AUSTIN | Project Updates Thread Part II

[urbancore]

I too heard it was under contract quite awhile back. It was just a rumor to me, but my source, an attorney here in town, was serious as a heart attack.

[AusTxDevelopment]

Originally Posted by Dream Sequence

Doesn't the state own the land? I would imagine they'd have to go via a public RFP or something to sell it vs behind the scenes.

It's owned by the State of Texas, managed by the Texas Facilities Commission and bonded by the Texas Public Finance Authority (which is listed as the owner of record on the TCAD files). So yeah, not likely an off-market sale. However, they may be doing some sort of Public Private Partnership (PPP) to redevelop the site. The government has ways to work the rules to get what they want.

[lzppjb]

Not sure how I feel about this. If the entire lot is developed, I hope they put in a street grid, and not have it feel so separated from the neighborhood.

[wwmiv]

They’d better save the historic buildings for retail and only develop around what’s already there, street grid or not.

[Sigaven]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

They’d better save the historic buildings for retail and only develop around what’s already there, street grid or not.

I've never been to the campus before, but looking on street maps, it doesn't look like many of the buildings are historic. Most of it looks like it's from the 80's/90's (can anyone confirm when these big main buildings were built?). Either way, despite their relatively recent construction they appear to be very nice quality looking buildings and I hope they are saved and reused in some way.

[wwmiv]

Whatever is historic, I meant, however much of it is left.

[jbjjbjbb]

Originally Posted by Sigaven

I've never been to the campus before, but looking on street maps, it doesn't look like many of the buildings are historic. Most of it looks like it's from the 80's/90's (can anyone confirm when these big main buildings were built?). Either way, despite their relatively recent construction they appear to be very nice quality looking buildings and I hope they are saved and reused in some way.

The 2017 Campus Master Plan has a lot of history, including a map on page C20 showing the historic buildings.
It looks like most of the campus is from the 1990s, but there are a couple buildings from the 1920s that the plan recommends preserving. There are also some cottages and an auditorium from the 1950s.

[KevinFromTexas]

I remember this issue came up 4 years ago, and the school wasn't crazy about the idea.

http://www.fox7austin.com/news/idea-...administrators

[KevinFromTexas]

There's a new backup file for March 25 showing a rezoning review for 712 West 16th Street. Currently, that whole block is vacant except for one old home, but there are a lot of big oak trees there with a tree canopy over the street, so I don't know if they'd be able to move those.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/71...!4d-97.7466357

http://austintexas.gov/cityclerk/boa...tings/31_1.htm

712 W. 16th Street—Rezone from SF-3-H to GO-MU-H-CO (Postponed from December 17, 2018 meeting)

That zoning code, if I'm right, means it's going to from single family residence to mixed use housing combining district.

By the way, here's a list of all of the zoning codes for Austin:
https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/de...ning_guide.pdf

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

That zoning code, if I'm right, means it's going to from single family residence to mixed use housing combining district.

Historic single family. Which is probably going to play a larger role in a redevelopment scenario than even those trees.

Edit: actually followed your link, and now I see it's the meeting of the _historic_ landmark commission, so yeah that makes sense.

[427MM]

City Manager Cronk's memo re land use reform:

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/edims/pio...u-f-UTO5RWtUes

Here it is--with some luck our city will see a new land development code that will allow for more housing/office/retail in the areas that need it the most. NIMBYs will do all they can to fight this and keep development difficult, costly and inefficient. Usual tactics include trying to slow it down and always hiding the ball. We shall see...

If you care about urbanism, walkability, transit, sustainability and the like there is not a single thing that is more important over the next 25 years for Austin than what happens here. Get involved!!

[_Matt]

Originally Posted by 427MM

City Manager Cronk's memo re land use reform:

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/edims/pio...u-f-UTO5RWtUes

Here it is--with some luck our city will see a new land development code that will allow for more housing/office/retail in the areas that need it the most. NIMBYs will do all they can to fight this and keep development difficult, costly and inefficient. Usual tactics include trying to slow it down and always hiding the ball. We shall see...

If you care about urbanism, walkability, transit, sustainability and the like there is not a single thing that is more important over the next 25 years for Austin than what happens here. Get involved!!

This is a good read. Nice to know the specific areas of policy input the council will be providing.

[bossabreezes]

I'm not sure this is the best place for this kind of question: but here it goes.

My partner works in Tech and has opportunities in Austin. We both live in New York presently. This move is more of a theory at this point than an immediate reality. I've always lived in very large cities (10 million plus population metros.:New York, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo). I'm wondering if anyone on this forum is from a larger city and how their adaptation is to Austin.

What does Austin feel like? I've never been there. Does it feel similar to Atlanta?

I will not lie, I'm very skeptical about moving there and am more in favor of staying in New York or going back to Brazil, but want to remain open minded. I've looked at real estate, and I'm inclined to buy if we move (mainly for investment purposes), but the real estate seems very expensive for an inland city.

