014/DSC_1248-vi.jpg

From 2nd Street.... Altavida left, Austonian right.

http://images32.fotki.com/v1102/photos/5/54967/5804014/DSC_1262-vi.jpg

http://images32.fotki.com/v1107/photos/5/54967/5804014/DSC_1264-vi.jpg

360...

http://images34.fotki.com/v1079/photos/5/54967/5804014/DSC_1294-vi.jpg

And some miscellaneous pics....

Views of downtown from I-35 south near Onion Creek

http://images33.fotki.com/v1072/photos/5/54967/5804014/P1040218-vi.jpg

http://images32.fotki.com/v1091/photos/5/54967/5804014/P1040218a-vi.jpg

http://images31.fotki.com/v1093/photos/5/54967/5804014/P1040222-vi.jpg

Look how short Monarch looks from this angle...

http://images32.fotki.com/v1107/photos/5/54967/5804014/P1040222b-vi.jpg

View of downtown from TX 71 east, near SH130 (in foreground) and ABIA

http://images34.fotki.com/v1078/photos/5/54967/5804014/P1030996-vi.jpg

A little of Buda...from Cabelas :banana:

http://images32.fotki.com/v1108/photos/5/54967/5804014/P1040144-vi.jpg

http://images31.fotki.com/v1096/photos/5/54967/5804014/P1040149-vi.jpg

http://images32.fotki.com/v1092/photos/5/54967/5804014/P1040160-vi.jpg

[Saddle Man]

I agree, but . . . .


I don't know about green roofs being required, but the City should provide zoning/development bonus incentives for providing them. The top of the garage is technically not wasted space, it is for parking spaces required by the city. I say "technically" because the reality is that the top level of any garage is rarely full, if used at all.

To have a green roof, ZOM would have had to build another roof structure above the current top level of parking, and that would be a huge expense for which they would see little-to-no return in increased rents. I think it will take large subsidies from the city for developers to build green roofs atop parking garages. Putting a green roof on top of a building, however, potentially results in tangible benefits which eventually offset the cost.

Green roofs should be required.

[Saddle Man]

I must admit I don't recall ever seeing a "green roof" on a garage.. are you talking about a place with no parking spaces as the roof, or just something with planters and less parking spaces? Or something completely different? Is there an example of this anywhere in Austin, or in Texas?

The last parking level is covered by one more level. That level can then be a green roof.

I don't know of a green roof on a parking garage, but that doesn't mean that there couldn't be.

edit: Chicago is doing a lot with green roofs.

[KevinFromTexas]

I also think green roofs should be required, or at least greatly encouraged by the city. The point of urbanism isn't to pave over everything, though that's what the Nimbys will tell you. It's to offset the ill effects of sprawl on the city's fringes. Cities in that way are very eco-conscious. They usually are in other areas too, and it makes sense to use green roofs as one more way of offsetting the undesired effects of development. It looks more attractive than a gray concrete roof, it's cooler, reduces the heat island effect. And it provides a recreational area for city dwellers. I saw a segment on KLRU's Central Texas Gardner where they've done roof landscaping on the roof of the Brown Building at 8th & Colorado. Most of the roof is covered with a garden in raised flower beds. They said they even get birds and butterflies up there, in the middle of downtown 100 feet off the ground. They also said it decreased the air temperature a good bit. And of course surrounding office buildings now have a rooftop garden to look at instead of a banal rooftop.

By the way, as I'm sitting here typing, I just noticed a Google Ad on the forum for 7Rio's website (7rio.com).

[Goothrey]

-Photos taken by Grasshopper from hornfans.com

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/TexPete/dkr1.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/TexPete/dkr2.jpg

http://i.pbase.com/g4/66/765266/2/91653012.ryxBwA1d.jpg

[LoneStarMike]

I don't know of a green roof on a parking garage, but that doesn't mean that there couldn't be.

