AUSTIN | Projects & Construction II

[KevinFromTexas]

A developer is planning a 14-story condo tower on Barton Springs Road, at the former site of the Filling Station diner.

Click on the link below to see the map.

From the Austin American-Statesman
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/realestate/03/09//9fillingstation.html

REAL ESTATE
Developers want to build 14-story project on Filling Station site
Bouldin Creek neighbors oppose request for height variance.

By Shonda Novak
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Rendering:

MIRÓ RIVERA ARCHITECTS
Texas American Resources Co. plans to replace the former Filling Station restaurant on Barton Springs Road with a 14-story building, shown at left in this artist's rendering. Designed by Austin's Miró Rivera Architects, the building would have condominiums atop offices and a ground-floor restaurant.

Friday, March 09, 2007

A landmark restaurant on Barton Springs Road where burgers and brews were once served could be replaced by a 14-story building with diners, office workers and condo dwellers.

The project, planned at the site of the former Filling Station restaurant, has stirred opposition from some nearby Bouldin Creek neighborhood residents who say it will be too tall for the area. The prime real estate near Town Lake and Zilker Park has attracted developers' interest since the restaurant closed in 2004.

Texas American Resources Co., an Austin-based energy company, bought the site last summer. The company wants to raze the restaurant and start construction late this year on a mid-rise building with stepped height. But it would need a variance to build up to 180 feet on the tallest part closest to Barton Springs Road, said James Cormier, consultant and project manager.

Current zoning caps height on the site at 60 feet.

The building would open in late 2009. Texas American Resources, which has branch offices in Denver, Houston and Beijing, would move its existing downtown headquarters from 98 San Jacinto Blvd. to the new development, occupying about half of the 86,000 square feet of office space, Cormier said.

About 24 condominium units are planned for six floors atop the offices. Prices haven't been set but are expected to range from the $300,000s for a unit with about 900 square feet to the $900,000s for a 2,000-square-foot unit, Cormier said.

The condos are planned amid a residential building boom downtown, with numerous projects planned or under construction, including immediately south of Town Lake and along South Congress Avenue and South Lamar Boulevard.

Amenities in the new project would include a pool and a sod roof that would help with energy conservation and water filtration, Cormier said. The building also would have exercise facilities for Texas American Resources employees.

Behind the building would be a four-story garage with 270 spaces.

Designed by Austin-based Miró Rivera Architects, the building also would have a ground-floor restaurant with an outdoor cafe.

Texas American Resources will seek a zoning change that ultimately would require a City Council vote.

The site is flanked by a 120-foot-tall, nine-story office building and the 62-foot-tall, five-story Austin Energy Building.

The head of the Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Association, representing about 3,000 households, says building triple the allowable height "is completely out of sync with our (City) Council-approved neighborhood plan and other comprehensive city planning efforts."

"The project certainly has promise, and we encourage the owner to identify an appropriate site in the central business district where such heights are allowed," said Kathie Tovo, president of the association.

Some residents say they're concerned about noise and light pollution. Cormier said that subject to the height approval, the developer plans to use vines and shields to screen light from the garage, and will put compressors and water chillers at the top of the building to reduce noise.

Cormier said Texas American Resources has no intention of dropping its request for additional height.

"I think we have a really good project and hope it's not just another missed opportunity," Cormier said. "A lot of people in South Austin are excited about this project, by its high-caliber mixture of uses and its aesthetics. It's OK for South Austin to have nice things."


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Again, to the NIMBYS, (Not-in-my-backyard/folks who are opposed to it), who might be reading this: there are other buildings in the area of comparable height. One Texas Center, a 15-story office building at 505 Barton Springs Road, just a quarter mile east, (1,169 feet away), is also 180 feet tall. And the Hyatt Regency Town Lake which is at 208 Barton Springs Road, is 1,883 feet away and is 182 feet tall. Also the site is extremely narrow. The widest the building could possibly be is probably in the area of 90 to 100 feet wide. Not much, only about the width of a downtown street. Also, the article mentions the site is flanked by two other fairly tall buildings, (both of which are taller than the 60 foot height limit for the area) - those two buildings are each less than 60 feet away from this building, basically the width of a three lane street.

