Two new apartment towers announced in the statesman today that are supposed to start soon. Awesome.

Austin is doing so well.

The 24st. Rio Grande tower breaking ground next month & the 19st. Aquaterra tower breaking ground soon, Austin is doing very well.

As I crossed the river on Mopac yesterday, heading north, I looked over at Austin's skyline and realized that for me, it has become the most beautiful in this part of the country. I know it's not the biggest skyline, but there's something about the way it has all come together that blows my mind.

Yeah - here's the article in the Statesman:

Two more apartment towers planned for downtown
Architect: projects will make ‘distinctive’ mark on skyline
By Shonda Novak
American-Statesman Staff
November 9, 2012

And it's only going to get better, in the same awesome way. The Capital View Corridor and the height restrictions along the waterfront really direct Austin's urban development in a unique fashion. It will definitely give Austin its own look and character. It already has.

I am interested in hearing more of what you mean by this comment. Especially, "It will definitely give Austin its own look and character." What are some of the differences from other cities? The skyline really does look great in Austin.

Now if we can get a law limiting the use of stucco on high rises then these new buildings will continue to look good for years to come. The new Hyatt Place is an example of how "ugly" even new stucco can look. Stucco on a high rise just says "I am a very cheap building...I was built to just make money NOT increase the quality of the cityscape."

That's good to hear the 7th & Rio Grande Tower will start. That should help to burst the bubble for highrise development in that area of downtown.

And that's cool about StreetLights at Barton Springs (formerly Aquaterra), although, I'm still not sure about the design. It's supposed to be a long building, running east/west along the south side of that super block. I just hope it doesn't look too imposing and monstrous since it will be very visible as you approach downtown from the south. The only height I've ever seen for the building is 19 floors and 199 feet. That would make it the tallest building south of the river. The next tallest is the Hyatt which is 185 feet tall. Judging from the height of 199 feet with 19 floors, I'm assuming they're planning about 6 levels of above ground parking. Park levels usually are very low, maybe only 7 feet. So 6 of them would be 42 feet. That would leave about 157 feet for actual residential levels.

Here's the architect's website. They're also working on some designs for East Avenue. One of them is a 17-story apartment tower. They also have a 16-story condo tower planned that will overlook Lake Travis.
http://www.rhodepartners.com/webbrochure.pdf

Sure. Height restrictions and view corridors arrange and organize skyscrapers. They direct height to certain locations. Instead of Austin having gigantic buildings along the waterfront, like some cities, we'll have something that looks a little less intimidating and imposing from that angle. The buildings in front will not block out the buildings behind, so it will look graduated and picturesque. View corridors prioritize landmarks and build around them. They emphasize buildings that residents feel like give their city its character. In Austin, it's really just the state capitol building, but in places like Washington D.C. or London or Paris they have the potential to have a much greater impact, as there are more landmarks and more buildings to prioritize and emphasize. Of course, D.C. still has those hardcore height restrictions that make it more like a European city than an American one (which I don't necessarily mind), but if they ever were to loosen those restrictions, view corridors would undoubtedly need to be used.

Eventually, this all led to Austin forming a deeper understanding of downtown and resulted in it being organized into different "districts", which further directed development, rather than it being like Houston where anything can be built anywhere, due to the absence of zoning codes. Austin's development is more deliberate, less random, than in some other places. That's good urban planning and it's what differentiates us from lots of foreign cities, in particular.

So, basically, Austin's urban landscape will (continue to) develop according to what we value, what we prioritize, and what culture different areas of downtown have developed. We just have to keep standing up for who we are and what we want Austin to be so that we don't become a bland, cookie-cutter city, but instead remain a unique, charming place, like we've always been.

Some updated construction photos. All iPhone pics, so forgive.


Whitley:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8208/8...e271d4b6_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8062/8...820ee292_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8342/8...c70f6bae_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8489/8...241308d5_b.jpg

They've completely removed the road between the Whitley and the hotel:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8197/8...47b65f37_b.jpg


JW Marriott:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8350/8...5e2d386c_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8350/8...bcc219e9_c.jpg


Gables at Park Plaza:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8201/8...53d9eaa2_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8061/8...5dc85b65_b.jpg

That Whitley building doesn't look bad actually. And what are they doing with the road between Whitley and the Hotel? Maybe putting underground power lines? Would they have to remove the entire road for that?

Yeah, it actually didn't end up that bad after all. Turns out they'll also have a Royal Blue at the base....which is amazing. In terms of the road work, I believe it is part of the new 3rd st. redevelopment....bike lanes, trees, wider sidewalks, etc.

Wow! Another Royal Blue? I met the owner once and completely forgot his name but good for him. Also, good that its to improve the streets. Hopefully that area gets filled with more pedestrians.

George is AMAZING. Royal Blue is taking over downtown. I've always been a loyal customer. By 2014 downtown will have at least 6 locations....including one on the eastside.

It gets me wondering with Trader Jo's opening up, Whole Foods and now 6 Royal Blues, people better not complain about there not being enough places to shop for groceries in downtown. lol!

Speaking of Royal Blue, yesterday while driving on Congress I saw they block off the 2 parking spaces for the expansion of the seating spaces.

Yeah! They started construction this week on the parklet ! Migol, Yeah....urban dwellers will have NO reason to complain about no grocery options. Oh, and I forgot about the Russian House grocery store on 5th! :cool:

did this just recently open? I've never heard of this one.

Just opened last month. I NEED to check it out
http://www.facebook.com/RussianBistr...90627011018285

Austin's Proposed Gondola System
 

http://i1342.photobucket.com/albums/...y/wire_012.png
http://i1342.photobucket.com/albums/...e-wire-008.jpg
http://i1342.photobucket.com/albums/...e-wire-013.jpg
http://i1342.photobucket.com/albums/...e-wire-014.jpg
http://i1342.photobucket.com/albums/...y/wire_003.png
http://i1342.photobucket.com/albums/...ap_Phase05.png
http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/ne...e.html?ana=fbk

Wow, that looks badass!!! But really? How many people could this possibly carry? Portland has one but it basically just goes up one big hill, this is beyond ambitious. I also wonder how it would do in a real bad storm?