Here's a rendering of one planned for Asbury Park, NJ in between two towers:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/realestate/29roof.html

And another one in Singapore

http://www.greenroofs.com/projects/pview.php?id=45

[ivanwolf]

I agree with Kirby on this need for Green. I think a better design would have been to make a taller building with at least some of the garage incorporated into the building hiding it, with the top of the garage made into a Green area with maybe the pool too. I can see only one thing that could have prevented Monarch from doing so is the possible restrictions that the Capitol View Corridor placed on this property, but I think it could have been worked around in this case to better serve the residents of Monarch and keep some nice views for Austin City Lofts. This was a poor design and could have been done differently.

I wonder why the Austonian only built the crane on Sat. and was not working on it on Sun. I wonder if that will always be the case with this project to not work on Sun? It looks silly not finished.

I watched the 21rio crane go up and its is very high, I really noticed it a lot from south IH35 from the upper deck, its really sticks out above everything in that area including the Castillian I think its called. Seems like it was built a little higher than the typical 10 story starting hight, or maybe its just cause its all by its self out there.

[JAM]

I can see only one thing that could have prevented Monarch from doing so is the possible restrictions that the Capitol View Corridor placed on this property, but I think it could have been worked around in this case to better serve the residents of Monarch and keep some

I agree that a green roof over the garage would be nice, but as it is, it certainly didn't do anything to degrade the crappy stuff ACL was already looking down on. Abandoned car repair shop & street level parking. The only thing it really did in the way of harm, was block some of their southern view. It certainly will be much nicer for pedestrians that it previously was. Also, it was a nice edition for the folks at 404 Rio Grande - no longer will the west side of the building have to suffer through blazing Texas sunsets, the Monarch will happily block that setting sun.

BTW - why is everyone picking on the Monarch in this respect? Other buildings around town are similar in design. Doesn't the Monarch Alien mother-ship landing pad on top of the building offset some of these problems..... can't they get a little credit for that :)

[Mopacs]

Nice rendering of the FSR on their site:

http://www.fourseasons.com/private_residences/austin/your_private_residence/the_building.html

http://www.fourseasons.com/residence_clubs/images/generated/property/austin/slideshow/page_234_image_0.jpg

[KevinFromTexas]

Green roofs on Parking garages. I get the "economic challenge"...but I think it is a Great Idea. It would add so much to the elevated landscape" of the city. Hughe aesthetic plus for residents who live above it. It would indeed also relpace/replenish lost green space..... great environmentally. It was a "duh" moent for me!

I wonder even if you couldn't have a full scale "green roof" with all the trimmings, why not at least have some landscaping atop the parking garage? Why not have small trees, or even full sized ones, in raised beds or in pots? Stranger things have happened with vegetation on skyscrapers. There's one condo building in Vancouver with a full sized tree growing on the roof 30+ stories off the ground. So even having a few trees in some "flower pots" err, tree pots? and have just a few up there, even if they do gobble up a few parking spaces. That would at least be something. Think of the cool sight that would be from street level to have at least a few of them bordering the roofline of a parking garage.

EDIT, grabbed the pics of the building.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2039/1665465741_8342204b89_o.jpg
Photo by Kilgore Trout

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2165/1665467137_b46559aafe_o.jpg
Photo by Kilgore Trout

[Blakesalot!]

I wonder why the Austonian only built the crane on Sat. and was not working on it on Sun. I wonder if that will always be the case with this project to not work on Sun? It looks silly not finished.


I actually saw about a dozen or so workers at the site on Sunday. Maybe they just ran into a snag that temporarily kept them from completing the crane.

[jsoto3]

The last parking level is covered by one more level. That level can then be a green roof.
If you are talking about the Monarch, you are wrong. The top is for parking.

[427MM]

If any of you happen to be near a DT facing window right now, keep an eye on 360. The last piece of the spire goes up this morning. We should see the crane come down when the weather gets better.

[Mopacs]

If any of you happen to be near a DT facing window right now, keep an eye on 360. The last piece of the spire goes up this morning. We should see the crane come down when the weather gets better.

You are correct sir! The top of the spire is now in place, and lookin' good.

Thanks for all your updates, Greg.

[KevinFromTexas]

Awesome. Even without the needle part, 360 was probably already the tallest, but it's official now.

Here's a few screen caps:

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/904/360january2008constructol8.jpg
Photos by OxBlue, Inc.

