http://www.mystatesman.com/news/busi...emium-referral


http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/...psrz5zak9m.png

I like this vision. I don't think it will happen, at least not in my lifetime, but some of you that remember my 'What if ' thread..., this would qualify as a big what if. Setting the politics and nimbys' aside, this is plausible. In terms of satisfying my skyline to match our population ego, this would pretty much do it. Imagine staring out your window from north of the lake and checking out the skyline to the south.
They should have added a bridge to the east of Congress to the drawing though. Whether for rail, pedestrian, cars, or all three, since this is fantasy land, might as well go all out...and I'll excuse where the artist placed the Independent and the Rockie Mountains in the background.

my GAWD
:slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob::slob:

BUT the placement of the Independent is all wrong...

Jeepers I hope this plan can actually happen without stupid ass Bouldin neighbor-NIMBYs freaking out about their over-priced cottages being near skyscrapers.

The council presentation should be linked here

http://www.austintexas.gov/departmen...160405-wrk.htm

This is probably the clearest image of the vision presented yesterday. Still very automobile oriented. Good to see ROW reserved for future rail, though.

http://i.imgur.com/lzogZXv.png

Taking a page from your book...lol. I creamed a little in my pants after seeing that picture. :worship:


Can you imagine what could look like twin downtowns meeting at the river! Man it would put Austin on a whole other level.

Now back to reality... We are a good 20+ years off before we see South Shore Central being built out. There will be a lot of factors and market drivers that will dictate how the district forms. I think the majority of people in the city (definitely in city gov) have come to the conclusion that DT will have to expand south of the river. It really began decades back with the Hyatt, One Texas Center and a host of smaller office buildings. At least with the South Shore Central District plan, they can take a big step in how they want it to look rather than letting it haphazardly develop on it's own.

One thing is certain, South Shore Central will change the face of Austin no matter what it ultimately ends up looking like.

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

I kinda like this version. :cheers:

Lol Maybe the Hayatt will decide to build a whole new hotel across Congress and the developers that recently completed the Cathern and the VMU will see the sense in having their investments torn down for a football stadium.:cool:

Maybe in an other parrallel universe hehe.

I still think that a soccer stadium at least could work and fit into the district if they incorporate it into a mixed use complex where it would be used day and night instead of having a dead zone in the middle of a vibrant district.

By the way, if you added that stadium, love how you made the letters of Austin into the shape of a bat.

I personally think this project is a massive failure of it doesn't look like the iteration above. It should be dominated by mix-used midrises (10-15 stories) but absolutely needs a collection of point towers right near the Congress Bridge. I envision one or two 30-story towers and a signature 500-600 footer right at the edge like depicted above. I love the idea of a public park fronting the water, maybe even an artificial beach. This can be a defining section of the city that swings development across the river. I hope they don't mess it up and build 5-7 story glass boxes with poor street interaction.

Between this, the Brackenridge tract, Medical Center and the Capitol Complex plans we have a helluva lot of stuff to look forward to mid and long term. At buildout, that equals about 100 buildings total among those four projects as they are currently envisioned.

I think that the idea of having a plan is sometimes seen as a bad thing (some of the comments, etc.). The haphazard development of the area is the reason it's so dull right now (bland buildings with seas of parking lots and no interaction with neighbors). Any major investment in anything ever has come with planning, tweaks to plans, and more planning as things change and grow. Plans don't mean you have to live and die by them, but it means that you have direction and aren't flying by the seat of your pants. If the city is serious about continuing to grow in a healthy and beneficial way for generations to come, it will approve this type of plan for the area.

I have high hopes for Austin decades to come. I think our problem is that we're very interested in developments and we see so much potential. Not everyone is so passionate about it so it takes them longer to come around on quality urban design. I'm excited about this project and hope that even the greatest opponents to development can see the potential and agree to compromise.

We're already pushing 200 high rises, so that would put us around 300 then.

But a lot of those 100 buildings won't be considered high-rises - especially the ones planned for the Capitol Complex.

Questions:
1. Does anyone have any idea what's happening with that seemingly-abandoned apartment complex at Riverside and S. First, the one adjacent to the Catherine? I can't even find a thread for that project. It's been a VERY long time since I've seen any progress at that corner, which gives the appearance that the developer was into some shady dealing or was under-financed or something. It reminds me of the type of thing that happened in the mid-80s when the local market crashed and many projects were abandoned.

2. In the illustration posted by Matt, they're showing new highrises at the SE corner of Congress and Riverside, where there is currently a fairly nice strip mall, as strip malls go. What's up with that, is that property up for grabs and is it slated for redevelopment? I presume "yes" to the second part of the question, otherwise it would be depicted as is in the rendering.

Of course I shared the same orgasmic enjoyment of the rendering posted by the Genral and dearly wish for it to be at least vaguely prognostic as to what will come to fruition on that land. The proportions and spacing are perfect, at least from the perspective offered. Funny thing is, nobody will ever see it from that perspective in real life, unless there are plans for a Burj Khalifa knockoff at Holly and Comal. Hey, ya never know. And if you want to challenge me on the hypothetical location, I studied a map to try to get the perspective right but I bet one of you OCD chaps can nail it with extreme precision.

I regularly park across the street when I walk the hike and bike trail and I can confirm that the VMU is being finished out albiet slowly. There was quite a lot of brick work that seemed to crawl but that has been completed and overall work has picked up. In fact it looks like they are close to completion. I was worried by how the finished product would turn out especially given the sluggish speed at which they were building it but I must say it's looking pretty nice. If I could, I'd rent the top level apartment on the northwest corner with the large balcony. The view of the river and city alone would make the high monthly payments worth it plus there will be plenty of highrise construction to enjoy for the next few years.

That place had a very small work force. At one point they stopped working on the north half and focused on the south half. Once the south half was almost completed they re-started work on the northern portion.

Almost all of this land is owned by private businesses. You can't force them to close and open up apartments.

The point is to push the entire area towards a cohesive district that is public friendly. They aren't buying everything and re-building like they can do at the brackenridge hospital.

Outside of the Statesman tract, not much will probably happen with this vision any time soon. And the Statesman tract is going to be mostly a bat watching park. So there won't be much new construction for a long time.

There actually are quite a few more parcels in play as well. Much of the vision is aspirational, but about half of it could actually happen in the next few years.

The Statesman tract is more than just a park. 4 of those projects in the scheme above are entirely on the Statesman tract, and once those are developed (and are likely to developed in quick succession if not simultaneously), you'll likely see development spread to neighboring parcels pretty quickly.

Quoting myself. I wasn't expecting the news on Hooters triangle to break the next day! It is only the first of several to come.