Austin | ATX Tower (325 West 6th) | 675 Feet | 58 Floors | T/O

[resansom]

Love that shot - very unique angle/perspective. I wasn't aware that we had a new drone photographer, Gilly!

[WestAustinite]

Looks like they have finished pouring the regular floors and are working on the "box" section of the crown...if you can call it that.

[gillynova]

Originally Posted by resansom

Love that shot - very unique angle/perspective. I wasn't aware that we had a new drone photographer, Gilly!

Yeah haha. My drone has been dusty but I've been motivated by kda.tx on Instagram/TikTok. Really hoping to use it more or maybe try to sell it and get one of the newer ones

[Dtbuilder]

Originally Posted by Geckos_Rule

That is unbelievable to me, especially given what (I believe to be) the projected cost of living in this building. It just looks -- and is -- cheaper than the glass railings you'd find adorning 70 Rainey, Travis, Austonian, W, 5th & West, 44 East, or any of the other places you'd expect people to be cross-shopping with...

Not to mention that if the wind coming across these balconies is anything remotely comparable to what I get on my high-rise balcony, residents here will have a pretty hard time keeping anything on their balconies that isn't nailed down or made of concrete. These are fairly enclosed which undoubtedly helps, but I'm still hesitant.

Most of the properties you mentioned that these residents would be cross-shopping with are for sale condos. Generally, wind forces go over the typical 42" height of a balcony anyway, and with them being recessed, it will probably not be an issue. There are plenty of precedents across the world with class A buildings having metal railings as opposed to glass, which is kind of.... boring, especially when the entire facade is glass also.

[AusTex]

Originally Posted by JoninATX

The transition part is turning out quite nice.


https://handelarchitects.com/project/atx-tower

This rendering shows solid glass railings. Much more classy than what is on the building right now. Add the parking cover gray metal with holes in it and it might just look really awful. I await the final touches to pass judgement, however, it keeps looking dire to me for the best outcome. And I was hopeful it might distract from the unfinished quality of 6 x Guad.

[IluvATX]

Nobody will be able to tell what the balcony handrails are composed of when they begin 300’ up…except those living there.

[Bblasa]

I believe the point some are trying to make is that regardless of whether we can see it from the street, there are less than ideal cost cutting measures happening per the Austin norm.

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by bblasa

i believe the point some are trying to make is that regardless of whether we can see it from the street, there are less than ideal cost cutting measures happening per the austin norm.

this this this this this

[AusTex]

Originally Posted by Bblasa

I believe the point some are trying to make is that regardless of whether we can see it from the street, there are less than ideal cost cutting measures happening per the Austin norm.

Originally Posted by ahealy

this this this this this

And being a Texas city, Austin, can not require standards more advanced as some states allow. Our State Government would immediately legislate against any city trying to require a private company to "Decorate" or "Design" per a required statute. Just saying.

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by AusTex

And being a Texas city, Austin, can not require standards more advanced as some states allow. Our State Government would immediately legislate against any city trying to require a private company to "Decorate" or "Design" per a required statute. Just saying.

Not surprised, but what about SA or Dallas? I see a lot more attention to detail in a lot of their new projects, versus Austin's plain rectangle approach.

[IluvATX]

Originally Posted by Bblasa

I believe the point some are trying to make is that regardless of whether we can see it from the street, there are less than ideal cost cutting measures happening per the Austin norm.

This is not new or unique to this building and the cost cutting measures have been discussed ad nauseam for many years on multiple threads. If this continues I might start talking about amusement parks and observation decks on the Paseo thread.

