AUSTIN | Projects & Construction II - Page 457

BevoLJ · #**9121** Posted **Jul 18, 2011, 2:33 AM**

What is the project y'all are talking about on Riverside?

KevinFromTexas · #**9122** Posted **Jul 18, 2011, 2:42 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BevoLJ

What is the project y'all are talking about on Riverside?

This one - River View Apartments

http://www.bokapowell.com/#/residential/7/

yosuke · #**9123** Posted **Jul 18, 2011, 3:19 AM**

Kevin,

This thread is great, but I am having trouble looking up the latest ranking. The first page of the thread is rather old one (3 years old), and I am guessing that you have later list. Could you let me know if you do?

KevinFromTexas · #**9124** Posted **Jul 18, 2011, 3:25 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by yosuke

Kevin,

This thread is great, but I am having trouble looking up the latest ranking. The first page of the thread is rather old one (3 years old), and I am guessing that you have later list. Could you let me know if you do?

Yes, I'm working on a replacement/update to it.

AlecfromTexas · #**9125** Posted **Jul 18, 2011, 12:32 PM**

Went Out Friday to the Lady Bird Lake Trail for some skyline shots. Here are a few photos of our beautiful city!

chewy · #**9126** Posted **Jul 19, 2011, 9:19 PM**

Anyone know what's up and coming next door to Chuck E Cheese, between 1st and Congress? It's a Rogers-Obrien job but their web site doesn't show it on their "In Progress" section.

I always had dreams of opening a bowling alley in that eternally empty space adjacent to Chuck E Cheese, but I guess my parking lot is now gone.

The ATX · #**9127** Posted **Jul 19, 2011, 10:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewy

Anyone know what's up and coming next door to Chuck E Cheese, between 1st and Congress? It's a Rogers-Obrien job but their web site doesn't show it on their "In Progress" section.

I always had dreams of opening a bowling alley in that eternally empty space adjacent to Chuck E Cheese, but I guess my parking lot is now gone.

A bowling alley next to a Chuck E. Cheese? It's good to have dreams.

NYC2ATX · #**9128** Posted **Jul 20, 2011, 4:55 AM**

Alec your photos are fantastic, thank you! I'm floored

KevinFromTexas · #**9129** Posted **Jul 20, 2011, 7:00 PM**

Have a look.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=192660

StoOgE · #**9130** Posted **Jul 20, 2011, 9:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewy

Anyone know what's up and coming next door to Chuck E Cheese, between 1st and Congress? It's a Rogers-Obrien job but their web site doesn't show it on their "In Progress" section.

I always had dreams of opening a bowling alley in that eternally empty space adjacent to Chuck E Cheese, but I guess my parking lot is now gone.

That was a Ross clothing store forever. It used to have a parking lot in front of it, when they expanded Ben White it made that space fairly worthless.

Something went into it *very* briefly right after the Ben White expansion, but it didn't last.

The ATX · #**9131** Posted **Jul 21, 2011, 2:50 AM**

Fox7 News at Nine had an update on the Manchester convention hotel. The developers made a presentation to a city commission stressing that they wanted it to be an architecturally significant building. It will be two hotels - one a four star and one a five star. The hotels will be connected to the convention center via a skywalk, and will have 600 parking spaces. They only showed the rendering briefly, but it looked a little different from the one already released. In the one second view it looked slightly more rectangular than oval, and it looked more like two distinct connected towers. And they want the same incentives that White Lodging got for the Congress Avenue convention hotel. Let the NIMBY whining begin...

cvillehorn · #**9132** Posted **Jul 21, 2011, 4:04 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hill Country

Fox7 News at Nine had an update on the Manchester convention hotel. The developers made a presentation to a city commission stressing that they wanted it to be an architecturally significant building. It will be two hotels - one a four star and one a five star. The hotels will be connected to the convention center via a skywalk, and will have 600 parking spaces. They only showed the rendering briefly, but it looked a little different from the one already released. In the one second view it looked slightly more rectangular than oval, and it looked more like two distinct connected towers. And they want the same incentives that White Lodging got for the Congress Avenue convention hotel. Let the NIMBY whining begin...

Plans for New Convention Center Underway
Updated: Wednesday, 20 Jul 2011, 10:51 PM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 20 Jul 2011, 10:51 PM CDT

Read more: http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/top_stori...er-Underway20110720-ktbcw-#ixzz1Si2jVTF0
The City of Austin has agreed to back a project for another convention center hotel downtown.
There are already plans for a convention center hotel on Congress and this one could be the second one.
Those working on the project spoke in front of the City of Austin Downtown Commission.

Manchester Texas Financial Group is the developer of this hotel which would at Cesar Chavez and Red River.
It will have more than 1,000 rooms and the plan is for it to be two hotels in one, a 4-star and a 5-star hotel. There would be 600-800 parking spaces which that area of downtown needs. The hotel will have two pools and plenty of restaurant and meeting space.

