AUSTIN | Hyatt House | 120 FEET | 11 FLOORS | COMPLETE

[LoneStarMike]

I just saw all of them on the Design Commission Website, took screenshots, and was about to post them, but you beat me to it. I'm deleting all the screenshots and not even going to upload them to my photobucket account. They're too ugly. I think Hyatt House is actually an acronym for

Horrible
Yucky
Awful
Tacky
Terrible

Hideous
Off-putting
Uninspiring
Sickening
Ewwwwwww

[Tech House]

Come on, Mike. You have to admit that pool looks mighty inviting, deep in its heavily-shaded canyon. It looks like a Great Society-era housing project.

[MichaelB]

UGH.... just UGH. and it backs up to Cheer Up's. More noise complaints I'm sure from people coming to visit a "music" center.
In this case, I'm glad there are no windows on the east side.
Worse than Domain infill.

[IluvATX]

Originally Posted by JoninATX

I'm all for it as it will add infill. But why can't someone put windows on the back side?

The developers are speculating that Cheer Up Charlie's will be redeveloped into something tall. It's unfortunate that It would have to close/move just for something to be developed to cover that eyesore of an east side.

[MichaelB]

Originally Posted by IluvATX

The developers are speculating that Cheer Up Charlie's will be redeveloped into something tall. It's unfortunate that It would have to close/move just for something to be developed to cover that eyesore of an east side.

it would be code not speculation..... and lets hope that day is far away.
plus....it's a plus for the sake of live music that there are no windows towards Red River...
SOM.....Save our Music!

[IluvATX]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

it would be code not speculation..... and lets hope that day is far away.
plus....it's a plus for the sake of live music that there are no windows towards Red River...
SOM.....Save our Music!

Code doesn't disallow windows on alley facing sides of a building. It's the price of creating temporary windows that made the east side of this as such. Gotta disagree on windows affecting the live music scene. I doubt they would open and Cheer Up's is the only outside venue within viewing range anyways. Is there really an issue with people getting free shows from their hotel room? I would think the added publicity would override lack of a few ticket sales.

[KevinFromTexas]

The design is kind of boring, but the windows aren't so bad. And it is a huge improvement at the street compared to what's there now.

The height is saying 620.75 feet to the top of the cornice, with the lowest elevation listed being 521.5 feet. It looks to me, though, like the building drops down another 10 feet or so. It also says the driveway entrance on 9th is at 510 feet above sea level, so it may slope down enough near the street to make it a high rise officially.

Still, this is going to be short. I think the Hotel Indigo across the street will appear tall enough to distract from it. Not to mention the 5th & Brazos Tower.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

The design is kind of boring, but the windows aren't so bad. And it is a huge improvement at the street compared to what's there now.

The height is saying 620.75 feet to the top of the cornice, with the lowest elevation listed being 521.5 feet. It looks to me, though, like the building drops down another 10 feet or so. It also says the driveway entrance on 9th is at 510 feet above sea level, so it may slope down enough near the street to make it a high rise officially.

Still, this is going to be short. I think the Hotel Indigo across the street will appear tall enough to distract from it. Not to mention the 5th & Brazos Tower.

There are drawings that show the height as exactly 100'. They did max out the height for the location. The first rending shows how it came in just under the CVCs

[drummer]

I can't tell from the renders - does it have ground-level retail or no? It looks like it might on one side, but I can't tell for sure.

[lzppjb]

Very boring design. Uninspired.

The only thing even remotely interesting is the glass corner feature like the Hyatt Place.

[wwmiv]

It's infill in an area that needs infill. It also isn't a parcel where very much more could have been done anyway -- they did, after all, max out the CVC restrictions. Furthermore, it's a Hyatt House; we should not have expected anything else. Frankly, I'm happy for this project. It will be good for traffic overall by introducing a much needed cheaper hotel option into downtown thereby reducing the strain marginally on incoming trips during evens like SXSW from people who would have otherwise had to book cheap hotel rooms outside the core. We need more projects like these on parcels whose highest use is something like this. In other words, parcels encumbered heavily by CVCs where no architectural masterpiece is every going to be built.

Basically my point is this: get over it and be happy for infill because not every project is going to be or even NEEDS to be grandiose. We should be happy for projects like this one that create a more class diverse downtown atmosphere.

[MichaelB]

Economics do not = style/taste.
There is no reason that Hyatt could not deliver a better package on a budget.
Size is not the issue. "Infill" is another word for a desirable variety in height.
The Capitol Studios look better.... and it's low income housing.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by drummer

I can't tell from the renders - does it have ground-level retail or no? It looks like it might on one side, but I can't tell for sure.

Buried in the link is a request by the developers to waive the requirement for "Pedestrian Oriented Businesses" because of the "slope restraints" of the lot. But they will be participating in the Great Streets program and have street access to their lobby bar.

[_Matt]

I'm fine with this development. Would like to see more condos downtown this size (when limited by CVC), but I don't think any would be built this close to Red River anyway.

Look at any great city and for every amazing building there are dozens of midrises like this to provide base density and infill.

[The ATX]

A filing from today for earth retention tieback indicates that digging will start in May.

https://www.austintexas.gov/devrevie...erRSN=11318676

[KevinFromTexas]

Tower crane plans.

ftp://ftp.ci.austin.tx.us/ATD_AULCC/...rane_PLANS.pdf

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by Hill Country

From the same link above. Anyone hanging out at the pool won't have to worry about that hot afternoon Texas sun. They won't even see it.

Is this a hotel or a prison?

Why can't they build a structure similar to the one in Charlotte?

[the Genral]

I found this pic on lyvanduong-travel.blogspot.com.
Its a coverted prison in Istanbul built in 1918 and turned into a hotel in 1992. So, the architects turned an old, dirty prison in Turkey, into a light, airy, inviting, accomodating hotel, and this is what the Hyatt architects came up for Austin and our guests....we deserve better...I'm seeing a Texas shaped waffle iron in a self serve breakfast buffet area next to the lobby. Apparently, these people don't give a shit about atmosphere and lasting impressions. I imagine the best average rating this place would garner is 3 mehs.

[The ATX]

Based on it's location, this hotel seems to be nothing more than a cheap place to catch a nap and a shower in between binges for the 6th St/Red River drunks visiting Austin. The hotel is looking to get an exemption for the usual ground floor retail requirements. That means there will be a large, convenient wall to pee on. At least it's on a slope so they can hose off the area every morning.

[LoneStarMike]

In keeping with the "prison look" maybe they'll put in some nice barbed wire along the top of that railing/fence that separates the pool area from the outside. We wouldn't want non-hotel guests climbing over to try and bathe in the pool.