Quote:
Originally Posted by 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.
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Those are all reasonable disucssions to be had. It is unfortunate that there was not better discorse. It is what causes folks on both sides to become more hard edged and less likey to negotiate.
I also see that you found it expected to have deveopment on that side of the building. It's is only reasonable. Unfotnaltey it is way easier for a reporter to jump on the one person who is just complaining that they will loose their view. It's more base and sensational. Then it's way to easy for opposing parties to discredit all other conerns by focusing on that single issue. Frustrating, I'm sure.
Were other interested parties ( i.e, other downtown residents) involved in this process? Was DANA involved at all?