[KevinFromTexas]

I really wish that the City of Austin would have some kind of public webpage on their official website showing the heights of all existing buildings AND everything that is under construction and planned. Show everything, with a name, an address, a single photo, (or a few to show it for reference), number of floors and most importantly, the building's height. This way people can get an idea of how tall existing buildings are in an area so that when a new project comes along they have something to compare them to. The above article I just posted quotes area residents and they sound as though they don't know a thing about the heights of the existing buildings in that area. If they had something to go on, as in a list of existing buildings with their heights listed, so they could know what to expect, then maybe they wouldn't be so opposed to new projects coming along. This building will be very skinny, and not all that tall. The Hyatt and One Texas Center are both much larger buildings than this one could be. This post is a challenge to any city officials reading this. If you set up something where buildings could be listed with their info, I would be more than happy to be the one to add the data. In the chance that someone is reading this with connections, please drop me a line. PM here on the forum or email me at [email protected], I'd love to help.

[Jdawgboy]

About that possible highrise on the block east of the Hobbie state office building. I doubt that the structure would take up the entire block and I doubt the city council would even allow one of the most important aspects of downtown (part of the Warehouse District) to be torn down for a tower. I would assume that the building would be placed on half the block facing 3rd street. There is not much there on that side and it would be the most logical choice. I was down there lastnight at Rain and Olicans and I drove by the other side and the more I thought about it the more it made more sense. What do you think Kevin?

[MichaelB]

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

About that possible highrise on the block east of the Hobbie state office building. I doubt that the structure would take up the entire block and I doubt the city council would even allow one of the most important aspects of downtown (part of the Warehouse District) to be torn down for a tower. I would assume that the building would be placed on half the block facing 3rd street. There is not much there on that side and it would be the most logical choice. I was down there lastnight at Rain and Olicans and I drove by the other side and the more I thought about it the more it made more sense. What do you think Kevin?

This is the point where I would personally "draw the line". I think the character of the "warehouse district" has been the draw to that area..... it is a "texture" that must be maitained.... without it, that area of downtown would risk being generic. ( Maybe the Milkshake folks with take up this effort..... that would tell us if they are really intested in the texture of downtown.... or just don't want to be personally inconvienced!oooops!)

[brackenridge]

I was a sub at Becker several times a few years back. What a worthless school. Almost all the kids behaved like bunch of little hoodlums. One of the worst schools in Austin.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

This is the point where I would personally "draw the line". I think the character of the "warehouse district" has been the draw to that area..... it is a "texture" that must be maitained.... without it, that area of downtown would risk being generic. ( Maybe the Milkshake folks with take up this effort..... that would tell us if they are really intested in the texture of downtown.... or just don't want to be personally inconvienced!oooops!)

I agree. The Warehouse District is nearly as important to downtown as 6th Street is. Losing it would be a big blow to the scene. It's one of the major entertainment nodes in downtown that brings in the people, both day and night.

[crewer]

Originally Posted by bradford

Crewer, I was told yesterday by the Catellus rep that the elementary school is already bonded, and that they'll start construction in the next year or two.

I don't think that's right. AISD is just now finishing up with the construction projects from the 2004 bond. Mueller wasn't part of that bond. It may be considered in the next bond, but there's an "if" to that. Check out this article referencing Mueller. Excerpt below:

Austin considering bond election
District wants almost $200 million for three schools, science labs and low-emission buses, among other needs.

By Raven L. Hill
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, February 03, 2007

With the final pieces of the 2004 bond program almost in place, Austin school district officials could call an election in the next two years for money to build three schools and upgrade existing campuses.

Trustees will continue discussions about the proposal Monday. Cost estimates are less than $200 million, the bulk of which would pay for a middle school in Southeast Austin and two elementary schools — one in Southwest Austin, the other possibly near the former Robert Mueller Municipal Airport. An election could be held in November or in May 2008.

...Turner said the district is still gathering data on real estate options near the former airport to get a better sense of enrollment projections.

[crewer]

Originally Posted by Mopacs

Probably so... though I dont know that Mueller was ever envisioned as a dense, vertical neighborhood. Most of the current and planned residential and commercial developments have been in the 4-5 story range. The best hope for taller structures will be immediately to the north of the Children's Hospital along E51st Street. There have been ongoing plans/proposals for a medical school/research institution (affliated with UT?) in that vicinity. I believe Kevin has said that heights have been capped at aroud 120ft thoughout the development?

