I'm going to have to disagree on the quiet at night part. DT Austin's nightlife was much more condensed than it is now. The streets were filled with people especially West 5th through the Warehouse District which is a dead space today. We may have added more people DT, however we have lost a good chunk of entertainment space in areas that used to have high foot traffic. I was walking down 5th just lastnight and was thinking how it has changed compared to 5-10 years ago when there would be so many people walking the sidewalks that you would have to step into the street to walk by.

It's a lot harder to keep up with Domain development than CBD towers. If somebody could make a comprehensive list of upcoming Domain buildings, that would be a lifesaver.

Most of the Approved/Under Review/Proposed designations are subjective. Like I said, hard to keep track.

I use "Proposal" very loosely. I agree with you on the status of Railyard, though. I think West Ave. is still possible, and I really debated putting 56 East on the list. Even without those towers, it's still a very impressive list.

My size criteria was 200'.

This. None of our party districts, even the up and coming ones, can match the activity that Warehouse & 6th used to have regularly. Both of those districts used to compare to places like Bourbon Street (NOLA) and Broadway/Church (Nashville) but now pale in comparison to our peer cities’ entertainment districts’ activity.

Both of you are likely correct regarding those areas. I don’t remember all that activity, maybe before my time? Although, I never really hung out in the Warehouse district. I’m mostly talking about all the activity in Seaholm & Greenwater, which 5 years ago pretty much had no activity, and 2nd Street, which at least in my estimation feels like it has more foot traffic these days. I just remember what felt like a dearth between Whole Foods and the Violet Crown, whereas now, there’s all the activation with Seaholm, the Library, and the expanded 2nd Street. That’s the part I refer to as “busier”

I would say that on balance that there is more street activity in more places at more times as the years have gone by, but that that trend is caused by four things things which are mutually reinforcing and constitutive:

1. More residential
2. More tourists
3. More commercial
4. More office space

The outcome is that there is a better distribution of activity across space and time, as new residents have demanded new policies to keep noise and drama down from previous party districts while also opening up new competing options (Rainey, for instance) for residents, tourists, and shoppers alike that have taken some business away from 6th/4th. All in all, I’m not complaining about the trends because they’ve happened to pretty much every city. Nashville is starting to experience the same shift, whereas NOLA will probably never.

With all of the development and reformatting of bars into corporate spaces, Austinites who like to get fucked up and experience culture downtown need to come together and have a fireside brainstorming session about how and where we're going to be doing this in the future.

I guess everything is being pushed East? But that kind of takes us out of downtown, though, and I doubt that's what's best for Austin.

As someone who likes skyscraper development but also culture, to me it seems like the best case solution would be for concert venues to partner with high rise developers to incorporate live music venues into the ground-floor retail of some of these buildings, à la the W Hotel and ACL Live, instead of having more bland, corporate sports bars with stale, safe decor.

If we're going to salvage our reputation as a live music-loving city, it seems like this is something that's going to have to take place; whether by the music venue community coming together and doing this proactively, or by some city council action to mandate it for a certain percentage of downtown developments.

ACL Live (The Moody Theatre) is an outlier. It is not a fair comparison as there is SOOOOO much money behind their brand.

Nonetheless, I don't disagree with you. But, those "bland, corporate sports bars with stale, safe decor" are a far more secure investment than a live music venue (like ACL). One is exponentially more likely to succeed (financially) by developing a "simple" bar versus running and booking a live music venue no bigger than ACL Live. Heck, the Austin Music Hall didn't make enough money to stave-off the development of the property on which they sat. Live music venues need to own their land (or be a part of the ownership team of a piece of land) AND consistently book great shows to secure long-term existence.

I believe the question should be...how can we assist bar owners to incorporate live music into their themes/offerings on a daily or several days-a-week rotation?

We have a ton of enforced low rise zones that are pretty convenient for entertainment style development: CVCs.

I think the Warehouse district is the only area that had more nightlife 10 years ago than today. West 6th hasn't grown much, but I don't think it's shrunk either. Dirty might be slightly less packed on a Friday, but it is pretty much the same on Saturdays and Thursdays.

Of course Rainey appeared and is probably the single busiest place now. Red River has become a really awesome live music district with some nice bars as well. (IMO this area is much more important to protect than the Warehouse district was. Live music is Austin.) East sixth is now a bar district from the highway all the way to Chicon, which is incredible. We also have nice little cocktail areas on Caesar Chavez and 12th/Chicon. Then there is Rock Rose at the domain... Overall nightlife is doing okay.

Most people tend to have a rose colored view of places from the past. Entertainment districts are no different.

"It's just not the same." Well of course it isn't, but mostly because YOU are likely not the same. You are now a 40-something with a family instead of a 20-something post-college kid regularly going out and socializing. ("You" is just a general reference. This is for no one specific)

Long time locals and visitors seem to pine so hard about the warehouse district among other areas (and the "Austin of yesteryear"), yet conveniently ignore the fact that downtown was a barren disconnected sea of surface parking lots, un-activated sidewalks that rolled up at 5pm except for certain pockets during that era. You can't have one without the other when being nostalgic.

