AUSTIN | Project Updates Thread Part II

[davidtexan]

They will be adding eight artsy benches to the park.

https://austin.towers.net/rainey-streets-opening-a-temporary-pocket-park-this-summer/

[enragedcamel]

That's honestly pathetic.

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by enragedcamel

That's honestly pathetic.

Lmao. Oh for real. "art" lolol. Also cracking up because those fking things will be like sitting on a frying pan in the summer. I get that it's somewhat temporary, but even with that I kinda hate it.

[Riverranchdrone]

Originally Posted by ahealy

Lmao. Oh for real. "art" lolol. Also cracking up because those fking things will be like sitting on a frying pan in the summer. I get that it's somewhat temporary, but even with that I kinda hate it.

Still better than the poo sculptures around the Independent and Trader joes.

[migol24]

Y'all don't get art.

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by migol24

Y'all don't get art.

[WestAustinite]

Those are going to get tagged about 10 minutes after they are installed.

[urbancore]

Originally Posted by WestAustinite

Those are going to get tagged about 10 minutes after they are installed.

I’ll take the under.

[etmav]

Originally Posted by urbancore

I’ll take the under.

Tagging might happen while they are being installed

[Jdawgboy]

Actually workers will soon discover when opening the storage building that the benches are in that they have been tagged...

[IluvATX]

Poor little Gus.

[Urbannizer]

A Residential Project Dips a Toe Into Sixth Street’s Bar District at The Grant

The apartment project planned for the Grant Plaza offices at 611 East Sixth Street would be the first major residential development built inside downtown Austin’s infamous Sixth Street entertainment district in a generation — and even before a certain sense of uncertainty struck our local real estate market, the proposal first surfaced in 2022 by New York-based investment firm Empire Square Group and national developers Ryan Companies seemed fairly audacious.

It’s oddly reassuring, then, that Empire and Ryan Companies’ plans for redeveloping a full downtown block at Grant Plaza continue to chug along, with representatives for the 258-unit apartment and retail project appearing before the Architectural Review Committee of the city’s Historic Landmark Commission earlier this month. (Although the existing office building at the site is not historic, only dating back to 1981, it’s still inside the Sixth Street National Register Historic District!) The proposed apartments, known as The Grant and designed by Plano-based firm HLR Architects, will also include two ground-level retail spaces facing East Sixth Street, together containing roughly 8,600 square feet — that’s a big win for positive street life in the district, with at least one of the spaces likely to be occupied by a restaurant tenant.

[clubtokyo]

I like it!

[wwmiv]

Opposed to this. Period. This is moving backward, not forward, and destroys better built structures for ticky tacky crap built to subpar current standards that’ll last 30 years max. The two existing structures facing 6th could be easily preserved (they’re already “built to last”) and turned into some sort of venues or retail.

And also: this style of housing has no business facing 6th street directly. At all. Stupid planning. In fact, NO housing should be on 6th Street AT ALL unless we are trying to kickstart and orchestrate development killing the last vestige of a cohesive party district in downtown Austin. After all, Rainey, 4th, and Red River have been developed to death. The babies have already been thrown out with the bath water, are we about to evict our teenager, too? They each started with projects like this (Millennium in Rainey, for instance). Let’s not take steps to put ourselves on the pathway to looking back in 20 years mourning the loss of an integral part of Austin’s appeal.

Yes, we have a housing problem. Let’s not create other problems by putting housing anywhere and everywhere—that won’t work and will cause chaos where we don’t need it.

[IluvATX]

I agree with wwmiv on this one. This thing doesn’t belong in the CBD, let alone on east 6th.

[The ATX]

This is the side facing 6th St., and it will have retail on the ground floor. Right now there is only one retail store (an ice cream shop) on that block. I can't imagine trying to sleep in those apartments on weekends.

[Sigaven]

Boring as fuck! This project belongs literally anywhere else in any no-name neighborhood in any city, USA. This is sixth street, one of the most important and prominent in Austin. Sixth street deserves better than this boring generic crap.

[Werdman89]

Originally Posted by Sigaven

Boring as fuck! This project belongs literally anywhere else in any no-name neighborhood in any city, USA. This is sixth street, one of the most important and prominent in Austin. Sixth street deserves better than this boring generic crap.

I would not describe that part of 6th as prominent. I'd go as far to say that area of 6th is blighted and we should be thankful for any investment in it, especially considering its strict zoning.

[Novacek]

That block is under two different CVCs. So I'm assuming that limits it to something not very CBD-like.

[MichaelB]

Originally Posted by Sigaven

Boring as fuck! This project belongs literally anywhere else in any no-name neighborhood in any city, USA. This is sixth street, one of the most important and prominent in Austin. Sixth street deserves better than this boring generic crap.

Louder for folks in the back!