Architects behind the project want to work with the Waller Creek Commission on the plans and make the building an iconic piece of architecture.
"I think it will improve the opportunities for the city to hold larger conventions obviously. I think in terms of the growth of that part of downtown Austin this will be the catalyst for future development for that part of downtown Austin. It's a terrific opportunity for the city," said Gensler Runkle from the Architecture Firm.
The Downtown Commission voted to support the project and businesses in the area seem to be supportive as well.
Employees at Iron Works BBQ have been waiting for a big project like this to move into that space. While the restaurant gets many customers from those attending conventions, a nearby hotel bringing in even more business would be welcomed.
We get a lot of out of town business, people that return every year, couldn't wait to get back here or they heard about it, oh you got go next door to Iron Works and get BBQ,” said Roland Cantu of Iron Works BBQ.
The Austin City Council has talked about waiving more than $4 million in development fees for the proposed convention center hotel on Congress.
The project should break ground in 2012 and is expected to be completed in two years.

http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/top_stori...er-Underway20110720-ktbcw-#axzz1Si1k2kHY

KevinFromTexas · #**9133** Posted **Jul 21, 2011, 4:25 AM**

Screen shots from the Fox7 News cast.

This would be the view from the southwest. The podium levels at the base which would contain convention/meeting space face Cesar Chavez with the tower portion being on the north side of the block. From this image, it looks like they're planning green roofs for the whole building, even the very top of the tower.

BevoLJ · #**9134** Posted **Jul 21, 2011, 4:42 AM**

It looks like they are still quite busy trying to figure out what it will look like and planning it.

Man this project is guaranteeing a wet dream. I just love this hotel. Can't wait until it is done. I was planning on going and staying in the W at some point just to experience it, but never got around to it. This hotel I really can't wait to try out. Even more than the W.

hookem · #**9135** Posted **Jul 21, 2011, 4:58 AM**

I count anywhere from 50-54 floors from those pics:

* 6-10 for the pedestal/parking garage
* 40 floors (looks like 38 hotel room and 2 amenity floors at the bottom)
* 4 story crown. Maybe even taller than that. No idea if there will actually be 4 mechanical floors up there, but it's got the room for that many, judging by the pic. What would be REALLY cool is if they put a bar and restaurant up there. Like the one at the Marriott Marquis in San Francisco (Moscone center): http://www.onhotels.com/adv-hotel?hotel=UCVNKYXKDTVJXCQCTYEE . That's an awesome place to stay when at a convention, and even at 39 stories/436ft it feels plenty tall when you are up there having a drink.

Also judging by the pic, using a very unscientific photoshop method, the spire looks to be equivalent to 16-17 hotel floors high.

Using a conservative 11ft height for each floor (understanding that the hotel floors could be as low as 10.5 or so, and the base/lobby floors could be much higher), I've got a height to the roof of the mechanical floors at 594ft. If the spire is as tall as it looks, that would be 180 ft, so 774ft to the tip of the spire.

Places where I could be way off include the base and spire. But it's fun to try to guess based on the pictures.

KevinFromTexas · #**9136** Posted **Jul 21, 2011, 5:08 AM**

Most buildings don't include their mechanical floors unless they're located midway up the building. They pretty much never include mechanical floors atop the roof. The Frost Bank Tower for instance is stated as having 33 floors, which it does. It has 33 office floors and the lobby. But, there's also 2 mechanical floors hidden inside the crown. I know because I was inside them during a building tour back when the building was being built.

P3FE · #**9137** Posted **Jul 21, 2011, 11:16 PM**

This verbiage is used on page 24 of the urban design guidelines for Austin:
• Development should not obscure existing views through the public rightof-
way.
• Pedestrian bridges and building fly overs should not be permitted
anywhere downtown.

This verbiage is used on page 114 of the downtown Austin plan Nov 2010 draft:
• Sky-bridges that cross public rights-of-way and interrupt the visual and spatial integrity of the street should not be permitted. Sky-bridges are appropriate only across public alleys or within private properties.

If the developers want to build a sky-bridge across Red River Street to the convention center, I would be curious to see if the city would allow it. I personally find them superfluous as well as ugly.

StoOgE · #**9138** Posted **Jul 22, 2011, 3:50 PM**

Considering that side of the convention center is a wall along Red River, I think allowing a sky bridge is a good idea as it could actually serve to open the convention center up to the east. Not sure whose bright idea it was not to extend the hallways on the west side of the convention center over to the east side as well.

If nothing else, maybe they could go with an underground tunnel connecting to the convention center?

hookem · #**9139** Posted **Jul 22, 2011, 3:54 PM**

Well, the just-completed Pfluger Bridge extension is a pedestrian overpass right across Cesar Chavez. Granted, it's probably farther west than would be considered "downtown", but it's in the same general area where people would be walking around. So the city council clearly thinks pedestrian overpasses are OK in certain situations.

Similarly, I think this hotel will be so far east (and so near I-35) that the pedestrian bridge won't interfere with any traditionally desirable views. I think the guidelines quoted above are more for protecting views along streets like Congress through downtown.

StoOgE · #**9140** Posted **Jul 22, 2011, 7:43 PM**

While it's true there isn't much worth preserving in that area right now, that is the heart of the new Waller Creek development/riverwalk thing. That said, I think a giant anchor hotel right at the corner of Red River/CC would far outweigh any negative impact of a pedestrian bridge and could massively spur development along that part of Waller Creek. Look how much growth has gone in near the Hilton convention center hotel/transit rail stop in the last few years.

It's extremely likely that the new convention center hotel wants to be a bit more upscale than the Hilton and a direct connection to the convention center is a big part of their sales pitch to potential conventions.

I hope the Mariott is built as well, but as a convention hotel, it's a pretty good walk from the convention center (about 3 blocks away by memory)