AUSTIN | Projects & Construction III

[The ATX]

The City's emerging project poster was updated this week:

ftp://ftp.ci.austin.tx.us/DowntownAu...r_2013_oct.pdf

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by Syndic

Hmm, wherever the market went, it would have to be somewhere accessible, which doesn't cause too much congestion. And then there's the question of whether we're willing to sacrifice a high-rise building for a large market like this. I tend to prefer street-level quality over just a superficial aesthetic quality. But I don't exactly want to displace a large building project that's already planned. They said it could be a part of a mixed-use building, which I think would be cool. I think one place it could really work is right here, across from the Colorado Tower. It's right in the heart of downtown, right by Congress, it's highly-accessible via public transportation and walking, close to the lake. I think it's perfect.

A really nice setup would be the have the market there on the first levels (first level?) with residential above it or even office space. It would be nice to have a lot of retail in it also and maybe even multiple levels of it. Maybe even a full scale grocery store. I would have the podium meet the street like the other buildings along Congress do and then have a setback as required by the CVC, and then let the upper levels be a secondary use such as residential or office space. I'm not even talking really tall, maybe 5 to 8 floors atop the retail levels. Although, I suppose you could put a tower at 3rd & Colorado on the east end of the block.

[Kotliz]

Originally Posted by Syndic

Hmm, wherever the market went, it would have to be somewhere accessible, which doesn't cause too much congestion. And then there's the question of whether we're willing to sacrifice a high-rise building for a large market like this. I tend to prefer street-level quality over just a superficial aesthetic quality. But I don't exactly want to displace a large building project that's already planned. They said it could be a part of a mixed-use building, which I think would be cool. I think one place it could really work is right here, across from the Colorado Tower. It's right in the heart of downtown, right by Congress, it's highly-accessible via public transportation and walking, close to the lake. I think it's perfect.

WOW!! I forgot how open/empty that area looked before the Hyatt Place, Whitley and the Marriott!

[corvairkeith]

Originally Posted by Kotliz

WOW!! I forgot how open/empty that area looked before the Hyatt Place, Whitley and the Marriott!

Say what you will about Hyatt Place and Whitley being ugly or not tall enough but they really transformed that part of downtown.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by corvairkeith

Say what you will about Hyatt Place and Whitley being ugly or not tall enough but they really transformed that part of downtown.

Hyatt Place is a whole lotta fugly, but Whitley has been growing on me more and more. I know it doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but the building is well done at least. I might even say it's one of our better (best?) small to midrise new residential buildings. I'd put it above Milago Condos and the Plaza for sure.

[OU812]

Originally Posted by corvairkeith

Say what you will about Hyatt Place and Whitley being ugly or not tall enough but they really transformed that part of downtown.

I think the Hyatt looks great. Call me crazy but I like the blue glass and brown/beige stucco-ish combination. It's not exactly world class architecture, but it looks just fine. I would be proud to own it!

You know what's REALLY ugly downtown? A few quick things come to mind:
*That old pitch black high rise near 6th and Congress -it's like some kind of glorified inner city prison.
*The City Hall bldg -what's with the rusty looking pieces of sheet metal? I know they were supposed to be 'bronze' and artsy, but it just looks cheap and gaudy. And the back with that sharp, seemingly random piece which sticks out over the street- FREAKY.
*The Long Center -what's with the checkered green/brown upper facade area? It always reminds me of old chair/mattress stuffing. I know they wanted to recycle parts of Palmer Auditorium, but they really could have done something else with that ugly glass.

[BevoLJ]

I'd like to see it on the east side of DT. Perhaps part of the Waller Creek project? I know they have a few areas set aside they have some plans for. Many include this with one of them? Like where the APD HQ is. I think there are plans to move that and replace it with something. Or maybe down closer to Rainey and Town Lake.

[JoninATX]

Cool, so that makes 3 new tower cranes, 2 of which are in the UT area.

[corvairkeith]

The building that bothers me most downtown is the Hilton. It's just so prominent from the East Side or from I35 and it's just a giant wall of brown and beige stucco. Here are some photos I took of the East 5th Street redevelopment last week. I can't wait for the Fairmont to be built to give us a more interesting focal point from the East.

[wwmiv]

The only building downtown which is truly awful is the Hilton. Every other building is workable. And what's worse about the Hilton is that it will never, ever be obscured from the highway because off CVCs.

[Thymant]

Although the hilton is not the best, I still don't see how people can complain about with that ugly brown hotel right next to it, to me that one makes the hilton look okay.

[KevinFromTexas]

Yeah, the Hilton is pretty blah. It was interesting at the time seeing such a big building going up in Austin. I actually like it at night, though. I like that it doesn't have any accent lighting and only a few lights here and there on the roof. It looks like a big city skyscraper to me. The kind that you'd see in New York.

And I still gotta say I like the Bank of America Center at 6th & Congress. I know it's old, jet black and outdated, but that's why I like it. It's from a different era.

Originally Posted by Kotliz

What about One America Center on Congress with all that brown and white stucco and those steps? I think it's part of what makes me cringe over the new GreenWater 1 tower.

