The Transformation of South Lamar

[audiomuse]

25 June 2013

Gibson





Lamar Union

[LoneStarMike]

July 5, 2013 - Zilker Park Lofts

Back of the project from the Lady Bird Lake hike & Bike Trail:






Part of it is kind of close to the trail:




From Barton Springs Rd:



From the east:

[LoneStarMike]

July 5, 2013 - Coldwater

From Chuy's parking lot




From Barton Springs Rd



From older apartment complex behind Chuy's



From Baby Acapulco's parking lot







[

[LoneStarMike]

July 5, 2013 - Hanover

[LoneStarMike]

July 5, 2013 - Lamar Union

[LoneStarMike]

July 5, 2013 - Gibson Flats

[LoneStarMike]

July 5, 2013 - Lamar Manchaca Residential

[LoneStarMike]

July 5, 2013 - The 704

[KevinFromTexas]

Nice update. That Lamar Manchaca one is the closest to me. I'm very curious to see what the views will be like from the garage.

[NYC2ATX]

Amazing updates...worshiping you a little right now.

No but seriously...just want to thank you Lone Star Mike for these extensive photos, not just on this thread but on every Austin thread within the past day or so...makes me feel like I'm there, especially since I really wish I was. Keep it up!

[Samwill89]

Thanks LoneStarMike! There are wonderful and useful to me as someone who recently left the city, hoping to return soon.

[the Genral]

I'm heading into Austin this week to check out the progress, its only been a few months and it looks like I won't even recognize the place, especially around the Broken Spoke.

[Armybrat]

In the early 1960s my brother used to be part owner of a trailer park that was located on S. Lamar near where the Spoke is now. It was called the Colonial Terrace, and had several acres of property with a central laundromat building for the renters. There wasn't much anything else around it at the time, IIRC.

[LoneStarMike]

I noticed today they've just about finished putting all the siding on Gibson Flats and they're starting to put the signage on the north wall of the building - "Gibson Flats" and a huge outline of one of those retro 1960's flowers. It kind of reminded me of the old Dating Game set.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl...ct-begins.html

Aug 1, 2013, 1:12pm CDT
Broken Spoke mixed-use project begins apartment leasing

Jan Buchholz
Staff Writer-
Austin Business Journal

Austin residents who want to feel a part of Austin music history can now reserve an apartment at The 704, the mixed-use development that encircles the Broken Spoke dance hall in South Austin.

Rents begin at $959 a month for a one-bedroom, 408-square-foot unit. Two bedroom and two bath layouts range from $1,899 to $2,607 a month.

The development at 3503 S. Lamar Blvd. will include 20,000 square feet of retail space, which is 62 percent leased.

[Meagan0803]

Thanks for the pics! Dang, that's a lot of apartments. I'm curious to see how the overall rent costs in the city are affected when the SOLA and downtown apartment boom is leased in 24 months. Maybe not at all because the people keep coming at rapid speed!

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by Meagan0803

Thanks for the pics! Dang, that's a lot of apartments. I'm curious to see how the overall rent costs in the city are affected when the SOLA and downtown apartment boom is leased in 24 months. Maybe not at all because the people keep coming at rapid speed!

Negligible at best. This is just helping to aleviate the upward price pressure. To really make a dent you'd have to see this happening everywhere, and it's just concentrated on a few visible corridors.

[LoneStarMike]

Updates from August 3, 2013

Hanover









Lamar Union






Lamar Union (foreground)/Gibson Flats (background)



Gibson Flats



Lamar Manchaca Residential









The 704

[M1EK]

The NAs are doing their best to kill the Taco Cabana project. Below is an email making the grounds to various NA lists; and then following is my response posted to OWANA's list (where I still own property). Encourage all of you to do similar things.

The NA letter:

Good Morning Neighbors:

As you may know, the Austin City Council will hold a public hearing on the Post Paggi Planned Unit Development (PUD) at 6:00 PM on Thursday, August 8, 2013, at City Hall. The site for the proposed PUD is 211 South Lamar Boulevard next to Lady Bird Lake at the intersection of West Riverside Drive, a designated scenic urban road.

