Austin | Domain/North Austin

[Riverranchdrone]

[ahealy]

Great emerging skyline views! This is a bit dramatic, but I can't help but compare Domain to downtown Century City....of course a much younger version, but I wonder what Domain will look like in 10 years. As I've said in the past, we'll certainly have 400'+ tower(s) down the line.

[clubtokyo]

I had never even heard of century city, thanks for sharing. I could see the comparison in the future of the domain.

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by clubtokyo

I had never even heard of century city, thanks for sharing. I could see the comparison in the future of the domain.

Of course! Just seeing that aerial of Domain, I immediately thought of CC. It's a really neat part of LA that I enjoy visiting--not the most exciting place tho.

I suppose after Broadmoor, Metric would be the logical next step for high rise development?

[drummer]

I'm not sure what the plan is or could be, but I've always thought of a box with Gracy Farms on the north, Metric on the east, Mopac on the west, and 183 on the south. Anything in that box could/should be developed for increased height and density.

Additionally, the Arboretum area and everything south of Braker down to the point at 183/Mopac's NW corner (while leaving a lot of the green at Braker/Stonelake, if possible) could be redeveloped or improved.

The Burnet/Metric area from Gracy Farms down to 183 makes the most sense if there were to be focus on one area of course. J.J. Pickle will go at its own pace, of course.

[Mopacs]

Originally Posted by ahealy

Great emerging skyline views! This is a bit dramatic, but I can't help but compare Domain to downtown Century City....of course a much younger version, but I wonder what Domain will look like in 10 years. As I've said in the past, we'll certainly have 400'+ tower(s) down the line.

Nakatomi Plaza at the Domain!



https://variety.com/2020/dirt/filmin...rd-1234874301/

[Mopacs]

Originally Posted by clubtokyo

I had never even heard of century city, thanks for sharing. I could see the comparison in the future of the domain.

For reference - Century City on the Westide of LA. A few 400-500 footers among it - Maybe one day!



https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-...925-story.html (sans the earthquakes)

[gillynova]

Thanks for pointing out the comparison, ahealy.

I was in LA last year and Century City DRASTICALLY CHANGED over the past couple of years. LOTS of high rises in this area and it would be AMAZING if the Domain can transform into something like this

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by gillynova

Thanks for pointing out the comparison, ahealy.

I was in LA last year and Century City DRASTICALLY CHANGED over the past couple of years. LOTS of high rises in this area and it would be AMAZING if the Domain can transform into something like this

Yesss! I really think it will someday!

Mopacs, I would l kill for a Nakatomi style tower there down the road.

Not sure if my post was deleted or if I forgot to hit post afterpreview but...
I think Domain will at least resemble Houston's medical center by 2029. What's funny is that with Q2 stadium, Domain resembles the average American downtown blueprint perfectly.

[H2O]

Originally Posted by drummer

I'm not sure what the plan is or could be, but I've always thought of a box with Gracy Farms on the north, Metric on the east, Mopac on the west, and 183 on the south. Anything in that box could/should be developed for increased height and density.

Additionally, the Arboretum area and everything south of Braker down to the point at 183/Mopac's NW corner (while leaving a lot of the green at Braker/Stonelake, if possible) could be redeveloped or improved.

The Burnet/Metric area from Gracy Farms down to 183 makes the most sense if there were to be focus on one area of course. J.J. Pickle will go at its own pace, of course.

The Gateway part of the North / Burnet Gateway Master Plan http://www.austintexas.gov/page/north-burnetgateway west of MOPAC is slated for denser mixed use development similar to the Domain. It is currently limited to 180 feet (with development bonus), although that could change, as it has for Broadmoor and Domain Southside. The undeveloped, wooded area is owned by UT, and is known as Pickle West Campus. It will be developed eventually.

The areas east of the tracks to Metric and south of Longhorn are currently reserved for more industrial uses, but that will obviously change close to Q2 Stadium.

I think the most immediate change in zoning of the plan will be to upgrade the CMU areas near the stadium to CMU Gateway (a TOD term not to be confused with 'the Gateway' west of MOPAC), which allows heights up to 360' with development bonus. This would be totally justified with the relocation of the Kramer rail station to McKalla (next to Q2 stadium).