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/9854/360january2008constructmu4.jpg
Photos by OxBlue, Inc.

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/4742/360january2008constructvb5.jpg
Photos by OxBlue, Inc.

http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/5155/360january2008constructgq5.jpg
Photos by OxBlue, Inc.

[MichaelB]

If any of you happen to be near a DT facing window right now, keep an eye on 360. The last piece of the spire goes up this morning. We should see the crane come down when the weather gets better.

Yep, Yep...had a meeting at the music hall today and took a look! Cool!

[KevinFromTexas]

KVUE is going to have a segment this evening about green roofs. So for anyone interested, check KVUE tonight, either at 6 or 10. They're going talk about the costs and how and if they actually work they said.

[Blakesalot!]

The top of the spire makes a surprisingly huge difference with the overall appearance of the building. Much better!

[Strayone]

The balconies on the 4 Seasons are certainly ambitious, they remind me of gangplanks. I suspect it will get windy at times on them.

[verbl]

lookin' good guys congrats

[Jdawgboy]

I noticed it today as I was driving down to jog on the hike and bike trail and was like wow the building looks really nice with the last peice on it definatly makes the building look nicer. By the way in the first two pics you can see 3 workers actually on the thicker part of the spire with a 4th person over on that flat box part. Wow I wonder who had the guts to do that...

[DrewDizzle]

That Four Seasons rendering looked real. I was confused for a second...

[Mopacs]

That Four Seasons rendering looked real. I was confused for a second...

Agreed...Its amazing how photorealistic computer renderings have become, with the lighting, reflections and all

[Saddle Man]

BTW - why is everyone picking on the Monarch in this respect? Other buildings around town are similar in design. Doesn't the Monarch Alien mother-ship landing pad on top of the building offset some of these problems..... can't they get a little credit for that :)

Because it's the one in the picture that I saw, and got me talking about it.

[Saddle Man]

If you are talking about the Monarch, you are wrong. The top is for parking.

And you don't know how read or follow a conversation. Go back and reread.

[shanny]

have they finished assembling the crane(s) at the austonian yet?

[priller]

Yes, they were using it for actual work today.

But it looked like what they were mostly doing to day was digging out from around all the piers they have been working on all these weeks. Looked they they were removing about another 7-8 feet of dirt from the whole site.

[ATXboom]

High hopes for new life on East 12th Street
Zoning proposal designed to stimulate redevelopment up for City Council airing today.

By Suzannah Gonzales

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF


Thursday, January 17, 2008

After struggling for decades, the city is still looking for the tool that will help redevelop East 12th Street to a semblance of its former bustling self.

And given the progress in recent years on nearby East 11th Street, redevelopment of the corridor seems possible with the help of a new proposal.


The City Council is set to consider a plan today that would make East 12th, from Interstate 35 to Poquito Street, a neighborhood conservation district, which would put it under a set of zoning regulationsintended to encourage redevelopment.

It would allow taller commercial development closer to homes and prohibit certain types of businesses, said Jerry Rusthoven, a manager in the city Neighborhood Planning and Zoning Department. Although existing businesses would be allowed to stay, the district rules would ban adult-oriented businesses; automotive repair, sales and washing businesses; cocktail lounges; restaurant drive-throughs; and pawn shops.There also would be requirements for parking, parking garages, exterior lighting, building facade design, landscaping and fencing.

The rules would be in addition to those laid out in the Central East Austin neighborhood plan and the urban renewal plan for the area.

If approved by the council, the East 12th Street district will be the sixth such conservation area in the city. Districts already are in place in Fairview Park in Travis Heights, in the North University neighborhood and along East 11th Street. There are two in Hyde Park.

Seeing what's happening on 11th Street, 12th Street property owners have wanted the same thing, Rusthoven said. Without the district, he said, the development that's on 11th Street now,such as the Robertson Hill Apartment Homes and the Street-Jones Building, wouldn't have been possible.

The proposal has received the support of the Austin Revitalization Authority, Urban Renewal Board and city Planning Commission.But some residents have reservations.