The developer is requesting PUD zoning for this location in order to build a massive 96-foot building just yards away from Lady Bird Lake and surrounding parkland. The developer wants the City Council to waive the building height and setback limits so it can build a 96-foot high-end condo building with no setbacks. A building of this magnitude will tower over Lady Bird Lake, crowd natural open green spaces, block unique scenic vistas, and increase traffic congestion around parkland and on South Lamar Boulevard. In return the developer is offering significantly less affordable housing for the proposed 96-foot building than would be required for a 60-foot building under current zoning. In addition, most of the amenities and commercial design standards offered by the developer are already required under current zoning.

This PUD violates the 60-feet height limit in the Waterfront Overlay sub-district and the minimum 10-acre site requirement in the PUD ordinance. The Waterfront Advisory Board voted against this PUD and the Environmental Board did not endorse the environmental components of the PUD. This developer wants to bypass the Waterfront Overlay and build a "high-end" condo building next to Lady Bird Lake to maximize its profits.

Shortly after Lady Bird Johnson’s death, in 2007, the Austin City Council voted unanimously to rename Town Lake to Lady Bird Lake. Luci Baines Johnson, her daughter, said that Lady Bird resisted efforts to rename Town Lake in her honor and said, “I cannot claim its name. It belongs to everybody.” Luci said that generations of Austinites consider Lady Bird Lake to be “the soul of Austin.” We should honor the Waterfront Overlay height limits that help protect the natural beauty, visual character, and open green space around Lady Bird Lake. We should respect the goals of Article X of the City Charter and Imagine Austin to protect and enhance natural resources and open green spaces.
A 96-foot building at this location will encourage other developers to build even taller buildings until we end up with a canyon of condos surrounding Lady Bird Lake. Over the past two decades, millions of people have visited and enjoyed Lady Bird Lake and the Hike and Bike Trail because of its beauty, grand vistas, and open green spaces. Will we pass this legacy to the next generation or will we sell it to the highest bidder?
If the City Council really cares about preserving Lady Bird Lake, “the soul of Austin”, it will vote against this PUD and tell the developer to comply with the height and setback limits in the Waterfront Overlay. The Council will likely vote on the PUD at the first reading this Thursday, then vote on it again at the second and third readings during the August 22, 2013, Council meeting.
Please email or call the Council and tell them to vote against this PUD. Please attend the public hearing at 6:00 PM this Thursday, August 8, 2013, and sign up to speak against this PUD. Free parking is available in the City parking garage next to City Hall. Council members Morrison, Tovo, and Martinez oppose this PUD.
Here's a link to send one email to all City Council members:
http://www.austintexas.gov/mail/all-council-members

Mayor Leffingwell 512-974-2250 lee.leffingwell@...
Mayor Pro Tem Cole 512-974-2266 sheryl.cole@...
Council Member Spelman 512-974-2256 bill.spelman@...
Council Member Riley 512-974-2260 chris.riley@...
Council Member Martinez 512-974-2264 mike.martinez@...
Council Member Tovo 512-974-2255 kathie.tovo@...
Council Member Morrison 512-974-2258 laura.morrison@...

Thank you,
David King
Zilker Neighborhood

My response on OWANA:

As is often the case with this sort of thing, the email is overwrought and
misleading. This project is on the south side of Riverside, not on or next to
the lake or the trail or even the pedestrian bridge. It's across Riverside from
all of that. So it is "yards" away from the lake, sure, but it's a lot of yards,
first across the trail and then across the street.

What it does do is bring another hundred or two possible pedestrians to the lake
- so they can WALK there, or even to Whole Foods, instead of driving there.

It does, also, likely show up in the views of certain lucky single-family
homeowners up the hill in Zilker or Bouldin, which, of course, is the most
likely reason they are fighting the project.

[MightyYoda]

Originally Posted by M1EK

The NAs are doing their best to kill the Taco Cabana project. Below is an email making the grounds to various NA lists; and then following is my response posted to OWANA's list (where I still own property). Encourage all of you to do similar things.

The NA letter:



My response on OWANA:

Sent a letter to the city council and thanks for the heads up.