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Originally Posted by NYC2ATX
Honestly, it kind of seems like the city just waited too long to move on that land that they long had these tentative plans for, and you know, developers aren't just going to wait for them. Maybe that's just my perspective as an outsider but idk 
Also honestly, I would rather have the tall buildings instead. Austin should follow and further innovate the way many cities are now going, expanding their convention centers vertically or underground instead of swallowing more land and space. Or B- they could instead expand west across Red River and design a landmark creek-front face with all that additional space along Waller Creek. |
We should probably discuss this in the CC Expansion thread . . . but in essence, this is the master plan the city's trying to pursue. Expand west. Then rebuild the old building, building up rather than out; getting back a couple of square blocks for redevelopment . . . and then opening it up on the east side, facing a revitalized Palm Park.
All of that is a ways in the future, and needs the CC to expand west first. Which also means it would preclude this tower. Also, for what it's worth, the westward CC expansion building is 4 or 5 stories, rather than 2 -- so it's doing exactly what you're hoping, which is go vertical. There's also talk of adding a significant office component as well, though I haven't seen how that will work.
All in all, the CC master plan is very urbanist, supports density, walkability, and as much mixed use as possible in the convention district. It also brings a lot of the currently underused parkland in the district into a more coherent whole. It's taken me a little bit, but I've become a big fan of what they're trying to do.
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