AUSTIN | Millennium Rainey | 99 FEET | 8 FLOORS | Complete
 

More high-rises could be headed to downtown Austin's southeastern edge, with a local developer envisioning two towers in the Rainey Street area that each could reach as tall as 50 stories.

The Sutton Co. wants to build the project on about two acres it has under contract bounded by Rainey and Driskill streets and East Avenue. The development would continue the transformation of a part of downtown where a new nightlife scene has emerged with the addition of numerous bars and restaurants.

Together, the towers could have as many as 800 to 1,000 apartment and condominium units, along with hotel rooms in the first tower to break ground, said Mac Pike, a principal — along with Wally Scott — in the Sutton Co. The first tower, which Pike estimated would cost $75 million to $100 million to build, is at least a year to 18 months from breaking ground and would require a number of city approvals, he said.

http://www.statesman.com/multimedia/...y_1440262c.jpg

http://www.statesman.com/business/re...s-2311367.html

Very Nice!

Where will the bars go?
 

http://www.statesman.com/multimedia/...e_1440416c.jpg By Robert Clazada ( http://www.statesman.com/business/re...s-2311367.html )

Hello all, my first time posting.

Will they be planning to demolish the bars on the east side of rainey? Or are those all houses still? I'm thinking Icenhauers and the future El Naranjo, in particular. But those might be a bit further south. Thank god it looks like the ihop will be bulldozed.

I'm so glad Rainey is being developed, but man is it a mess. Hopefully all of the parking entrances can be on East Ave.

Sorry to disappoint you, but the IHOP is the building north of the red box. It is located on Cesar Chavez and East Avenue. Icenhauers and El Naranjo and other bars are all located outside the red box also. As you can see,they are going to be building around Luster Pearl, which should be interesting.

I hope that this building can spur the development of sidewalks and other improvements that we on Rainey street have been pushing for years. Also, I completely agree with you in hoping that the major parking entrance is on East Avenue. The city really needs stop delaying and develop a real comprehensive plan for dealing with growth and traffic in this area. As of now, there is no way the Rainey area can handle the traffic this project and Skyhouse will generate. It barely works now...

What I really hope for is that the city considers moving part of its urban rail network to directly serve Rainey street. With ~3000 potential residents in this area, it looks to be developing into easily the densest residential area downtown.

That's an understatement. Some of these idiots come thru here at 45mph on a regular basis. The street has parking on both sides, if car door was to be opened, it would get taken off. Pedestrians are all over the place and they drive thru recklessly until someone gets killed. One even flipped upside down a while back.

Where would the stop be?

Looking forward to it

Rainey Center
 

It looks like it officially has a name now.

This says both towers could be up to 50 floors. And they'll be standing about 300 feet away from the 50-story Fairmont Austin (hotel).

http://www.statesman.com/business/re...inglePage=true

How much longer are we giving that IHOP at CC and 35?

I hope they do get rid of that IHOP. That is a prime location for a great development and could have a fair amount of height as well.

Wasn't this the site where a 30 plus floor Van Zante something or other Hotel / condo was planned, then reduced, and now shelved? Regardless, I'm not holding my breath on this one. Out of all the planned projects, I feel this and the Farmont (formally Grande) are least likely to get built. My reasoning is the timing. By the time they get around to breaking ground, the overall scope of those projects may be too large for the demand once the newer construction nears completion. Anything can happen in the next few years in today's economy, especially in an election year. I'm guessing the Manchester Group is waiting until next year to break ground as a wait and see strategy. But I fear the farther they push out the ground breaking, the least likely it will ever get built. And am I missing something or does 100 mil seem kind of light for a project this big, even for the first phase?

No. The Hotel Van Zandt is still planned. It's planned for the lot immediately north of The Shore. But, it has been chopped to 16 floors and about 180 feet.

And I disagree. The Fairmont Hotel is already listed on their hotel website. Hotels never put up a project on their website unless they're serious about building it. I think once we get closer to Waller Creek being transformed, we'll see an explosion of new projects being planned for the east side of downtown. That and the trail improvements, boathouse and other improvements to the east side of downtown near the water. Developers won't be able to contain themselves. I know I hardly can.

