AUSTIN | Projects & Construction III

[clubtokyo]

Yeah the original fairmont was a slick design!

[Riverranchdrone]

[IMG]DJI_0308-HDR-Pano by Jason Luebbe, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Dariusb]

Originally Posted by Riverranchdrone

[IMG]DJI_0308-HDR-Pano by Jason Luebbe, on Flickr[/IMG]

That panorama is killer and will only get better!

[Riverranchdrone]

Originally Posted by Dariusb

That panorama is killer and will only get better!

Its going to be harder to get shots like that. Now the skyline is still pretty much pulling to the center and west. But with the taller towers going up on Rainey and the stateman site. This will shift the pull so much further east.

[JoninATX]

Amazing that you can see the Tesla Gigafactory off in the distance.

[Dariusb]

Originally Posted by Riverranchdrone

Its going to be harder to get shots like that. Now the skyline is still pretty much pulling to the center and west. But with the taller towers going up on Rainey and the stateman site. This will shift the pull so much further east.

The skyline is stretching and is more linear but would you also day it's becoming wider/thicker?

[colemonkee]

Great shot! Had to be a drone HDR shot, which is not easy to pull off!

[drummer]

I'm always amazed at how much our city has grown up.

[colemonkee]

And still growing!

[clubtokyo]

Definitely getting wider depending on what angle you view it from.

[clubtokyo]

The view will be epic in just a year. Austin continues to grow up as other cities pause.

[tdawg]

Just got back from 4 days in Austin while the hubby was in a conference and I spent time with a dear friend of 30 years. The changes between when we were there in 2017 & now are incredible. The skyline has literally doubled in size. We stayed at the JW Marriott and then moved to the Fairmont (highly recommend) for the last 2 nights. The unhoused situation is pretty bad, and on the surface worse than here in NYC, but that might be the weather and Austin’s reputation. Sixth Street is a shell of what I remember and pretty depressing but Rainey Street has a fun, kinetic energy. Overall we loved our visit but my husband did comment that “it’s not a pretty city” but I think he was commenting on the quality of much of the newer architecture and not the environs. We did a day trip to Fredericksburg for wine tasting and a last night dinner at The Oasis, which is probably y’all’s version’s of going to the Statue of Liberty (mostly tourists) but the views at sunset over Lake Travis are really unique to Austin.

[Sigaven]

Originally Posted by tdawg

“it’s not a pretty city”

Completely fair assessment, pretty much the only historic architecture is on 6th street, congress avenue, and UT, other than that there's nothing very impressive to look at like in some more established cities that experienced prewar booms. I think the "pretty" aspect of this city is more to do with our waterways and parks a lot of which are directly downtown.

[drummer]

Originally Posted by Sigaven

Completely fair assessment, pretty much the only historic architecture is on 6th street, congress avenue, and UT, other than that there's nothing very impressive to look at like in some more established cities that experienced prewar booms. I think the "pretty" aspect of this city is more to do with our waterways and parks a lot of which are directly downtown.

I would agree. The natural beauty of the area is what makes it attractive, not the architecture (aside from a handful of older buildings, as you stated). We can't compete with cities that were established already 100+ years ago, nor should we try. I will say that downtown, from afar, is pretty - as in the skyline, but especially with the river and hills taken into account (once again, natural beauty). That's why I think it's so important to protect that aspect of what we have - one of the many reasons to protect it.

[The ATX]

The City recently changed zoning on 6th St. to create a more mixed used environment with more day time activity. Part of the 6th St. bar district can now have buildings up to 140' if the first 15' of the historical structure facing 6th St. is preserved. The developer who pushed for the change is planning to max out the height with residential and office projects. Also, the entire block on the south side closest to to I-35 is planned for Demo to build a residential mid-rise with retail facing 6th St.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by The ATX

The City recently changed zoning on 6th St. to create a more mixed used environment with more day time activity. Part of the 6th St. bar district can now have buildings up to 140' if the first 15' of the historical structure facing 6th St. is preserved. The developer who pushed for the change is planning to max out the height with residential and office projects. Also, the entire block on the south side closest to to I-35 is planned for Demo to build a residential mid-rise with retail facing 6th St.

6th will likely head in the direction of more upscale nightlife if/once development starts.

[clubtokyo]

Austin is new and modern. Definitely not old or historic architecture and that is completely fine. The US has plenty of older cities that offer that. But our Downtown is full of life and that is super important.

[Dariusb]

Originally Posted by clubtokyo

Austin is new and modern. Definitely not old or historic architecture and that is completely fine. The US has plenty of older cities that offer that. But our Downtown is full of life and that is super important.

Right. Austin is definitely making a big bold statement architecturally this century!

[clubtokyo]

Agree!

[The ATX]

Here's a view of Rainey looking south from the Modern Austin construction webcam. The following projects are U/C in this view:

Waterline - 1,022', 73-stories
Modern Austin - 658', 56-stories
Travis - 594', 52-stories
Paseo - 567', 48-stories
700 River - 500', 42-stories
Vesper - 452', 41-stories
Fairfield Inn - 17-stories
Cambria Hotel - 14-stories




This is a view of Rainey looking north from the Vesper construction webcam