AUSTIN | Project Updates Thread Part II

[Echostatic]

Ever is a long time. But no. Buildings that tall don't make financial sense nearly anywhere. The US's only two 1500+ are One World Trade Center and Central Park Tower. Those are a symbolic building and the flagship of Billionaire's Row. There are only 15 buildings in the world over 1500'.

[enragedcamel]

To be honest I'll settle for a 1,250 footer. That's how tall Empire State is, and it would be cool to beat that.

Anything above 1,200 would put it in the Top 10 list in America. Austin deserves that status in my opinion.

[SproutingTowers]

One location for a 1200+ is the old post office site which is not in the CVC.

[StoOgE]

Never is a mighty long time, but not in this guys lifetime I don't imagine.

[NYC_Longhorn]

Originally Posted by enragedcamel

Do you guys think Austin will ever get a 1,500 footer?

Of course! Give it 10 years

[Urbannizer]

Mexican American Cultural Center Extension

• Video Link

[ILUVSAT]

^^^ I absolutely love it!!!

[the Genral]

That looks incredible. Maybe now there will be a good reason to check it out. I noticed there will be a ton of tables and seats. Does that mean there will be restaurants and or bars, or are they just places for people to play checkers? For sure it will be a music venue. I really like the way it reaches out to the lake. Now this center won't look like an insignificant use of prime real estate. I think the residents of the Rainey District will really benefit from the improvements.

[clubtokyo]

Looks stunning! Can’t wait!

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by the Genral

That looks incredible. Maybe now there will be a good reason to check it out. I noticed there will be a ton of tables and seats. Does that mean there will be restaurants and or bars, or are they just places for people to play checkers? For sure it will be a music venue. I really like the way it reaches out to the lake. Now this center won't look like an insignificant use of prime real estate. I think the residents of the Rainey District will really benefit from the improvements.

I agree, I'm a big fan of the extension over the lake (and pretty much would support more boardwalk anywhere anyone wanted to build it). It's going to be a great neighborhood (and city!) amenity.

I bet the seating you're seeing is more to show off the event-venue-ness of the new space than to indicate a restaurant or anything. IMO they look like they're laser focused on putting all kinds of meeting spaces together. Which is pretty amazing. They could capture a lot of business with an updates space.

[mercury6]

Originally Posted by the Genral

That looks incredible. Maybe now there will be a good reason to check it out. I noticed there will be a ton of tables and seats. Does that mean there will be restaurants and or bars, or are they just places for people to play checkers? For sure it will be a music venue. I really like the way it reaches out to the lake. Now this center won't look like an insignificant use of prime real estate. I think the residents of the Rainey District will really benefit from the improvements.

Here's another good reason to check it out...To appreciate the cultural arts of Mexican Americans and Latino cultures. But tables and seats are cool too

[the Genral]

Originally Posted by mercury6

Here's another good reason to check it out...To appreciate the cultural arts of Mexican Americans and Latino cultures. But tables and seats are cool too

I'm just saying, from the outside, there just isn't much to look at right now, plus, I still have no idea what to expect with so little advertising. I've never seen this place to be on any tourist itinerary. The expansion is very much needed, as an update, and to bring more attention to the center. I'm all in if there is enough to see and do no matter what culture is on display.
If I'm going to go out of my way to visit any cultural center, I'd like for there to be enough to see and do to able to spend an afternoon there. The extensive outside work is almost enough to warrant a visit.

[lonewolf]

Originally Posted by mercury6

Here's another good reason to check it out...To appreciate the cultural arts of Mexican Americans and Latino cultures. But tables and seats are cool too

i've been a dozen times, place is a dump. no cultural achievements change that fact lol. i'd never recommend it. glad the place is getting a facelift always thought it was kind of a black eye on austin in general

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by lonewolf

i've been a dozen times, place is a dump. no cultural achievements change that fact lol. i'd never recommend it. glad the place is getting a facelift always thought it was kind of a black eye on austin in general

I don't know, I've been there a few times myself and while I personally wouldn't call it a dump, I've always felt that it was an unfinished complex, likely due to funding limitations. This next phase is probably what the end product was planned to be originally or something similar at least. I walked by there lastnight on the trail. Looking forward to seeing the transformation.

[ahealy]

Yeah, I'm guessing funding was a barrier for them early on. I agree with it being pretty much useless and boring as-is. I recall the staff coming outside to tell me I couldn't ride my bike on the giant empty open areas surrounding the building back in 2011 or so. Seemed like they had LOTS of free time.

This new facelift is stunning and VERY needed.