Conservation districts are meant to preserve older neighborhoods in the city, but the 12th Street district wouldn't do this, said Rudolph Williams of the Organization of Central East Austin Neighborhoods, which wants the proposal changed.

The proposal doesn't include affordable housing, and waiving compatibility standards means less protection for surrounding single-family property owners, Williams said.

Mark Rogers, executive director of the Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corp., also said he has concerns about current property owners.

"I don't want to see things happen that will make it a less desirable place to live," said Rogers, who also owns property in the district boundaries.

But business owners and investors say they think the district could help promote and preserve African American businesses there.

"We have to hold on to what we do have," said Stuart King of King-Tears Mortuary, which has been on 12th Street since 1954.

"We need an economic stimulus package for commercial development along East 12th Street. This is one step toward that," said Eric Shropshire, a real estate investor on 12th Street and a longtime neighborhood resident.

"A lot of people are just tired. They want something to happen," Shropshire said. "It's time to move forward."

[JAM]

:previous: ATXBoom - Would you mind putting links to your original sources? Its nice to be able to click on it and see maps, etc. and it also credits the original author.

[ATXboom]

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A582440

BY PATRICIA J. RULAND


A redeveloped Travis County Downtown campus should be more than just another pretty facade if current planners have their way. A new civil courthouse is badly needed; from that has grown a passion to embark on a multimillion-dollar, multistructure, multiyear capital-improvement project, which the Commissioners Court formally kicked off Dec. 11. According to County Auditor Susan Spataro, the prevailing wish is to build a legacy. "The present courthouse was built 70 years ago, and we still appreciate it; we want people 70 years from now to say, 'Look what they gave us,'" Spataro told the Chronicle.

On Jan. 8, Spataro read a draft of an impassioned solicitation letter, which when finalized will be sent to various community groups seeking nominees for the citizens advisory committee, which will assist executive and staff committees, also to be named soon. The project will be born of dire necessity, Spataro read, "in order to avoid a crisis in [the county's] ability to deliver services to a rapidly growing population."

According to a Jan. 10 status report, the perimeter of the project will include Ninth, 13th, Nueces, and Lavaca streets, a 10-block area. Nesting a county campus in a dense Downtown won't be easy, Spataro said. Essentially, new buildings should resonate well with nearby parks, schools, and the Capit­ol. Moreover, the favored site for a new civil courthouse, next door to the current one, is located in the Capitol View Corridor. The county probably won't seek an exemption, Spataro said, necessitating a search for another site. "We are at the foot of the Capit­ol – buildings must fit into the historical context," Spataro said. "The design itself should instill respect for the rule of law – I am proud to walk through the corridors of the Capitol; I want residents to be proud to walk through the corridors of the new complex."

Such populist profundity will come at a cost, however. Travis County has always been "very, very frugal," and the complex will take "more than the minimum," Spataro said. Will voters decide they need, not just want, new county digs? "If you can't sell the need, you don't sell the hundred-million-dollars-plus [that the project will cost]," Spataro cautioned the court, thus providing the first mention of a dollar figure to date.

[JAM]

:previous: Thanks for the post and the link.

[greenbelt]

Guys when's the Four Season tower breaking ground? I noticed a fairly large fence up...or has that always been there and I'm just realizing it. :rolleyes:

[Kevinb]

There is an update with photos from 360:


http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/seaholm/progress.htm

[JAM]

Guys when's the Four Season tower breaking ground? I noticed a fairly large fence up...or has that always been there and I'm just realizing it. :rolleyes:

Its been there for a while now. The last few months have gone by so fast its hard to remember exactly when they put it up. Maybe a month, possible two months ago.

[Jdawgboy]

Its been there for a while now. The last few months have gone by so fast its hard to remember exactly when they put it up. Maybe a month, possible two months ago.

Actually it hasn't been a month yet since they put up that fence. They put it up I think right after Christmas, before New Years. if not at that time then they put it up right before Christmas. Either way its been less than a month.

[MichaelB]

Guys when's the Four Season tower breaking ground? I noticed a fairly large fence up...or has that always been there and I'm just realizing it. :rolleyes:

Hey ya! The big fence went up just before Christmas! Haven't heard about work start date. Anybody?

