[rayfes]

You're right that the Plaza lost. I live there.

Fair points about expecting development on that side of the building and people here welcome the development in general but were hoping for minor concessions (lower / reduce the parking garage and set the tower back a little further) to make the design more compatible with the Plaza.

They have a ton parking planned (more than the W) for a much a smaller building and 4th and Guadalupe will probably be the best served corner in the city for public transportation with MetroRapid and possibly rail. They said they couldn't go lower because of cost. Why have so much parking?

The current design doesn't meet the (admittedly non-codified) Downtown Austin Plan for setbacks between buildings.

The residents here acted together and didn't look it at this as just a problem for the owners directly affected. We realize in such a small building that are our property values are tied together.

I'm very much in favor of downtown density but it needs to be done with some foresight. This project could have easily gone forward with minor changes that would not have negatively impacted some of the first residents to take a chance on downtown.

I certainly learned a lot about dealing with developers and their hired guns like Richard Suttle during this process. They know this game well.