AUSTIN | Shoal Creek Walk | 219 FEET | 15 FLOORS | COMPLETE

[KevinFromTexas]

Construction cam:

http://shoalcreekwalk.com/construction/

http://downtownaustinblog.org/2009/1...-walk-concept/

Shoal Creek Walk Concept
2009 DECEMBER 11

by Jude Galligan

Schlosser Development is proposing a new mixed-use complex in the parking lot to the east of the downtown Austin Whole Foods. The following renderings and description were recently submitted to the City of Austin Design Commission and will be presented on Monday, December 14th. The status is currently conceptual.

[KevinFromTexas]

I believe this was a project description presented to the City of Austin by the developer.

http://downtownaustinblog.org/2009/1...-walk-concept/

The Shoal Creek Walk, a proposed development project from Schlosser Development, will be a true mixed-use building complex located at the corner of West Sixth and Bowie Streets in downtown Austin, Texas. The project will closely conform to the constraints of the site which include a capital view corridor over approximately one half of the property and the Shoal Creek floodplain elevation.

These site limitations create a specific and very limited area where building improvements can be made on the site, by restricting both the building height and the overall footprint of any buildings on the site. Within those limitations, two buildings will be situated along Bowie Street, as the eastern portion of the site is within the floodplain. The high-rise building, at 350′ tall, will be located on the north portion of the property with a total of approximately 490,000 sq. ft. of office, retail and residential uses. The low-rise building will be situated at the corner of West Fifth and Bowie Streets, with primarily offices above the first level retail component for a total of about 100,000 sq. ft.

The two buildings together will provide more than 450,000 sq. ft. of office space, which is of a size able to attract a major employer and will likely be built in phases, to allow accommodation of a variety of tenant sizes. This flexibility will greatly enhance the feasibility of the project moving forward. The larger building will also have a residential component of about 90 units located above the office in what will be a narrower, residential footprint.

[KevinFromTexas]

Because the property has a Capitol View Corridor (CVC) slicing through it, it will require the tower to be set at an angle to miss that corridor (view of the Capitol dome).

Renderings of the conceptual design that were presented to the City of Austin.







Diagram showing the CVC and how if affects the the property.

[Mikey711MN]

Whole Foods plans major downtown office expansion
By Brian Gaar
Austin American-Statesman
1/18/12

Readying for major growth, Whole Foods is planning a substantial expansion of its already-crowded corporate offices downtown, with a new 20-story building to be built adjacent to its current headquarters on Lamar Boulevard.

The tower would be one of two buildings that Schlosser Development Corp. plans to build in the parking lot across Bowie Street. The larger structure would be about 325,000 square feet and about 20 stories tall; a second smaller building would be 4-5 stories and 100,000 square feet.

Definitely an exciting part of town for development! I had no idea that Whole Foods had this type of expansion in mind. Wow!

[Jdawgboy]

Well that sucks that they have shortened the tower to only 20 from 28 floors, a 28 floor tower would have been more impressive for that end of Downtown.

Exciting that Whole Foods will be expanding though.

[paulsjv]

How much space is WF going to occupy? Surely not the whole building?

[KevinFromTexas]

This project has gone through some changes. It was originally being called "Shoal Creek Walk" and was proposed as a 350 foot office tower with 28 floors.

Whole Foods later expressed interest in expanding their headquarters (their main building is across the street). The project now looks like it'll be 20 floors with a 4 or 5-story retail building nearby.

A Capitol View Corridor runs through the southern portion of the lot, so that is limiting the height of what can go there. The north end has no height restriction.

So this will probably be shorter than the 350 foot height we heard about at first, but it'll probably still be around 300 feet tall.

And with the size change, I'm sure the design is changing also. So I would expect something different than what those images above show.

The map in the link below shows the site. It's number 5 in the map (west side of downtown).
http://paulsellstx.com/wp-content/up...r_oct_2011.pdf

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

Evolution continues for Austin's skyline

By Shonda Novak
Published: 10:13 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012

9. Future Whole Foods headquarters

Developer: Schlosser Development Corp.

Location: West Sixth and Bowie streets

Number of stories: Two buildings, one 20 stories and the other four or five stories

Square footage: 325,000 in the tower; 100,000 in the smaller building

Projected start: late 2013

Projected completion: late 2015 for the tower

Cost: Undisclosed

[LoneStarMike]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

This project has gone through some changes. It was originally being called "Shoal Creek Walk" and was proposed as a 350 foot office tower with 28 floors.

Whole Foods later expressed interest in expanding their headquarters (their main building is across the street). The project now looks like it'll be 20 floors with a 4 or 5-story retail building nearby.