[GoldenBoot]

Don't forget...not too far away is Robinson Ranch - which, if my memory serves me correctly, has areas which already are (or will be) zoned for dense urban development similar to Austin's CBD. Due to the lack of immediate SFRs, I can see some tall buildings eventually going up here. There will be less of a neighborhood pushback here than that of the area surrounding the Domain.

[drummer]

Originally Posted by H2O

The Gateway part of the North / Burnet Gateway Master Plan http://www.austintexas.gov/page/north-burnetgateway west of MOPAC is slated for denser mixed use development similar to the Domain. It is currently limited to 180 feet (with development bonus), although that could change, as it has for Broadmoor and Domain Southside. The undeveloped, wooded area is owned by UT, and is known as Pickle West Campus. It will be developed eventually.

The areas east of the tracks to Metric and south of Longhorn are currently reserved for more industrial uses, but that will obviously change close to Q2 Stadium.

I think the most immediate change in zoning of the plan will be to upgrade the CMU areas near the stadium to CMU Gateway (a TOD term not to be confused with 'the Gateway' west of MOPAC), which allows heights up to 360' with development bonus. This would be totally justified with the relocation of the Kramer rail station to McKalla (next to Q2 stadium).

Nice, thanks for the extra info.

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

Don't forget...not too far away is Robinson Ranch - which, if my memory serves me correctly, has areas which already are (or will be) zoned for dense urban development similar to Austin's CBD. Due to the lack of immediate SFRs, I can see some tall buildings eventually going up here. There will be less of a neighborhood pushback here than that of the area surrounding the Domain.

Very true!

[Mopacs]

Shots taken 2/6/2021









Southbound on Burnet Rd



From Mopac and 183



From northbound 183 near Ohlen

[Mopacs]

Also spotted from Elgin, ~20 miles away.

[KevinFromTexas]

Wow! That's awesome seeing them from that far out. I've noticed the Domain Tower II and The Bowen this past week from I-35 about a half mile south of Riverside. It's just a brief view, but it's there.

[ahealy]

Yeeees! Bring on Domain City skyline lol

[drummer]

How much higher does this one have to go?

[mtb_jeremy]

Originally Posted by Mopacs

Shots taken 2/6/2021

This shot is really interesting because in the bottom left of the shot they built a new bridge over the drainage retention area, to build out the street grid. This is a new connection from Burnet straight to the front of both new buildings.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

Don't forget...not too far away is Robinson Ranch - which, if my memory serves me correctly, has areas which already are (or will be) zoned for dense urban development similar to Austin's CBD. Due to the lack of immediate SFRs, I can see some tall buildings eventually going up here. There will be less of a neighborhood pushback here than that of the area surrounding the Domain.

This got me curious about any zoning limitations of RR. I found the actual PUD agreement here.

http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=82936

The areas that aren't already set as protected space will have a "major land use category" of either MXD or TOD (mixed use or transit oriented development). The distinction being that TOD has to be within 2000 feet of a "major transit station".

Within that major use, there's a variety of "specific land use categories" under that. The ones most interesting to this discussion are Mixed Use Commercial 1 and 2 (CO-ROB1 and CO-ROB2). The former being the TOD version.

Neither has a height limit (though there are some compatibility restrictions). CO-ROB2 has a FAR limit of 6:1 and the TOD version has a FAR limit of 12:1. That seems to be the absolute limit though, I don't see a version of downtown or UNO's development bonuses.

[We vs us]

All of these great shots point out how important a 300 footer is to the emergence of a Domain skyline. For whatever reason, that's the height that finally establishes it from a distance. Not to take away from the progress that's been in that area, but from afar the skyline looks like a bit of a muddle. Not a new downtown, but more like a corporate campus in the distance. And I'm willing to admit that might be my personal biases . . . But I honestly can't wait to get more of these, and maybe one that's a little more distinctive than a box.

I've really started to despair of seeing Robinson Ranch developed significantly within the next decade or so -- maybe even within my lifetime. Everything we've seen so far shows them doing what they've always done, which is release small chunks of the acreage for ad hoc development, but not really any moves towards mapping out how the entirety of the property should work. I assume/hope that's being done behind the scenes, but the magnitude of developing something that size is really mind blowing. I mean . . . I'm watching the Apple Campus rise out my back door, and when all is said and done, that small fraction of RR will have taken something like 5 years to complete, from start to finish. I can't imagine building out the rest of the 8000 acres (or whatever it is). Just the utility work will be a generational project.