[Bblasa]

Nobody said it was unique to this building but at some point we need to start having towers that actually we can be proud of without all the cuts. Luckily the slow down hit because we need to take more time to get better buildings
Dallas and San Antonio and Houston have way superior designs generally speaking. Granted they didn’t experience the mega boom Austin did that everyone had to jump in on that maybe shouldn’t have. Theres a lot of competition in Austin for housing so you would think more towers would want to step up to be set apart. Surprisingly though office space is the complete opposite and those new buildings have pushed the bar. The republic and the possibly defunct perennial are on par with the new Houston Hines office complex and the new towers going in at uptown Dallas. We just need those levels of design to carry to the residential segment
The modern, one ladybird, and 506 west seem like some glimmers of hope to change all that so we shall see. Maybe the future will be quite different with the next wave to go up

[IluvATX]

Originally Posted by Bblasa

Nobody said it was unique to this building but at some point we need to start having towers that actually we can be proud of without all the cuts. Luckily the slow down hit because we need to take more time to get better buildings
Dallas and San Antonio and Houston have way superior designs generally speaking. Granted they didn’t experience the mega boom Austin did that everyone had to jump in on that maybe shouldn’t have. Theres a lot of competition in Austin for housing so you would think more towers would want to step up to be set apart. Surprisingly though office space is the complete opposite and those new buildings have pushed the bar. The republic and the possibly defunct perennial are on par with the new Houston Hines office complex and the new towers going in at uptown Dallas. We just need those levels of design to carry to the residential segment
The modern, one ladybird, and 506 west seem like some glimmers of hope to change all that so we shall see. Maybe the future will be quite different with the next wave to go up

A quick google search will answer the question of why commercial buildings are of better quality than residential ones. Austin has a large amount of residential compared to office so therefore the majority will be of lesser architectural quality.

[JACKinBeantown]

Originally Posted by IluvATX

A quick google search will answer the question of why commercial buildings are of better quality than residential ones. Austin has a large amount of residential compared to office so therefore the majority will be of lesser architectural quality.

A quick Google search of what keywords? Maybe just copy and paste the answer on this forum and end up looking like a hero.

[IluvATX]

Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown

A quick Google search of what keywords? Maybe just copy and paste the answer on this forum and end up looking like a hero.

I’ll give one example just because I haven’t seen it posted here hundreds of times. Lot size. An office building usually has and desires to have larger floor plates, often taking up full blocks. This isn’t possible with residential towers as you can’t have a unit that’s entirely interior it needs windows. So 1/4 block residential towers seem to be the norm. You need some serious capital to purchase a whole block in the CBD so from the start an office building is much more expensive with architecture that follows and businesses occupying it will look for flashy buildings with large floor plates to enhance their brand and pay a lot for those qualities.

[Bblasa]

I think…. The point is that a handful of the towers going in labeled and priced as “luxury”, really should not be, based on the corners they cut. Thus why they get called out over and over
I didn’t start this convo so I’ll stop there…

[Dtbuilder]

Originally Posted by IluvATX

I’ll give one example just because I haven’t seen it posted here hundreds of times. Lot size. An office building usually has and desires to have larger floor plates, often taking up full blocks. This isn’t possible with residential towers as you can’t have a unit that’s entirely interior it needs windows. So 1/4 block residential towers seem to be the norm. You need some serious capital to purchase a whole block in the CBD so from the start an office building is much more expensive with architecture that follows and businesses occupying it will look for flashy buildings with large floor plates to enhance their brand and pay a lot for those qualities.

It's a lot more nuanced than that. It's about numbers, returns for investors, and the market. For a long time Austin led the state by having the highest CBD commercial rental rates so there was a (regrettable) flood of office product that will now be hard to fill. Office buildings are much simpler in almost every way than high rise residential. They can have clean forms and shiny exteriors because in general do not require the elements that generally "clutter up" exteriors of residential buildings - like balconies, louvers, vents, etc. which are all things that make high rise residential both super complicated and difficult to make look sexy.

Ultimately it's like comparing apples to chickens to talk about commercial and residential in the same sentence. The return metrics, exterior supply/demand, and complications of the buildings themselves do not lend themselves to any sort of comparison.

[SproutingTowers]

Driskill balcony view

[jake.robs]

Ryan Companies posted on their Instagram yesterday that this tower had been topped out.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7kWWgwJYeG/

[Bblasa]

aren’t those glass balcony railings in that photo?