A Capitol View Corridor runs through the southern portion of the lot, so that is limiting the height of what can go there. The north end has no height restriction.

So this will probably be shorter than the 350 foot height we heard about at first, but it'll probably still be around 300 feet tall.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I think this project may have shrunk even more. There's a recent cover letter from Longaro & Clarke Consulting Engineers recently posted on the city's website. It says Building 1 will be 15 floors (180 feet) and Building 2 will be 5 stories and 75 feet tall at it's maximum.

[KevinFromTexas]

I counted 18 floors in the rendering. I would estimate it'll be around 225 feet basing it off the old plan. The reddish building in the rendering to the right is Whole Foods' existing headquarters and flagship grocery store.

http://www.sdcaustin.com/ShoalCreekWalk.html

Schlosser Development is currently developing and re-densifying the remaining blocks of the Market DIstrict. We are continuing our effort tomake the area one of the country's premiere retail, office, residential, restaurant and entertainment distcricts.

The newest additions to the Market District include Shoal Creek Walk and 405 N. Lamar. Shoal Creek Walk, currently in plan, is located at the corner of 6th and Bowie Street. The 325,000 square foot mixed-use building will consist of approximately 17 floorsof Class A office withgroundfloor retail.

http://www.sdcaustin.com/ShoalCreekWalk.html

[East7thStreet]

By pushing the office space square footage back to ~430,000 sq ft it looks like this building may be 28 stories after all. This will make a huge impact on the skyline in this area of downtown.

[Syndic]

Did y'all really not see on the Projects & Construction page where I posted a site plan for Shoal Creek Walk? I don't know why these reporters are talking about a tall building. It's going to look nothing like that rendering. It's going to look like this:

Originally Posted by Syndic

So, I was looking around on the Planning Commission website and I found this schematic of Shoal Creek Walk. It looks like it's going to be split into two buildings, which I guess is kinda cool. The taller one will be 120 ft., the smaller one will be 60 ft. And I can't tell how tall the parking garage will be.



I forget exactly what was originally planned there, so if this is a big downgrade, that sucks. But at least it's something? And hopefully the uniqueness of it will make up for its small size. Here's a link to the PDF if you want to look at it closer.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by Syndic

Did y'all really not see on the Projects & Construction page where I posted a site plan for Shoal Creek Walk? I don't know why these reporters are talking about a tall building. It's going to look nothing like that rendering. It's going to look like this:

That layout was taken from the original 2006 site plan. It has nothing to do with what may actually be developed on the site today. It could be the same, or it could look completely different as long as it adheres to what has been approved by council.

[Syndic]

Actually, it's looking like what will be developed will have a similar layout as that. See my post on the Update Thread.

[LoneStarMike]

This article's from last month:

Proposed office tower near Whole Foods back on track
Robert Grattan
Staff Writer- Austin Business Journal
April 12, 2013

It says the building was originally intended to house new offices for Whole Foods, but a Whole Foods spokesperson says the company is at an impasse in negotiations for the space.

It also said that in a 2010 agreement that Schlosser was required to participate in the Great Streets Program and to keep at least 30,000 square feet of the property as green or open space.

Schlosser now wants the requirement for open space reduced to 20,000 square feet because:

“We have a site that is imposed upon by a rising flood plane elevation, by a compressing Capitol View Corridor and a property-shrinking Greats Streets imposition,”

[SNIP]

The Planning Commission unanimously recommended the change in the restrictive covenant. The City Council will have the final say on the change in the coming months.

[Jdawgboy]

I say Schlosser can go to you know where. Clearly they are trying to build a short stubby building if they want to reduce the amount of open space but you know what, the council should say no, they can build a taller, slender tower but instead they want to be cheap and build the least expensive way. If you are going to invest in our city, invest the right way and build up, not out.

[ahealy]

is this dead?

[austlar1]

Not sure it has ever really been alive. Lots of talk over the past few years, but not much else. Something will get built there sooner or later, but it might not be this project.

[Syndic]

No, actually I think this project is perfectly alive. It's just moving really slow. They were drilling for core samples a few months ago.

Those owners will never give up that lot, IMO.

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by Syndic

No, actually I think this project is perfectly alive. It's just moving really slow. They were drilling for core samples a few months ago.

Those owners will never give up that lot, IMO.

welp, I work at Whole Foods Lamar and have heard stories....most recently: My good friend in corporate told me the city is giving them trouble because it's in the flood plain. He said it was a no-go....although that was about 6 months ago. I don't see why on earth they can't fix it and build.

[lzppjb]

Guess it's time for the Shoal Creek Tunnel Project.