[H2O]

I like it and think it is an improvement over the original master plan. I think it is crowding the trail a little too much, though. I'm certain more people use the trail in that location on a daily basis than will ever be patrons of the facility, except maybe on special occasions such as Cinco de Mayo. I think keeping most of the trail decomposed granite for runners and providing some landscape buffer between the trail and building / plaza would be more respectful.

[nixcity]

Geesh, you guys sure are being tough on something (a building) that came at zero expense to the taxpayer and was always going to come in phases, does nobody really remember that or is the importance of the heritage of some 30-35% of our residents not important enough? I've been to a dozen or so event there over the years in various parts inside and outside of the space and have enjoyed each one. There were some with only around 25 attendees and some with over 500. The building itself is a piece of art with each of the exterior pieces being specially picked and shipped from Mexico as originally designed by the Mexican architect. Admittedly, it needs a power wash and the free to the taxpayer expansion is long overdue, but overall this is a jewel for our city and goes some way in enhancing a very important part of our local culture.

[mercury6]

Originally Posted by nixcity

Geesh, you guys sure are being tough on something (a building) that came at zero expense to the taxpayer and was always going to come in phases, does nobody really remember that or is the importance of the heritage of some 30-35% of our residents not important enough? I've been to a dozen or so event there over the years in various parts inside and outside of the space and have enjoyed each one. There were some with only around 25 attendees and some with over 500. The building itself is a piece of art with each of the exterior pieces being specially picked and shipped from Mexico as originally designed by the Mexican architect. Admittedly, it needs a power wash and the free to the taxpayer expansion is long overdue, but overall this is a jewel for our city and goes some way in enhancing a very important part of our local culture.

Perfectly said.

[Enghum]

Originally Posted by nixcity

Geesh, you guys sure are being tough on something (a building) that came at zero expense to the taxpayer and was always going to come in phases, does nobody really remember that or is the importance of the heritage of some 30-35% of our residents not important enough? I've been to a dozen or so event there over the years in various parts inside and outside of the space and have enjoyed each one. There were some with only around 25 attendees and some with over 500. The building itself is a piece of art with each of the exterior pieces being specially picked and shipped from Mexico as originally designed by the Mexican architect. Admittedly, it needs a power wash and the free to the taxpayer expansion is long overdue, but overall this is a jewel for our city and goes some way in enhancing a very important part of our local culture.

The current MACC building was built with funds from a 1998 city bond election that approved $10.9 million in funding.

http://austinmacc.com/eng/

The current expansion was included in the 2018 Prop B bond election that directs $27 million for the phase 2 expansion.

https://austintexas.gov/department/e...2-improvements

From the master plan it looks like the current funding may be enough for completing the crescent building, plaza/landscaping improvements, and original building renovations. The 300 to 500 seat performance space shown as the second pyramid is not currently funded. That's being described as phase 3 now where in the original master plan the third largest pyramid which would house a 1200 seat performance space was the previous phase 3. The updated master plan still gives space for this third pyramid but that's probably an expansion for another generation.

https://austintexas.gov/sites/defaul...Report-web.pdf

The MACC operates at a deficit which is made up for by the city of Austin's general revenue fund.

My personal opinion is that this is a decent use of city resources for an underserved community. I wish the MACC was located in a neighborhood that actually had a majority of residents that it was built to serve so that it could act as an anchor for the neighborhood. The blue line will help a with access so that's better at least.

[kingkirbythe....]

Originally Posted by Enghum

The current MACC building was built with funds from a 1998 city bond election that approved $10.9 million in funding.

http://austinmacc.com/eng/

The current expansion was included in the 2018 Prop B bond election that directs $27 million for the phase 2 expansion.

https://austintexas.gov/department/e...2-improvements

From the master plan it looks like the current funding may be enough for completing the crescent building, plaza/landscaping improvements, and original building renovations. The 300 to 500 seat performance space shown as the second pyramid is not currently funded. That's being described as phase 3 now where in the original master plan the third largest pyramid which would house a 1200 seat performance space was the previous phase 3. The updated master plan still gives space for this third pyramid but that's probably an expansion for another generation.

https://austintexas.gov/sites/defaul...Report-web.pdf

The MACC operates at a deficit which is made up for by the city of Austin's general revenue fund.

My personal opinion is that this is a decent use of city resources for an underserved community. I wish the MACC was located in a neighborhood that actually had a majority of residents that it was built to serve so that it could act as an anchor for the neighborhood. The blue line will help a with access so that's better at least.

Mic dropped.