The most recent filings indicate that this will be an office/apartment/retail project.

My friend who works at WF was told that parking there was no longer available due to pending construction. They were told to park at the new garage on Lamar near the Nakona.

The Bowie is butt ugly from that side. The parking structure just looms over everything, and it is barely disguised. A nice building across the street would at least distract the eye from that bulky podium. Here's hoping for something nice.

Wrong thread for this, but it's in context: I still think they have a long way to go toward finishing the base portion of The Bowie. Did anyone notice that they're covering the exposed concrete portions with glass now? I think it will look fairly decent when all is said and done.

http://i.imgur.com/pX2qlMU.jpg

alright y'all, I'm gonna try and dig for info tomorrow at work... Let's hope it's a mixed-use glassy monolith ready to sprout up! :cheers:

They were supposed to go before the planning commission and request a rezoning on the 28th of October but got postponed until the 11th of November, I think. So there's definitely some activity here.

Here's an update from TWC News Austin.

http://austin.twcnews.com/content/ne...st-5th-street/

http://images.texas.ynn.com/media/20...5690857f3d.jpg

YES! Hoping this one is tall

Yes! At least 450'! :rolleyes: That 450' foot mark is the sweet spot for developers. I'm guessing that as the surface parking lots ourside of the CVCs disappear the sweet spot will get taller.

Let's hope so...I'm trying not to be such a pessimist (It's a new year's resolution)...but I'll bet 5 bucks this won't be taller than 10 stories.

This stinks. As much as I love new development, this was my go-to parking downtown. Free overnight; with no worries of towing.

I wouldn't mind a little more shopping/retail in this area. Especially with all the nearby residential growth.

Yeah, 5th could use some more shopping destinations besides Whole Foods. Hoping they include another big anchor tenant.

I think the previous plan was about 25-30 stories, so I'm not expecting anything taller than that. But who knows? Maybe they're feeling inspired by all the surrounding development.

With Book People, REI, Waterloo, West Elm, etc. along with Whole Foods, I think that area already is a pretty good shopping destination but would certainly welcome more. What type of anchor tenant are you thinking?

Perhaps mix in some everyday neighborhood retail and services, such as a CVS or Walgreens. The old plan for the Whole Foods block (late 90s) would have included an urban Target, among others.

Just curious... how many pharmacies are there in the central business district? The only one that comes to mind is the CVS on Congress.

Actually we really could use a Pharmacy! The next closest is either down Lamar
or Congress at Oltorf. OR the CVS on Guadalupe north of the university.
(The CVS on the drag does not have a Pharm and I think the entire universiy uses that CVS)

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Seems that the choices are limited for permanent residents. A 24-hr pharmacy would also be a nice option.

Here's an old Statesman article and rendering that I scanned in of the "Market Place at Sixth and Lamar" that was proposed by Schlosser Development the late 90s. Obviously it never came to fruition, with the exception of the Office Max building across W 5th street. Whole Foods now occupies the block along Lamar.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-S...6thLamar97.jpg

wait.... soo you saved that?? Wow ... you may have just won head geek! :cheers:

I have a box full of clippings like that. I was kicking myself for waiting too long to ask the relatives of my neighbor who had passed away who had "stacks" of old Austin newspapers going back to the 70s. I can only imagine what was in them.