[LoneStarMike]

Hey ya! The big fence went up just before Christmas! Haven't heard about work start date. Anybody?

It was reported by the Austin American Statesman back on December 21 in that story about the Broken Spoke (http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/12/21/1221spoke.html) that

Ardent Residential plans to break ground next month on a 32-story condo tower adjacent to the Four Seasons on East Cesar Chavez Street and is already demolishing the 138-unit Stoneridge apartment complex at 1500 S. Lamar Blvd., where it is building 300 apartments with ground-floor retail space.

If that is still the case, it should happen sometime this month.

[TXAlex]

Hey yall,

I visited the Austonian's sales center today and I must say the finish out of the model is top notch. They had great orderves too!

There is going to be 40k of recreational space for the residents.

[Nickelplate]

Been a satisfied viewer and eager contributor since 2003. I am one of the northern snowbirds that you love to hate, But as an avid lover of skylines, highrise development and compassion for this beautiful city. I appreciate all the contributions to this thread by all of you. Look forward to being apart of the accension of Austins' skyline!!!

[ATXboom]

http://www.austintowers.net/Austin_Downtown/index.html

Balancing Music & Growth: Austin's Unique Downtown Challenge
January 16, 2008 20:26 Filed in: Market Analysis

Live music is an essential part of Austin's identity. The downtown music scene is a valuable Austin asset and one of the biggest downtown draws for tourists and locals alike.

Whenever a conference planner chooses Austin for an event, they typically need to sell the city to potential attendees as much as they need to sell the conference event. Time after time, they use the same hook: visit the Live Music Capital of the World.

Between SXSW. Austin City Limits, and the daily music shows throughout downtown, live music supposedly contributes $420 million in direct sales and $580 million in tourist revenue each year to the city economy. By the way, these numbers exclude all of the convention-goers drawn to the Live Music Capital of the World for a medical, education, technology or other non-music event -- but who sign-up partly to experience Austin's unique music scene.

The issue is that downtown land -- especially land that can support high-rise development -- is extremely limited. As a result, new retail, residential, and commercial buildings have been replacing older music venues. With scarce land, property values and property tax assessments have been skyrocketing, forcing landlords to raise rents on music venues. At the same time, musicians and the rest of the creative class have been increasingly pushed out of central Austin as rents have risen. As if that is not enough, some new downtown condo residents have been complaining about the noise created by music venues. The bottom-line, Austin's music scene is under siege.

The Austin music scene is a fragile ecosystem. SXSW requires 50+ venues to keep the event in downtown Austin. As venues are lost, musicians have fewer places to work, and the music community shrinks making it more difficult to support new venues. Today, believe it or not, 20,000 Austin resident make a living in the music industry. If music gets forced out of downtown, the whole city will suffer.


The New Austin Music Hall

Fortunately, the city is looking closely at this situation. As part of a new cultural arts master plan, the city is looking at creating a downtown entertainment district covering sixth street, the red river area, and the warehouse district. Some private developers are also helping out. Novare, for example, helped to fund the redevelopment of Austin Music Hall when it began construction of the adjacent 360 project.

The next few years represent a critical opportunity for the city to permanently protect it's status as the Live Music Capital. Otherwise, as downtown growth accelerates, one of the main draws for downtown living may itself be endangered.

[ATXboom]

www.bizjournals.com/austin


Friday, January 18, 2008 - 12:23 PM CST
Villa Muse seeks 1,900 acres to expandAustin Business Journal - by Kate


Villa Muse, the $2.5 billion project planned to take shape east of Austin's downtown, has added approximately 420 acres to the project and increased its expected number of residents from 8,500 to more than 9,000 since its initial announcement last April.

The project's developers have also worked with Ray Perryman, an economist who runs The Perryman Group, to complete an impact analysis of the Villa Muse Studio¹s effect on the Austin area economy. That study predicts Villa Muse's impact on Central Texas' economy will be far-reaching.

"The construction and ongoing use of the development will substantially increase the value of the property involved and will generate sizable economic impacts including more than $6 billion in spending in the Austin area during construction and between $6.5 billion and $20.2 billion in local spending each year...once the development matures," the report says. "Statewide impacts are even higher."

