Well they didn't really halt the project or cancel it. My thinking is that Tom Stacy (the developer) had planned all along, or at least had wanted to do a more grand project there than what was originally announced. First he proposed a 680 foot project with 41 floors. That would have been a single tower and a 12-story parking garage across the street. Then news came out that the tower would be "at least" 705 feet tall with 47 floors. That would still include the parking garage across the street. The project would also include adding a decorative glass screen on the main roof of the adjacent Bank of America Center. (The black office tower nextdoor).
The block where this project is going is currently occupied by a 26-story office tower (Bank of America Center). That tower would stay. Behind it is a 7-story 70s era condominium building with some retail along 6th Street. That would go. Next to it to the south is a 6 or 7 story parking garage. That would go. Fronting Congress Avenue next to the Bank of America Center (black office tower) is a 5 or 6-story banking hall and office building. That building would also go. Originally Tom Stacy had planned to build the 705 foot tower where that banking hall is earning the building the 501 Congress address. It would also sit atop where the old parking garage is. Tom Stacy's company bought the Bank of America Center tower in 2004 and the adjacent banking hall. Well here recently they bought the rest of the buildings on the block and they own the land too. With his company being the property manager he's been arranging for the tenants of those buildings to vacate them. However he has to wait for their lease contracts to run out. You simply can't throw out a tenant because you're planning a new project there. You have to wait until the contract is through to give them a chance to find a new location. Anyway, now that his company owns every piece of property on that block, once all the lease contracts are expired he's free to do whatever he wants with the block. This is why I say I believe he had bigger plans than what he originally announced a couple of years ago and had really wanted to do this all along. Those contacts hadn't run out yet and he's been biding his time. In the meantime while waiting for those contacts to end, he pursued purchasing the rest of the block. Now that he's done it he can move forward with a larger project. So the project was never really on hold and it certainly wasn't canceled. He was just waiting for the right moment to close the deal on an opportunity to acquire the rest of the block. I think the reason he announced the project almost 4 years ago was that it gave him an opportunity to gain interest from investors and to get the idea out there of what was to come.
Now the question is, will the economy hold up and will he get his investors to fund this project? Condo sales in downtown have been strong. It's not so much of a local problem with the economy as it is a national one. For instance, one of his investors at the moment is a firm from Chicago. So the national economy and economies in other places will matter.
In this picture that
KCgridlock took, you can see the location of this project. The black office tower is the only building that would remain on its block. The short gray building to it's right (in front of it in this angle) is the banking hall. That building would be demolished. Behind it to the east is the parking garage. That would also be demolished. The new building, a 30-story office tower which would be 420 feet would stand where those two are. It would front Congress Avenue. It's address would be 501 Congress. The taller tower would stand on the northeast corner of that block, behind (east) of the Bank of America Center (black tower).
In this picture you can see the Bank of America Center. To its right is the 7-story condo building that would be demolished. That would be the location of the 70-story condo and hotel tower. Across the street to the right would be a 1,200 space parking garage. It was previously mentioned it would be 12 floors tall. Both of the new towers would also sit atop an 8-story parking garage that would probably act like a podium for both towers. All in all it sounds like a huge project. 1.1 million square feet of space. A combined 100+ floors in both towers and the adjacent parking garage. There would also be 2,200 parking spaces. If this happens, it'll be like nothing Austin has ever seen before by far. Besides the height which is staggering, the density on that block is going to be something new to Austin with having three towers that tall on one block.
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It would be nice if the Four Seasons could at least keep their grass green!
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