[chancla]

I share the same concerns as most as to the design of the building because Bexar County has a track record for going for generic. Also, there will be taxpayer pressures to keep the cost (quality) of this thing low.

I also worry about this hulking city block staying virtually dead at night and not adding anything to that area's nightlife.

But I do see a lot of positives. First of all, it's a CIVIL courthouse so only lawsuits and divorces, no criminals. The fears that some have that this will "ghettoize" the block are not valid.

Second, I work at the courthouse(s) in downtown San Antonio. That area around Main Plaza/San Fernando Cathedral is bustling during the day. There's the potential for this new Austin courthouse to feed the (sometimes) struggling new restaurants along 2nd Street and the Warehouse District with plenty of new daytime business they don't currently have.

Third, a true downtown should have a good mix of uses throughout. You can't just have a bunch of condos next to more condos next to more condos. There has to be something for those people in the condos to "do". I'm sure that plenty of civil attorneys would consider buying condos at the W just so they could stumble across the street in the mornings to court and stumble home after drinking at bars downtown without having to drive their cars or even hail cabs.

All in all, I see this project as a plus. Just make it tall and make it pretty.