Abandoned Buildings in Downtown Austin

[leonashbrook]

Does anyone have information on the Abandoned Warehouse on this web page? I have visited it and it did not appear to be in use, yet someone indicates they were approached by the owner and told to leave.
http://highlydefinedreality.blogspot...warehouse.html

[The ATX]

That is a pretty interesting place. (I just checked it out on Streetview.) It's next to the Mexican consulate, but I never noticed it before. The Lamar bridge CVC runs over most of the site, so development opportunities are limited. But I can imagine it being converted to cool shared worked space offices or some trendy restaurant/bar/artsy shops kind of place.

[The ATX]

I would like to know the history of this area. There's a little house surrounded by a parking lot next to the warehouse on the right. The Mexican Consulate is to the left of the little house.

[lzppjb]

Now I'm really curious about both the warehouse/depot and the little house. Commence the googling.

[lzppjb]

Whatever it is (likely a depot for the Missouri-Pacific), it looks to have been abandoned back in 1970 as well.

Photograph of the last Eagle passenger train to go through Austin. The train stops at the Austin International & Great Northern (I&GN) Railroad depot in Austin. There are no passengers waiting on the platform. The engine has the logo of C&EI (Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad). I&GN Railroad operated in Texas. It was created when the International Railroad company and Houston-based Great Northern Railroad company merged on September 30, 1873. I&GN's Austin depot was completed on 3rd and Congress Avenues on December 28, 1876. In 1924, the I&GN was bought by Gulf Coast Lines (GCL), which was subsequently purchased by Missouri Pacific on Januray 1, 1925. I&GN operated as a subsidiary of Missouri Pacific until March 1, 1956, when all GCL subsidiaries were merged under Missouri Pacific, and I&GN ceased to operate as a corporate entity. The old Austin depot had been demolished in 1950. The station in the photograph, at 250 North Lamar Boulevard, was built in 1947 by Missouri Pacific. It discontinued the Texas Eagle on September 22, 1970. Later Amtrak assumed operation of the station and the Eagle.

http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/675...=train%20depot

[lzppjb]

This picture

Douglass, Neal. Missouri-Pacific Lines - Depot Opening, Photograph, August 9, 1948

http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/675...ouri%20pacific

led me to this article from 1999:

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/st...12/story8.html

On the heels of a long legal battle for control of the company, negotiations are under way to sell the 5.3-acre downtown site of one of Austin's oldest family businesses for multifamily and retail development.

Talks are being held with one of 15 developers who bid late last month on the former site of Tips Iron and Steel Co. Inc., according to Dick Obenhaus of First Austin Properties, the property's listing agent.

The irregularly shaped property is bordered on the south by the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and includes frontage on Baylor, Fourth and Fifth streets. It sits directly across from the Amtrak Station and next to the downtown branch of the YMCA.

and this one from 1998:

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/st...21/story2.html

Tips Iron & Steel Co. has survived fire, flood, wars and economic change, but the 99-year-old Austin business appears to have finally met its match.

After four years of legal wrangling between the descendants of the company's founders and a former manager, Tips officials auctioned off nearly all of the business' assets Dec. 15 to pay off an overdue loan.

[lzppjb]

I looked up the property on the tax appraiser's site, and as of 2016, the property is still under the ownership of Tips Iron & Steel.

http://propaccess.traviscad.org/clie...prop_id=106481

[lzppjb]

Hmm...appears the deed was signed over to Mr. Wimberly, the former manager who won a lawsuit against the family. Perhaps instead of selling it to pay the settlement, they just gave it to him.

[KevinFromTexas]

That's the old Tips Iron factory. Here's an article on it from 1999.

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/st...12/story8.html

Developers cast eyes on iron works facility
Apr 11, 1999, 11:00pm CDT Updated Apr 11, 1999, 11:00pm CDT

On the heels of a long legal battle for control of the company, negotiations are under way to sell the 5.3-acre downtown site of one of Austin's oldest family businesses for multifamily and retail development.

Talks are being held with one of 15 developers who bid late last month on the former site of Tips Iron and Steel Co. Inc., according to Dick Obenhaus of First Austin Properties, the property's listing agent.

Tips was founded in Austin in 1899 as the Tips Foundry & Machine Co. by Walter Tips and his son-in-law, Adolph Carl Goeth. The company originally serviced and repaired engines and other mechanical equipment, but later went on to build a full range of gasoline-powered engines for irrigation pumps, power plants and cotton gins.

About 2.8 acres of the site is considered vacant, but a 10,000-square-foot 1904 vintage warehouse and other older structures dominate the rest of the land. Obenhaus says the brick and steel warehouse may be incorporated into future development plans, due to its historic character.

In the late 1920s and 1930s, Tips began manufacturing structural steel for bridges and buildings. The company's work can still be seen in the Driskill Hotel and the Travis County Courthouse.

[lzppjb]

Accomplice Media is currently in production of a TV commercial for Dodge Ram. The production has planned to film this commercial in Austin Texas this January, and a few locations for the commercial are set here in Austin. The filming is scheduled for the following dates and times: WHERE: 300-499 Blocks of Baylor St, 300-499 Block of Orchard Street, 400-499 Block of Walsh 1100 Block of Rose Street, 1200 Block of W 4th Street WHEN: FILM TIMES: Friday and Saturday 6:00am to 9:00pm PARKING RESERVED: Thursday, January 21, 2016 at 6:00pm - Saturday, January 23, 2016 at 11:59pm

https://www.austintexas.gov/devrevie...erRSN=11472534

My personal trainer told me she spent all day Friday and Saturday on the set of a new Dodge truck commercial. She said she'll be in it climbing over walls and stuff. I'll have to ask her if it was filmed at this warehouse.

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

That's the old Tips Iron factory. Here's an article on it from 1999.

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/st...12/story8.html

I finally beat someone to the punch!

[lzppjb]

http://www.patrickalexander.com/tips_1.html

[lzppjb]

Some more plans from that site above:

[KevinFromTexas]

The old house on South Congress at Oltorf is the Walter Tips house. it was originally located downtown on the Bremond Block, and then was moved to South Congress in 1975 after it had been threatened with demolition. It's the house that shows up in the music video for the Clash's song "Rock the Casbah".

They also had an office building in downtown on Congress.
http://travelphotobase.com/v/USTX/TXT141.HTM

And they had this warehouse at 2nd and Colorado.
http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth19286/

[KevinFromTexas]

I remember during the mid-90s seeing lights on inside the building at night. My brother and I would go downtown with our dad and his friend. We'd go over and sit at the train station and watch trains.

That building would make a decent public market.

[The ATX]

Awesome work lzppjb & Kevin!

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

The old house on South Congress at Oltorf is the Walter Tips house. it was originally located downtown on the Bremond Block, and then was moved to South Congress in 1975 after it had been threatened with demolition. It's the house that shows up in the music video for the Clash's song "Rock the Casbah".

Always wondered where that house came from. I knew it had been moved there.

[SecretAgentMan]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

Always wondered where that house came from. I knew it had been moved there.

That is some excellent sleuthing! I could have told you the first part of the story but was not aware of any current proposals for the property. Are you interested in a career change, or are you already a company man?

[jbssfelix]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

Some more plans from that site above:

That is a shitload of parking!

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by jbssfelix

That is a shitload of parking!

I agree. It would be completely out of place with the surrounding area. Makes more sense to build a garage with a smaller footprint. That would allow for better uses with the available land.