That's what I thought at first, too, but apparently they're wanting to do it in phases. They even said there might be a midrise office building planned with it eventually. They said the first phase would be $75 to $100 million.

I very much disagree about the Fairmont. That already seems like a done deal as Kevin says.

On this project though, I'm with you Genral. I think something big wil be put here, but whatever ends up being built will not be as large or as grand as is currently envisioned.

It is probably an estimate on the construction financing amount. Shonda Novak also indicated that the JW Marriott was a $275MM project. It isn't. It is a $325-$350MM project, of which $275MM has been secured as interim construction financing.

The developers hired Drone Above a couple weeks ago to take an aerial photo of what it would look like from the top of this. Here is the blog on it: http://www.droneabove.com/1/post/201...wn-austin.html

And the image:
http://www.droneabove.com/uploads/5/...14068_orig.jpg
http://www.droneabove.com/1/post/201...wn-austin.html

:previous:

Good find. Hopefully this means they are rapidly moving forward on this. I want to see a couple more of the "big ones" breakground before I get too excited about the new boom.

Well... this won't be popular... but I hope that project does not make. I would prefer to see upper Rainey remain as it is.

You've turned NIMBY lately.

I'm sorry I have to disagree with you on this. I have become a frequent patron to Raniey street as of late and have met people who go there as well as work at the various bars and lounges and from the conversations I've had indicate people are excited to see this project as well as Skyhouse happen. They know it will only help the area more with more residences in the area.

Fact is Rainey Street is now apart of the CBD with unlimited heights. The people in that area know the city changed the zoning for a reason. At this point there should be no argument over what should and what should not be built there.

Me and Kevin have been out there as well discussing Rainey Street and one of the things we observed is despite highrises being nearby, with the large tree canopy you can barely see them and anybody who doesn't pay attention would probably not even notice there were highrises nearby.

Rainey street is a uniquely changing district and I stress changing because it is in transition. The fabric is an interesting blend of turn of the century 1900s houses that are turning into wonderful restaurants, lounges and bars. It is also turning into a great new neighborhood and its because of new residential towers that it is happening.

Rainey Center and Skyhouse will only enhance the area and they wont be the last. I also don't see the point of limiting highrise development only on the lower or southern end of Rainey. It should be spread throughout the district.

The Rainey Street District is one of my favorite up and coming parts of Downtown if not my favorite. I look forward to seeing these towers rise up hopefully soon.

I think these would be wonderful for that area. It will not be replacing anything like the Pearl for example. And what has made that area so attractive is the culture of people who frequent it now are exactly the type these apartment towers would be perfect for. Our I should say, those that would live in these towers are exactly the sort that frequent Rainey. It would be good for the business there IMO.

I wonder how many units these are planned for? For how big they are that could be like 600-800 units. And with the $100m price tag they'll probably be much more affordable than what is currently available in the area, and through out downtown. That is perfect for Rainey! That would be a TON of more affordable housing downtown and boy does DT need that in a bad way. It has become crazy expensive.

The one big thing IMO the city should require them to put the parking entrance and exit on the I-35 frontage road, and NOT on Rainey. It should also require street level retail on Rainey and for the developers to build a sidewalk like what was done on S. Lamar.

Thats funny.

Yeah I am proud downtown NIMBY!

I am just not part of the mindless.... Higher higher higher cry. If I lived on lower Rainey I would fight like hell to keep upper Rainey in tack. It's what gives it flavor!

replace upper rainey with all hight rises and you, once again, have anywhere USA.

Look at th quality and mix that makes an area interesting.

Quality over quantity.

Patience over infill

Great find, but that only puts the height at around 300 to 325 feet judging by the nearby buildings.

And nice angle on the San Jacinto street wall over there.

And I think the redevelopment of Rainey is going to be organic. Don't expect there to be developers just coming in and buying and demoing all the houses. Obviously, some of them are fine as is and can be restored and re-purposed as bars or coffee shops or other small businesses.

It's going to be the houses that are falling apart where the owners are looking for a way out. Have you ever seen the leaning house of Rainey?