801 Barton Springs | 106 FEET | 9 FLOORS | Complete
A developer is planning a 14-story condo tower on Barton Springs Road, at the former site of the Filling Station diner.
Click on the link below to see the map. http://www.statesman.com/business/co...ngstation.html Quote:
------------------------------------------- Again, to the NIMBYS, (Not-in-my-backyard/folks who are opposed to it), who might be reading this: there are other buildings in the area of comparable height. One Texas Center, a 15-story office building at 505 Barton Springs Road, just a quarter mile east, (1,169 feet away), is also 180 feet tall. And the Hyatt Regency Town Lake which is at 208 Barton Springs Road, is 1,883 feet away and is 182 feet tall. Also the site is extremely narrow. The widest the building could possibly be is probably in the area of 90 to 100 feet wide. Not much, only about the width of a downtown street. Also, the article mentions the site is flanked by two other fairly tall buildings, (both of which are taller than the 60 foot height limit for the area) - those two buildings are each less than 60 feet away from this building, basically the width of a three lane street. |
I really wish that the City of Austin would have some kind of public webpage on their official website showing the heights of all existing buildings AND everything that is under construction and planned. Show everything, with a name, an address, a single photo, (or a few to show it for reference), number of floors and most importantly, the building's height. This way people can get an idea of how tall existing buildings are in an area so that when a new project comes along they have something to compare them to. The above article I just posted quotes area residents and they sound as though they don't know a thing about the heights of the existing buildings in that area. If they had something to go on, as in a list of existing buildings with their heights listed, so they could know what to expect, then maybe they wouldn't be so opposed to new projects coming along. This building will be very skinny, and not all that tall. The Hyatt and One Texas Center are both much larger buildings than this one could be. This post is a challenge to any city officials reading this. If you set up something where buildings could be listed with their info, I would be more than happy to be the one to add the data. In the chance that someone is reading this with connections, please drop me a line. PM here on the forum or email me at kevinfromtx@hotmail.com, I'd love to help.
|
Doesn't sound like this project does much for increasing the density of the downtown area - 24 units. The rest would be used as office space.
I'm wondering if Barton Springs could have potential for being a shopping destination, like So Co. It already has the food aspect, a park nearby, all it needs is some nice stores to shop and big sidewalks. That would be a nice mixed use project that maybe the residents of Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Association could go for. |
How far away would the actual tower be from the nearest residential (i.e. SF-2) lotline? I believe that if it's less than 540', it would trigger a compatibility standard issue - meaning that not only will the developers need a variance on the height, but they would also have to receive CS waiver from the BOA (Board of Adjustment) as well. An uphill battle!!!
|
Yeah, this one's not going to happen - with those neighborhoods as riled up as they are now, the city's gonna throw 'em a bone.
|
Quote:
As for this project, I like it. Barton Springs is primarily a commercial corridor (east of Zilker), so I have no problem with the presence of office uses as well. |
They took up park land for that huge garage (in my day in Austin we would have shot those folks) across the street and are moaning about this? That lot is between 2 buildings already. It wouldn't harm a fly. No problem building high along Barton Springs if it isn't in the Park. It would be nice.
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
Don't worry Chicago is eating at its parkspace too. It would be sweet to imagine a nice medium high wall of buildings lining the park...they would have great views of the city river and park and look nice from the park. |
There is SF3 directly behind this proposed building, but the neighborhood (in building their neighborhood plan) conceeded that some density needed to be built along corridors. That's why they opted for 60', and to M1EK's point, keeping it at 60' is probably what council will agree upon.
|
I'm guessing they thought they could get a return on their office space investment by building higher and selling the top half. Also guessing employees will have 1st shot at the condos.
|
Quote:
However, I think City Council has gone against the wishes of neighborhoods enough lately that they'll be looking for truly arguable cases like this one to win back their bona-fides with ANC voters. |
Quote:
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/growth/default.htm http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/growth/gwmfam.htm |
http://www.statesman.com/news/busine...pposi-1/nRWhF/
Quote:
http://www.statesman.com/news/busine...arton-1/nRWjY/ Quote:
|
wwmiv was asking about this project in the Taco Cabana redevelopment thread.
These are all the renderings I have of this project. Originally it was proposed as a 180 foot 14-story building. I gotta say, I'm disappointed this one wasn't approved at that height and that it hasn't started yet. The design is totally different from anything we've seen in Austin. I guess the W would be the nearest thing. http://i.imgur.com/UB6WZRF.jpg I think this was the 120 foot design they were compromising with. They got approval for 96 feet. I know that things like mechanical penthouses are exempt from zoning approvals unless they will interfere with a CVC. I think the design would have ended up around 110 feet or so. http://i.imgur.com/4CuNxqE.jpg This would have been the 96 foot design. http://i.imgur.com/GdlocWC.jpg http://i.imgur.com/kCEQRJW.jpg http://i.imgur.com/GXtUxdw.jpg http://i.imgur.com/n12HVFz.jpg |
|
I recently walked the neighborhood behind that site.
I don't have a problem with the builidng being built or the height. ( yes they need to build midful of the flood plane ) However, what I do hope the city has done is make them be aware of Chiller placement and the VERY loud noise polution that invades the neighborhood behind. I was surprised by how loud it was. Not good neighbors. That's why you get NA's all up in your grill. And they deserve it for the lack of consideration. |
I was at the endless city council meeting that debated this issue because they were also considering matters concerning Austin Pets Alive. The flood issue is absurd. The Austin Energy building next door and the mid-rise flanking the other side of the property also lack a safe exit to the street in the event of a 100 year flood event, but they do have rear exits that access high ground. This means that in the event of a high water situation, folks would have to remain in the proposed building until the water subsides unless they were able to access the mid-rise structures on either side. There is talk of building a walkway from the new building to the Austin Energy building, but it is not in the plans at present. Emergency vehicles would likely be able to reach the properties in question because they have raised clearance. It seemed obvious to me that the real source of opposition for this project was coming from the folks who live up in the neighborhood (Bouldin) directly above the proposed project. They don't want it built. They had the flood control guy in their pocket, or so it seemed. Right now, the food trailers occupying the parcel would be swept away in the event of that fabled 100 year flood incident. Leffingwell clearly enjoyed making that point. At least with this project, folks could stay on an upper floor for the short period of time before flood water subsided. The council debated this thing endlessly and then did what everybody knew they were going to do in the first place. The usual suspects voted against the project. I am glad this thing got the green light.
|
801 Barton Springs
|
Quote:
|
All times are GMT. The time now is 1:22 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.