[Urbannizer]

https://austin.towers.net/congress-a...s-shape-maybe/

A plan to construct a 55-story tower containing multifamily residences behind historic storefronts on Congress Avenue would be the first new residential building on the so-called Main Street of Texas since the completion of the Austonian condos in 2010 — but the proposal faces scrutiny from the city’s Historic Landmark Commission due to this important downtown corridor’s many protections and design restrictions.

The committee’s recommendation is to postpone this item to its upcoming December 14 meeting, asking the applicant to provide more information including detailed illustrations of the potential building along with the request for a deeper setback and increased restraint in the project’s expected demolition. It ain’t easy to build anything new on Congress Avenue, and we often find ourselves at odds with the HLC’s old-fashioned takes on this kind of growth when the alternative often seems to be allowing underutilized historic buildings to decay — but in this case, we also think the developers ought to show a bit more of their work before getting the green light.