One American Center is actually limestone, at least the white part is. I'm not sure what the brown accents are. But I do know for sure that the white part is limestone. If the One American Center is made out of stucco than so are Austin's hills.

And Austin City Hall does't have bronze on its facade. There may be some in the building somewhere, but that facade is all copper.

And the Long Center recycled all of the roof panels from the dome of the building that they removed. Doing that they cut down on waste and also saved a ton of money since they didn't have to purchase new material. I will admit that I liked the original version more that made more use of the building's space, but I still do like that plaza, and the skeletal ring is a neat place at night. Go up there sometime when there's a full moon and stars. It's like walking around a space ship.

[Kotliz]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Yeah, the Hilton is pretty blah. It was interesting at the time seeing such a big building going up in Austin. I actually like it at night, though. I like that it doesn't have any accent lighting and only a few lights here and there on the roof. It looks like a big city skyscraper to me. The kind that you'd see in New York.

And I still gotta say I like the Bank of America Center at 6th & Congress. I know it's old, jet black and outdated, but that's why I like it. It's from a different era.



One American Center is actually limestone, at least the white part is. I'm not sure what the brown accents are. But I do know for sure that the white part is limestone. If the One American Center is made out of stucco than so are Austin's hills.

And Austin City Hall does't have bronze on its facade. There may be some in the building somewhere, but that facade is all copper.

And the Long Center recycled all of the roof panels from the dome of the building that they removed. Doing that they cut down on waste and also saved a ton of money since they didn't have to purchase new material. I will admit that I liked the original version more that made more use of the building's space, but I still do like that plaza, and the skeletal ring is a neat place at night. Go up there sometime when there's a full moon and stars. It's like walking around a space ship.

I stand corrected on the limestone cladding One American Center. Still not a design that suits my taste.

And the "black" metal parts of the Bank of America Center is certainly a "dark bronze" color up close. I like that building as something different in the city. I kind of wish the JP Morgan Chase tower had stayed gold (That was the building that was all gold glass for years, right?).

[AusTxDevelopment]

Originally Posted by Kotliz

I kind of wish the JP Morgan Chase tower had stayed gold (That was the building that was all gold glass for years, right?).

Yes, yes it was.

[AusTxDevelopment]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

One American Center is actually limestone, at least the white part is. I'm not sure what the brown accents are. But I do know for sure that the white part is limestone. If the One American Center is made out of stucco than so are Austin's hills.

Ha! Hills of stucco. The brown accents are granite, btw. The lobby and common areas are all clad in granite as well. Granite and limestone were the defacto go-to finishes in the 1980s and 1990s. That is why you see so many buildings with those finishes.

Also, there are no office buildings taller than a couple of stories made out of stucco. Stucco is a very labor & time intensive process that requires hand-application. Even the spray-on kind of stucco would be impossible for a highrise. It's very finicky and will crack, chip and fade. Most buildings that have the "look" of stucco are made out of GFRC, which is a type of engineered concrete panel that contains fiberglass for strength and has texture to it. The material can be dyed any color during fabrication, and the panels can be shaped to any form. It's much easier and cheaper to use these lightweight panels to skin a building. They don't crack or chip because of the fiberglass, they don't fade, they resist stains and if one of them fails it can be replaced like a giant tile. GFRC can also be engineered to look like limestone (or any stone for that matter), and many of our suburban buildings have real limestone on the ground floor and as you go up it is GFRC 'limestone". Mostly because of cost. You can't really tell the difference unless you get up close enough to see all the little shell fossils in the stone.

[MightyYoda]

Originally Posted by AusTxDevelopment

Ha! Hills of stucco. The brown accents are granite, btw. The lobby and common areas are all clad in granite as well. Granite and limestone were the defacto go-to finishes in the 1980s and 1990s. That is why you see so many buildings with those finishes.

Wish Chase had stayed gold as well and I love all the buildings downtown with granite and limestone finishes. I think One America Center looks good as it has a lot of very small setbacks with quality materials. Love the off-white with brown accents.

[AusTex]

Originally Posted by AusTxDevelopment

Ha! Hills of stucco. ....Also, there are no office buildings taller than a couple of stories made out of stucco. Stucco is a very labor & time intensive process that requires hand-application. Even the spray-on kind of stucco would be impossible for a highrise... Most buildings that have the "look" of stucco are made out of GFRC, which is a type of engineered concrete panel that contains fiberglass for strength and has texture to it....

Is the Hilton stucco or GFRC? It sure looks like "cheap" stucco.

Is The Plaza at 5th and Guadalupe GFRC?

Originally Posted by MightyYoda

Wish Chase had stayed gold as well....

To each his own...I really did not like the gold at all! It and Dobie were awful looking. They are much more to my liking now than before.

[TowerSpotter]

Here are some recent and amazing hyperlapse/timelapse videos of Austin. My personal favorite is the last one.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/418553359089688360/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/418553359089875871/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/418553359089886908/

[pscajunguy]

Govt Shutdown probably means that new projects come to a screeching halt! This looks like a pretty bad one.

[East7thStreet]

Originally Posted by pscajunguy

Govt Shutdown probably means that new projects come to a screeching halt! This looks like a pretty bad one.

Federal Courthouse is already finished. Not aware of any other federal projects taking place downtown.