I seem to recall years ago that there was a plan for a huge vertical development in the center that would house over 1 million sq. ft. of state offices, retail and housing. That may have been pre-Catellus, though. I know the plan died pretty quickly.

[SecretAgentMan]

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[KevinFromTexas]

^ Well, I have no talent when it comes to Google SketchUp, or the patients in that area, but I do have my Lego model. Transporting it is just about impossible, though, and I only have the one.

But I really would love to create an open database that the public and city alike could use for information about an area's existing building heights. The only thing would be getting architects and developers of new and existing buildings to cooperate, (giving out the heights and being up for looking for them in their records). Finding heights for older buildings is even more difficult since that info usually gets lost through the years. But if anyone at the Design Commission is interested, I'd love to help.

[Saddle Man]

What possible new building in the warehouse district are yall talking about? I cant seem to find the post it was first mentioned.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by kingkirbythegreat

What possible new building in the warehouse district are yall talking about? I cant seem to find the post it was first mentioned.

A local developer mentioned to me that he and his partner might be planning a tower for a block in the Warehouse District.

In my Lego thread, in the Texas section of the forum, I mention it there.

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

He also told me he and his partner may be working on a tower on the block just east of the William P. Hobby Building. This is the block bounded by 3rd, 4th, Lavaca & Colorado. He indicated it would be in the area of 400 feet to 500 feet tall in the way he lifted his hand above the block.

Here's the thread. Worthless Photobucket, though says my account has exceeded its bandwidth, so you can't see the model pictures. Anyway, that's where I posted that.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=126608

[Mopacs]

Here are shots from the grand opening weekend at The Domain, Austin's newest (and largest) mixed-use lifestyle/town center. I must say they did a fantastic job with this one.

Part of what makes this development unique and attractive are the (preserved) tree-lined streets and the small parks and playscapes. I must admit this is one of the nicer 'town center' type developmetns I have seen, and there are many these days. Nice mix of office, retail, hotel and residential within a few blocks of each other. Also, consider this was a largely industrial site, containing large IBM manufacturing plants and facilities.

Start off with Austin's first Nieman's:



Century Oaks Terrace... lined with 100+ year old Live Oak trees, preserved from the old IBM parkland atop which the Domain resides.






THe 4-story building in the background is The Offices at The Domain. A large law firm has already leased about 30% of this building..









Planned Westin Hotel, located about a block east of Macy's



















I'll post a few more later...

[Dougall5505]

that looks very nice. a lot better then most in portland. great pictures

[crewer]

Great pics, Mopacs. This is really a nice complex. It definitely looks nicer than some of the new urbanist projects around the DC metro area. And I think it's only going to get better with the next phase of new condos and additional stores. So how long do you all suppose it will take for Downtown Austin to offer that much retail?

[lzppjb]

That looks really nice. But from the ones I saw, I doubt those oaks are 100+ years old. The ones in the pics are too small. They look like they're a few dozen years old. Are there bigger ones in the area?

EDIT: I just saw the one in the 10th pic. That one may indeed be over 100.

[KevinFromTexas]

Wow! I'm rarely moved by retail, but this is really nice. I'll have to go check that out and take some pics of my own. I really like this shot: Nice!

[cityguy]

Come on,be a good American and go shopping.

[Mopacs]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

That looks really nice. But from the ones I saw, I doubt those oaks are 100+ years old. The ones in the pics are too small. They look like they're a few dozen years old. Are there bigger ones in the area?

EDIT: I just saw the one in the 10th pic. That one may indeed be over 100.

Oh yeah, clearly most of the trees on this boulevard are well under 100 years old, perhaps 3 or 4, with most in 10-30 year range. But there are definitely a few that are ginormous... Live Oaks don't grow particularly tall in these parts, but if you look at the trunk diameters of the older guys, they are huge. I'll try and snap a few pics next time I'm down there.

[Mopacs]

Here area few more pics...







Interior hallways leading to the parking garage



Public artwork is scattered throughout the development















Borders





EDIT: Here's a planned mid-rise apartment complex to be located a few blocks east of the shopping district