The report also says that at maturity Villa Muse will lead to additional tax revenues for local and state taxing entities - net fiscal gains for the state of Texas could range from $258 million to $740 million each year, depending on the level of activity in the project¹s creative sectors, the report says.

Villa Muse CEO Jay Podolnick says the first phase of the project could break ground later this year, and that his goal is to be open and running by the end of 2009. Sticking to that timeline is imperative, Podolnick says, because a significant delay could jeopardize the project's market position and financing.

But there may be a kink in the project's plans to move forward quickly.

Villa Muse is asking the city of Austin to release approximately 1,900 acres of its extra territorial jurisdiction, which includes the already-purchased Villa Muse land and an adjoining parcel that Villa Muse's financial consultant Hiten Patel says is largely in a flood plain. While the Villa Muse team says it wants to move quickly, City Council Member Brewster McCracken says there are many factors the city needs to consider.

While the city wants the project to succeed and loves the vision, McCracken says, city officials are concerned that the ETJ in question could make up one of Austin's future prime tax bases.

McCracken says discussion about the potential release of the ETJ isn't slated for any immediate council meetings.

Villa Muse's land is situated about 14 miles east of Austin's downtown on FM 969, and near State Highway 130. Plans call for it to be a mixed-use development anchored by the 200-acre Villa Muse Studios. Orbiting the studio space would be a master-planned residential community that developers hope will appeal to creative professionals. Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, Villa Muse's vice president of strategic development, says the studio will foster a convergence of entertainment technology, where all levels of production for television, film, animation and gaming could take place in one location.

[KevinFromTexas]

I was watching KVUE just now and they said that 1,000 feet up the air is freezing. They used one of their tower cams atop one of the tv towers in West Austin and showed a catwalk up there. It had icicles hanging all over it. Mark Murry said the camera is about 1,000 feet up.

[arbeiter]

Mark Murray's still the meteorologist for KVUE? I was always a Jim Spencer fan myself, but I liked Mark too.

[KevinFromTexas]

Found some interesting webcam views of 1108 Lavaca. I'm guessing these were taken from 816 Congress.

11/07.
http://1108lavaca.com/images/progress/progress_nov01-07.jpg
Photo credit goes to http://1108lavaca.com/

11/07.
http://1108lavaca.com/images/progress/progress_nov02-07.jpg
Photo credit goes to http://1108lavaca.com/

10/07.
http://1108lavaca.com/images/progress/progress_oct01-07.jpg
Photo credit goes to http://1108lavaca.com/

10/07.
http://1108lavaca.com/images/progress/progress_oct02-07.jpg
Photo credit goes to http://1108lavaca.com/

9/07.
http://1108lavaca.com/images/progress/progress_sept01-07.jpg
Photo credit goes to http://1108lavaca.com/

[Blakesalot!]

Latest Austonian Construction Report (with photos):

http://www.theaustonian.com/pics/2008-01-11_Austonian_Report_17.pdf


All posted construction reports can be found here:

http://www.theaustonian.com/construction.php

[priller]

"Tower crane #1 installed..." So I guess there WILL be a second crane.

"Mat slab excavation starting 1/14." That's what I saw going on this week.

I didn't know what a mat slab was, so I looked it up. From wikipedia:

"Mat-slab foundations are used to distribute heavy column and wall loads across the entire building area, to lower the contact pressure compared to conventional spread footings. Mat-slab foundations can be constructed near the ground surface, or at the bottom of basements. In high-rise buildings, mat-slab foundations can be several meters thick, with extensive reinforcing to ensure relatively uniform load transfer."

[texboy]

The second tower crane's base will be poured with the mat slab. The mat slab will be approximately 1700 cu yds of concrete (aka a shit load of concrete)

[OfCourse]

Now that 360 and Monarch have topped out.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2291/2204245330_0a642c463d_b.jpg

[Jdawgboy]

Dont forget there is an Austonian Construction thread in the highrise construction section that you can post this up as well. Alot of people from around the country might be interested in checking up on the progress. I don't even know where it is but Im sure its there you might have to go back a page or two.