Any information, opinions and insight are appreciated!

[freerover]

Originally Posted by bossabreezes

I'm not sure this is the best place for this kind of question: but here it goes.

My partner works in Tech and has opportunities in Austin. We both live in New York presently. This move is more of a theory at this point than an immediate reality. I've always lived in very large cities (10 million plus population metros.:New York, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo). I'm wondering if anyone on this forum is from a larger city and how their adaptation is to Austin.

What does Austin feel like? I've never been there. Does it feel similar to Atlanta?

I will not lie, I'm very skeptical about moving there and am more in favor of staying in New York or going back to Brazil, but want to remain open minded. I've looked at real estate, and I'm inclined to buy if we move (mainly for investment purposes), but the real estate seems very expensive for an inland city.

Any information, opinions and insight are appreciated!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/wiki...ving_to_austin

[paul78701]

Originally Posted by bossabreezes

I'm not sure this is the best place for this kind of question: but here it goes.

My partner works in Tech and has opportunities in Austin. We both live in New York presently. This move is more of a theory at this point than an immediate reality. I've always lived in very large cities (10 million plus population metros.:New York, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo). I'm wondering if anyone on this forum is from a larger city and how their adaptation is to Austin.

What does Austin feel like? I've never been there. Does it feel similar to Atlanta?

I will not lie, I'm very skeptical about moving there and am more in favor of staying in New York or going back to Brazil, but want to remain open minded. I've looked at real estate, and I'm inclined to buy if we move (mainly for investment purposes), but the real estate seems very expensive for an inland city.

Any information, opinions and insight are appreciated!

I definitely wouldn't compare it to Atlanta. It's not the same feel at all.

It's also not nearly big enough to compare to NYC. If you want an active and walkable NYC-like feel, you'll want to live downtown or among the newer condo/apartment developments in the East 5th/6th St corridor. There are plenty of restaurants, bars, activities, amenities, etc. in both areas.

I'm from Chicago and am more than happy with living downtown (and with what is available). I also work downtown and don't need/have a car. Public transportation isn't like NYC, but from where I live, the bus routes are definitely good enough to get one around the urban core and to/from the airport. Getting a ride share is easy. Car2Go is available. The Enterprise car rental in the middle of downtown is easy to get a car from for cheap if you need it.

I have rarely run into anyone who has moved to Austin and didn't like it. There's a reason the city is growing like it is.

[papertowelroll]

Deleted

[the Genral]

Originally Posted by bossabreezes

I'm not sure this is the best place for this kind of question: but here it goes.

My partner works in Tech and has opportunities in Austin. We both live in New York presently. This move is more of a theory at this point than an immediate reality. I've always lived in very large cities (10 million plus population metros.:New York, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo). I'm wondering if anyone on this forum is from a larger city and how their adaptation is to Austin.

What does Austin feel like? I've never been there. Does it feel similar to Atlanta?

I will not lie, I'm very skeptical about moving there and am more in favor of staying in New York or going back to Brazil, but want to remain open minded. I've looked at real estate, and I'm inclined to buy if we move (mainly for investment purposes), but the real estate seems very expensive for an inland city.

Any information, opinions and insight are appreciated!

I'm from an hour upstate from NYC but frequently visited friends in Queens and Brooklyn. Love Austin, never leaving. I can always visit NY. And when I do, I make it a point to pig out at my favorite NY deli's and Italian restaurants and pizzeria's. Being Italian, I can tell you there's nothing in Austin that compares...you know what I mean, its the Hudson River water that makes some of the difference. After over 30 years here, that's really what I miss the most. I don't need to tell you how amazing and exciting it is to live in NYC. I spent a few days in the Bronx helping some friends out after the 1977 blackout and kept an eye over my shoulder during the Son of Sam period, learned to be street smart in NYC during those years. Not needed here. Totally casual. You should consider this compared to NYC, with emphasis on compared to NYC...there's not much to do here, but just enough. Austin like NYC is a state of mind. You should come visit for a week or two to see if you can pick up on the vibe. And remember, if you move here and get homesick (I actually don't anymore) you can always visit NY, we have plenty of direct flights going there, and back. I remember after I moved here, my first trip back to NY was awesome, but I couldn't wait to get back home to Austin, and I moved here sight unseen if that says something. Love at first sight

[wwmiv]

In the New York City area, the closest approximation in terms of urbanity is Newark, except a HELL of a lot nicer.

[paul78701]

Originally Posted by the Genral

And when I do, I make it a point to pig out at my favorite NY deli's and Italian restaurants and pizzeria's. Being Italian, I can tell you there's nothing in Austin that compares...

I'm going to push back a bit on that. You should try Numero 28 at the corner of 2nd and San Antonio Streets. It is run by genuine Italians: http://www.numero28austin.com/

Austin and Miami are it's only locations outside of NYC:
http://www.numero28.com/

[bossabreezes]

Thank you everyone who gave their input to my question!