Had I been around and visited those places during the same time, maybe I too would have similar feelings, but since I wasn't, I don't.

But I DO think it's very important to be smart about development and preserve the "play" part of the whole modern Live/Work/Play motto. Otherwise it becomes a pretty sterile and generic environment very quickly.

Very well said. I get tired of hearing people complain and try to convince others that Austin has changed for the worse. (People who have spent much less time here than I have no less.) I vehemently disagree with their assessments. Many of the old restaurants, bars, etc. that people lament about losing were never all that great to begin with. If they were that great, they would probably still be in business. Plus, for every place that has been lost, many more have sprung up to take their place. Many of those new places are now considered Austin institutions. There are now more cool, great spots in town than there ever were.

The culture of Austin hasn't changed much over the last 20+ years that I've known it as home. The Austin culture is what created all of the old and continues to create the next generation of new and awesome. I don't see the Austin culture changing anytime soon. All it seems to do is draw in more like minded, creative, entrepreneurial, etc. people that help make it even better.

You hit the hammer on the nail with you're comment. What you suggest is exactly what I've been wanting to see. Example Austin Music Hall (Yes yes it had bad sound distribution) but why couldn't the developer of 3rd @ Shoal incorporate a music venue into their project... I mean it would have been a thousand times better than what they did. At one time Austin was known for having 250+ music venues within Downtown. Even the NYT years back mentioned that we had more music venues per capita Downtown within walking distance than any other city in America. We can no longer say that about DT. Something that needs to be rectified. As I stated in another thread it's why SXSW was able to thrive and grow but its clear SXSW has shifted and spread out more than it used to. Some may see benefit to that but I see it as a hassle that people have to travel farther to get where they want or need to go than they did 10 years ago.

I think the city needs to add entertainment/music venues as a required part of any development that is taking venue space away. Office buildings make the most sense when it comes to incorporating clubs or music venues.

My concern is most of what you just mentioned is not downtown (outside of Red River - which I agree is vital and should be seriously protected).

Entertainment districts are expanding out of downtown while shrinking or stagnating within downtown. That's not what I'd like to see for our city. As it stands, residents or workers on the west or south side have to essentially drive through downtown instead of into downtown to get to the newest/best venues. That's kinda lame.

I thought something similar with Austin Music Hall. Bad venue for sound, but great location. Office buildings are prime for incorporating that because of the "normal" work hours and most concerts starting later in the evening.

I could even see a compromise of retail on one side of a building and the entrance into a venue on the other. There really could be a symbiotic relationship between street-level retail, a concert venue (and likely other uses by various group sand organizations for mid-week meetings or smaller conference events), and office above. Parking is the only issue that I could see because people want parking *in* their building rather than using a neighboring garage or (gasp) using public transportation, etc.

They were wrong: Branson, MO claims that title.

Let's Easter Sunday this thread.

After a (relatively) slow 2017 & 2018 for major project groundbreakings, 2019 has turned out to be a good year for major Austin skyscraper starts. My best guess for 300'+ projects that will start before this year is over are:

6 x Guadalupe
The Avenue
Domain II
Domain IV

I don't count 48 East (Natiivo) because I consider that one already started since it has financing and demo was completed.

44 East and Hanover Republic Square are "take it to the bank" projects as far as I'M concerned. But those will probably start Q1 2020.

Am I right in counting up 14 CBD projects that should be U/C by the end of 2019?

Nativo
44 East
Indeed
Google
Molar
Tommy
Marriott
Quincy
6X
Hanover
Avenue
Alexan
300 Colorado
Court House

That doesn't leave us too many more to get going. This year has been incredible.

If we can start on the Republic next year....I can die a happy man. ATX, what are the odds you think this will happen?

I can't stand having to wait to see what our skyline will look like in 2023, but now that I think about it.....this huge "wave" is coming to an end. I can't see another big wave coming soon.

I would argue that it's only the beginning. Don't forget South Shore Central, possibly some new 300 footers in the West Campus area once zoning is changed, we may have not heard much more on new proposals, but at the same time, there are likely some big projects being worked on behind the scenes. What I do think may happen is whatever developers are working on, they are probably going to wait while this current building boom commences. Several factors come into play for this reasoning. I think we will hear about some more developments eventually.

Also Brackenridge! I'm thinking northern downtown and south shore will be the focus of the next wave. Although, it may be another decade or so before we see these fully materialized. Seaholm/greenwater have taken about that long since we started hearing the first murmurings in '08 or so. I guess the last piece of the puzzle will be Google tower.

Hopefully the Austin Stateman's new campus will happen. That would completely revitalize a big section of south shore.