Austin | The Liberty (14th & Lavaca) | 419 Feet | 35 Floors | Approved

[KevinFromTexas]

By the way, the two buildings in the background there are the Penthouse Condominiums and Executive Office Building. They're 119 feet and 133 feet tall. This building would be 30 feet taller than the one on the right. So basically 2 floors taller.

[KevinFromTexas]

By the way, there were some comments on Statesman.com talking about this building possibly blocking a view corridor (not true). This building will stand outside of the view corridor of course, otherwise it wouldn't be allowed at that height anyway, beyond what only the city says about it.

Capitol Terrace will stand at the southwest corner of West 14th Street & Lavaca Street. Notice that in the Capitol View Corridor map below, that it will stand immediately north of one. So it will not block the view of the capitol in that view corridor.


http://downtownaustin.wordpress.com/...n-austin-maps/

[Downtown_Austin]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

By the way, there were some comments on Statesman.com talking about this building possibly blocking a view corridor (not true). This building will stand outside of the view corridor of course, otherwise it wouldn't be allowed at that height anyway, beyond what only the city says about it.

Capitol Terrace will stand at the southwest corner of West 14th Street & Lavaca Street. Notice that in the Capitol View Corridor map below, that it will stand immediately north of one. So it will not block the view of the capitol in that view corridor.

Partially true. As proposed, the building does block a sliver of a corridor. I believe they are seeking a variance for that, too.

[JACKinBeantown]

Actually 14th street isn't really downtown. If you want to define it as such, that's up to you.

I have no doubt this building will be built taller than the allowable 120 feet. It's For Lobbyists And By Lobbyists (FLABL - "Full o' Bull").

[Downtown_Austin]

Originally Posted by JACKinNYC

Actually 14th street isn't really downtown. If you want to define it as such, that's up to you.

I have no doubt this building will be built taller than the allowable 120 feet. It's For Lobbyists And By Lobbyists (FLABL - "Full o' Bull").

In terms of how people currently think of downtown, I would agree with you. But, in fact, the boundaries of both DANA and the DAA include 14th St and actually include everything south of MLK.

[MichaelB]

Originally Posted by Downtown_Austin

In terms of how people currently think of downtown, I would agree with you. But, in fact, the boundaries of both DANA and the DAA include 14th St and actually include everything south of MLK.

Agreed, it is "downtown". It only people who don't live in the area that think different.

[M1EK]

There aren't 50 blocks that can have 10 story buildings downtown because of CVCs and other restrictions. This is the fly in the ointment the pseudo-NIMBYists keep ignoring. We need as much height as possible on the few CBD blocks downtown not affected by CVCs to make up for the low rises that are the limit elsewhere 'downtown'.

[Scottolini]

So, I've seen the map showing the areas where the capitol view corridors affect development. However, I've never heard what the height limit is within the capitol view corridors. Is it 50', 100', or a certain amount above sea level? If it's 60+ feet then I really think it's no that big of a deal, because you could get a lot of density in those corridors with 5 story buildings.

[M1EK]

Originally Posted by Scottolini

So, I've seen the map showing the areas where the capitol view corridors affect development. However, I've never heard what the height limit is within the capitol view corridors. Is it 50', 100', or a certain amount above sea level? If it's 60+ feet then I really think it's no that big of a deal, because you could get a lot of density in those corridors with 5 story buildings.

There is no one 'height limit' in CVCs; it depends on the spot in question. Some limit height to basically one story (areas around Woolridge Square, for instance).

Again, even if there was a one-size limit of 5 floors, though, the fact that we can't get any density anywhere other than downtown means this really hurts.

[Scottolini]

Originally Posted by M1EK

Again, even if there was a one-size limit of 5 floors, though, the fact that we can't get any density anywhere other than downtown means this really hurts.

Not trying to argue, but what about VMU along the core transit corridors? What about projects like Mueller, Concordia, Crestview Station, Robinson Ranch, etc?

[The Lorax]

Someone commented that the developer is seeking a "variance" from a Capitol View Corridor -- that's not true, nor is it possible. CVCs are a creature of both city and state law, and the city has no ability to override them. This building respects the CVCs and the Capitol Dominance District, which ensures that buildings within a 1/4 mile of the Capitol dome are proportionate in height.

[Downtown_Austin]

Originally Posted by Scottolini

Not trying to argue, but what about VMU along the core transit corridors? What about projects like Mueller, Concordia, Crestview Station, Robinson Ranch, etc?

I've never believed the Mueller hype. It's a big strip mall.

[M1EK]

Originally Posted by Scottolini

Not trying to argue, but what about VMU along the core transit corridors? What about projects like Mueller, Concordia, Crestview Station, Robinson Ranch, etc?

VMU was decimated during the "opt-in, opt-out" process. Did you miss all the commentary on Austin Contrarian and my own blog?

Mueller's density at build-out will be negligible. Crestview Station is a 2-3 story tiltwall apartment/retail complex. Concordia might help a bit; so you're 1 for 3. Robinson Ranch is way too far out to even dream about.

[The ATX]

Trouble in the condo market? This project has switch to a hotel called "The Liberty". It added two floors for 34 now, but the height dropped below 400' according to a presentation for Monday's DC meeting. But we don't have the new elevations, so it may end up being over 400' with mechanical included. It still has balconies, so it may be a long term rental like Natiivo.





https://services.austintexas.gov/edi....cfm?id=418746

[The ATX]

Here are some more street level renderings from the DC link in my previous post. There is a restaurant on the ground floor.

[The ATX]

The new elevations for the hotel were released. It's still a 400 footer.




https://abc.austintexas.gov/public-s...ertyrsn=167948

[urbanactivist]

Great building plan here.

It's good to see more mixed use trends like this one here in Austin. The retail is good because there's not too many places to go that immediately surround the capitol.

Though I'm not really a fan of the apartments being geared towards lobbyists. But oh well, if the shoe fits...

[JACKinBeantown]

A slightly related article in the Times...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/wo...ia/12fuji.html

[Urbannizer]

https://austin.towers.net/a-new-deve...west-downtown/

A New Developer Takes the Wheel at 14th and Lavaca in Northwest Downtown

As we so brilliantly predicted a while back after seeing a number of projects here and connecting some pretty obvious dots, the northwestern quadrant of downtown is increasingly looking like the central city’s next frontier for growth — and there’s a new face on the block, with local developer Pearlstone Partners along with their frequent collaborators at New York-based ATCO Properties appearing to purchase the quarter-block at the southwest corner of West 14th and Lavaca Streets.

[Geckos_Rule]

It's worth noting that these new developers are Pearlstone Partners and ATCO, which is the same team to do the "Vesper" on East Ave. near Rainey (along with a number of smaller projects elsewhere).

So I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up looking like a scaled down version of that, or at best, a direct copy but with different paint colors.