AUSTIN | Projects & Construction III

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Have you ever seen a toilet made of glass?

No? I didn't think you had.

#spoiled



http://www.veryabc.cn/movie/uploads/...WearsPrada.txt

Actually, yes...Abu Dhabi. Most comfortable dump I ever had! Pissed in a gold one in Dubai...a little disappointing in comparison. Oh, yeah...Astana too. Almost forgot, sorry. Still a bit disappointing compared to the experience in Abu Dhabi.

You?

#Yes...Ihaveworkedhardenoughtobespoiled!


I hear Buc-ee's - New Braunfels is "nice!"

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

Actually, yes...Abu Dhabi. Most comfortable dump I ever had! Pissed in a gold one in Dubai...a little disappointing in comparison. Oh, yeah...Astana too. Almost forgot, sorry. Still a bit disappointing compared to the experience in Abu Dhabi.

You?

#Yes...Ihaveworkedhardenoughtobespoiled!


I hear Buc-ee's - New Braunfels is "nice!"

Bruh, I'm an old money Ph.D. student, so you don't have a monopoly among us here on SSP in working hard and getting nice things.

By the way, tasteful rich people think that kind of stuff is tacky as all get out.

[HoustonHorns]

While not as good as the original design, it is still an attractive building. Will it be only 595 feet including the spire? If it is, I don't see it looking too out of place.

[JoninATX]

What hurt the skyline is The Hilton. No offense that's a big eyesore with all that stucco on it.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by JoninATX

What hurt the skyline is The Hilton. No offense that's a big eyesore with all that stucco on it.

Agreed.

[Jdawgboy]

I still say the spire is too long for such a short building. This building is not 595, the building itself will be in the 400ft range like sooooooooooo many others. I don't consider a pole on top of a building to be the actual building height. If that's the case than let's stick a 400 foot spire in the center of Frost where the crown opens and then it will once again be the tallest building in Austin and it will be our first 800 footer too!

[Kotliz]

I guess it's a nice looking building and all, but it looks like it's been shrunk down a lot from the last renderings we saw—the ones posted at the building site, with the double towers—and I thought this new design is a bit of a pitty too, because we kinda have one like that already—the Marriottt a few blocks West of there.

But still, so vastly much better than yet another ugly open lot down town.

Also, I agree with the spire comment. I know it probably adhears to achitectural rules, but it feels a bit like cheating (to a layperson). How about putting an 700 foot spire on on the Gingerman and calling it the tallest building in Austin.

[The ATX]

Here's my latest list of active Austin projects that are at least 10-stories and/or 100'. I have documentation for 47 such projects now. There are more, but I can't nail down the documentation. Of the four status types (Proposed, Demo, Site Prep and U/C) it is not always clear what "Demo" and "Site Prep" mean. "Demo" can mean the site is being cleared for the start of construction or simply that the lot was cleared for a project that won't be built any time soon. "Site Prep" can mean anything from the site being fenced off for future construction or a big hole has already been dug for the underground parking levels prior to the immediate start of construction. So what I did was highlight in yellow all of the projects that are U/C or have been publicly announced as breaking ground with all of the financing in place and with construction immediately following the demolition and/or site prep. For all practical purposes everything in yellow is under construction.

[llamaorama]

Gingerman

Haha!

You know just for the sake of not looking like a clone of the Marriot, I am in favor of the spire on this one. It might not look so bad. As long as its more needle-like, otherwise we'll be calling this one the Walkie Talkie Building. Or the old school Nokia brick building

[lzppjb]

We already have a USB stick (Austonian) and an SD card (JW Marriott).

[JoninATX]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

We already have a USB stick (Austonian) and an SD card (JW Marriott).

Lol... that was to funny!

[JoninATX]

Some pictures I took yesterday while walking around downtown.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by JoninATX

Some pictures I took yesterday while walking around downtown.

Nice pics, Jon. Thanks for the update. I really like that view of Seven. And it's good to see the Hotel Zaza finally moving forward.

[JoninATX]

16 new mixed-income town homes coming to East Austin

Michael Theis
October 27. 2014

The Austin Revitalization Authority's strategic revitalization efforts in East Austin are set to continue with a groundbreaking set later this week on a series of mixed-income town homes in the 1100 block of Curve Street.

Dubbed Juniper Heights, the project will have 16 units, two of which will be sold as affordable housing units.

"In the past five years we've re-structured our board of directors and revised our mission and vision statements as part of our new strategic plan in order to aid more effectively in the rebuilding of East Austin," said CEO and President of ARA Greg Smith in a statement. "After these last few years of serious assessment, we've also developed great relationships with others who share a strong interest in developing the East 11th and East 12th Street areas."

The groundbreaking is set for Tuesday, Oct. 28.

http://m.bizjournals.com/austin/blog...in.html?r=full

[NYC_Longhorn]

This blows... Fairmont is shorter now?!?!!!! Damn it!!!!!

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news....257263.735534

Bond election slated for May for Travis County civil courthouse

Posted: 5:36 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014

By Andra Lim - American-Statesman Staff

But whatever the amount, it would pay for a downtown civil courthouse that, according to the latest plans, would stand 14 stories high, climbing about 270 feet, and contain 520,000 square feet of space. Underground would be a four-story garage with 548 parking spaces.

At recent meetings, including Tuesday’s, the Commissioners Court has heard plans from consultants for how much space the courthouse will contain and what that space will be used for — key factors in drilling down the cost of the building.

Those plans say the courthouse, slated to be complete in 2018, would include offices for 35 judges and 33 courtrooms, offices for nine other county departments and space for nonprofit agencies and a law library.

[KevinFromTexas]

Ok, so I've been sending emails to Gensler and Manchester trying to get the heights. Someone from Manchester came back yesterday with info from Gensler. The heights are:

595 feet to the spire.

456 feet to the "crown" - this should be the top of the mechanical penthouse.

It's listed as 37 floors, but in reality there are only 36 actual occupied floors. The reason for the discrepancy is it's tradition in the hotel industry to skip the 13th floor. So they go from 12 straight to 14.

It will also have 4 levels underground for parking. She said is breaks ground in November.

She said the design is complete, but that a different architecture firm is handling the skybridge to the convention center.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Ok, so I've been sending emails to Gensler and Manchester trying to get the heights. Someone from Manchester came back yesterday with info from Gensler. The heights are:

595 feet to the spire.

456 feet to the "crown" - this should be the top of the mechanical penthouse.

It's listed as 37 floors, but in reality there are only 36 actual occupied floors. The reason for the discrepancy is it's tradition in the hotel industry to skip the 13th floor. So they go from 12 straight to 14.

It will also have 4 levels underground for parking. She said is breaks ground in November.

She said the design is complete, but that a different architecture firm is handling the skybridge to the convention center.

Thanks Kevin.

Even worse that I thought. Almost a quarter of the building's listed height will be an odd-looking spire.

This is a real disappointment from the original design! It seems obvious that the cost of building the tower in its original form was going to cost well north of $400 million. If not, then what happened to the design?

Heck, they've cut 120' off the building (not including the spire) and raised the budget by $20 million.

I wish they (Manchester & Gentler) could have added some swerves or undulations to the façade...at least it would be more interesting than a cookie-cut version of a convention hotel. However, I don't think anyone at Gentler's Austin office can draw anything but a straight line.

[lzppjb]

I read that the firm doing the Waller Creek design is also doing the skybridge.

[MichaelB]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

I read that the firm doing the Waller Creek design is also doing the skybridge.

Read the same.!