Texas Capitol Complex & North Austin Complex Projects Update Thread

[The ATX]

I checked a little more, and some more drilling permits were filed late last year. In addition to the building in my previous post, they include the larger 650,000 sq. ft. (~18 floors) office building proposed for the parking lot across from the State History museum. Here are the drilling locations:


https://abc.austintexas.gov/attachme...6SwpcAWyKxAhsV

[urbancore]

[QUOTE=The ATX;7685019]I checked a little more, and some more drilling permits were filed late last year. In addition to the building in my previous post, they include the larger 650,000 sq. ft. (~18 floors) office building proposed for the parking lot across from the State History museum. Here are the drilling locations:[QUOTE]

Forgive the stupid question, but what does it mean to drill? Is this equivalent to me building a house to determine how think my foundation or piers need to be?

[The ATX]

They're exploratory holes to see what's underneath/soil make up, etc. So, yeah.

[The ATX]

It looks like the first phase of the Capitol promenade is close to starting. This is from the latest AULCC meeting documents ftp site. There's some other interesting stuff in there like SH130 expansion drawings.

The Texas Facilities Commission (TFC) intends to vacate the street and utilities in Congress Avenue from MLK Blvd to 15th Street. A new below grade parking garage will be built and the above grade surface will become a pedestrian promemade. The intent is to relocate the utilities presently in Congress Avenue to the western side of the present ROW below the sidewalks and lanscaped area or to adjacent Colorado and Brazos Streets. Utilities running east-west in 18th, 17th, and 16th will need to be reconnected to the new north-south utilities as well as removing/rerouting utilities conflicting with the below grade garage. In addition, a new utility tunnel will be constructed in 14th St between San Jacinto Blvd. and Brazos St., turning north in Brazos St., and crossing 15th St.
Link:
ftp://ftp.ci.austin.tx.us/ATD_AULCC/AULCC_2017/170406/


Since this project is a little dusty, here's a reminder. It replaces Congress Ave. from MLK to the Capitol.


http://www.mystatesman.com/news/pede...jhpZx290tLMpO/

[KevinFromTexas]

Good. Now I don't have to look over my shoulder for right-turning-crazy-people whenever I stand in the middle of Congress to get a photo of the Capitol with the Frost Bank Tower and The Austonian flanking it. My neck feels better already.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Good. Now I don't have to look over my shoulder for right-turning-crazy-people whenever I stand in the middle of Congress to get a photo of the Capitol with the Frost Bank Tower and The Austonian flanking it. My neck feels better already.

LOL. Is that something you do often?

[KevinFromTexas]

I haven't done it in a while, but it is a neat view. A sort of aligning of the stars.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

I haven't done it in a while, but it is a neat view. A sort of aligning of the stars.

I'm really looking forward to the promenade. The second largest state should have a large, respectable Capitol grounds. Now if we could only expand the museum district along the promenade...

[KevinFromTexas]

Texas cities usually do it backwards - development first, infrastructure later. But, I think this is a situation where we're actually doing it right. Bring in curious people with this beautiful promenade and maybe it'll attract some attractions. It may be similar to all the park upgrades that the southern end of downtown saw. Hopefully, this could be a harbinger of more useful development coming to the capitol complex, even if it's not all vertical eye candy.

[drummer]

Originally Posted by The ATX

I'm really looking forward to the promenade. The second largest state should have a large, respectable Capitol grounds. Now if we could only expand the museum district along the promenade...

I agree with this thought. Museums or something that benefits (and educates) the public would be a natural fit here. I think I mentioned this before, but this will be cool also because it will match up to the pedestrian street they have planned for UT...or have they started anything on that one yet?

[JoninATX]

I would love to see more Musuems or maybe an Aquarium in the area. It would definitely be a huge plus.

[KevinFromTexas]

Museums are rarely tall. This is probably the one area of downtown where they make the most sense for a number of reasons, the height issue around the Capitol being one of them.

[AustinGoesVertical]

Originally Posted by drummer

I agree with this thought. Museums or something that benefits (and educates) the public would be a natural fit here. I think I mentioned this before, but this will be cool also because it will match up to the pedestrian street they have planned for UT...or have they started anything on that one yet?

It's in progress and looks really nice. It's a lot more open and they've added great interaction between the walkway and the buildings, such as landscaping and outdoor study tables. Definitely an upgrade from walking around campus my freshman year. Car access is much more restricted as well, so the whole area feels simplified.

[lzppjb]

http://guerra.com/guerraprojects/uni...-austin-texas/

[lzppjb]

http://www.pwpla.com/projects/uta-sp...the-east-mall#

[drummer]

That does look nice! I think having that connect all the way down Congress to the Capitol will be great. I agree with Kevin's point on museums and height, by the way. Might as well make a killer district in town while satisfying the short'n'squatty requirement...

[The ATX]

This could be another museum on the future promenade! From the article:

...the legislation is part of a plan to further develop a museum district near the Texas Capitol - the Bullock State History Museum, the Blanton Museum of Art and the new music museum - in a project that will cost state taxpayers nothing.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news...r-11031828.php

[drummer]

Originally Posted by The ATX

This could be another museum on the future promenade! From the article:



http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news...r-11031828.php

Obviously Austin would be the proper location for such a museum, no offense to Houston. Interesting that there's a debate on that - I had no idea.

All the same, I think this would be a great addition to the future promenade. It would also likely draw from a variety of demographics as not everyone goes to art or history museums...great for the area as well!

[atxsnail]

Originally Posted by drummer

Obviously Austin would be the proper location for such a museum, no offense to Houston. Interesting that there's a debate on that - I had no idea.

All the same, I think this would be a great addition to the future promenade. It would also likely draw from a variety of demographics as not everyone goes to art or history museums...great for the area as well!

can someone with access to the article describe the scope of the proposed museum? it seems like a museum focused solely on Texas music would be so limited in focus that it would have trouble drawing out a large enough audience to be relevant.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by atxsnail

can someone with access to the article describe the scope of the proposed museum? it seems like a museum focused solely on Texas music would be so limited in focus that it would have trouble drawing out a large enough audience to be relevant.

The Houston Chronicle article wasn't behind a pay wall until this morning. A Google search brings up this Dallas Observer article with roughly the same info:

http://www.dallasobserver.com/music/...viable-9279570

I think Texas music history is much more than something so limited that it wouldn't bring a relevant audience to a museum.