AUSTIN | Projects & Construction III

[lzppjb]

And don't forget all the street work that'll be going on too. It'll be real busy downtown this year.

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

And don't forget all the street work that'll be going on too. It'll be real busy downtown this year.

what street work?

[lzppjb]

Ben Wear: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/t...-plenti/nThSS/

DOWNTOWN AUSTIN

Project: Reconstruct streets, install utilities, add bike lanes and, in some cases, wider “great streets” sidewalks on four downtown streets: East Second Street from Congress Avenue to Trinity Street, East Third Street from Congress to Trinity, Colorado Street from West Third to West 10th Street, and West Eighth Street from Congress to Rio Grande Street, with a roundabout at Rio Grande.

Length: About 20 blocks

Projected cost: $25.4 million (summation of all four projects; original estimate unavailable)

Start: April 2012 (Colorado section south of West Seventh, and East Second projects); September 2012 (West Eighth); October 2012 (East Third); October 2013 (Colorado section north of West Seventh)

Estimated completion: Summer 2013 (East Second and Colorado, south four blocks); May 2014 (East Third); and October 2014 (West Eighth and Colorado, north three blocks)

Project update: Work is ongoing on all but the Colorado project’s second phase north of West Seventh, and the middle portion of West Eighth between Colorado and Nueces streets. Work on Colorado has moved to the block between West Fifth and West Sixth streets.

[Syndic]

I took the upper deck Southbound on I-35 earlier and happened to notice that --- East Avenue ----- is already rising up and it's simply HUGE. There's no other way to put it. The floor area is ENORMOUS. I was able to get down there and snap a couple pictures, but unless I stopped my car and got out (in the nasty cold and rain) and snapped pics from the upper deck, there's no way I could relay just how gigantic it really is. I recommend you all go take a look at it, if you get a chance.

I'll add it to my list. I hadn't realized it was already under construction.

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by Syndic

I took the upper deck Southbound on I-35 earlier and happened to notice that the East Avenue Andaz is already rising up and it's simply HUGE. There's no other way to put it. The floor area is ENORMOUS. I was able to get down there and snap a couple pictures, but unless I stopped my car and got out (in the nasty cold and rain) and snapped pics from the upper deck, there's no way I could relay just how gigantic it really is. I recommend you all go take a look at it, if you get a chance.

I'll add it to my list. I hadn't realized it was already under construction.

Don't mean to be Mr. Questions, but what exactly was this project supposed to be before it went all hibernation...?

[lzppjb]

I was going to ask how do you know it's the Andaz? For the life of me, I can't find anything for it. News, renders, etc. All I found was a Statesman article from March 2011 saying Hyatt still wanted an Andaz in Austin, but not in the University Park area.

[Syndic]

Ah, I think I figured it out. It's not the Andaz hotel. That didn't seem right to me, either. The layout is all wrong. I believe this is a 5-story apartment development simply called "East Avenue".

That's kind of a bummer. I can't even tell if it's going to be mixed-use. That area needs more height.

[LoneStarMike]

That's not the Andaz, Syndic. I think what you're actually seeing is the University Park Apartments.

Firm plans four Austin apartment complexes worth $200 million
By Shonda Novak
Austin American-Statesman
July 1, 2011

The above article has a rendering of the University Park Apartments. Construction when the article was written was estimated to have begun in the summer of 2012, but as we all know, nothing ever really breaks ground when they initially think it will. The article also mentioned the apartments at Lamar & Manchaca. That project is just breaking ground now, but was supposed to have broken ground in March of 2012.

Edited to add: You beat me to it.

[JoninATX]

Also the Hotel Van Zandt may start this year as well.

[KevinFromTexas]

Buildings I would add to that list that should start this year:

GreenWater. For sure I would think the two apartment towers and probably the hotel are a go. The office building is the only one that I think there might be a smaller market for, and they have some competition with 3 Eleven Bowie's office component, IBC Bank Plaza, 3rd & Colorado and Shoal Creek Walk. Still, it's always a race to be first, so there's no reason to think they wouldn't start the office tower as soon as they get final approval.

300 East 5th Street Hotel. They're moving through the city's development process now, so I would expect it to break ground this year. And with White Lodging's other successes in Austin, there's no reason to think they won't do that hotel.

Hotel Van Zandt is also still going through city approval.

Hotel ZaZa & Apartments

UT System Headquarters, if they decide to go ahead with it, it should break ground this year.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by Syndic

I took the upper deck Southbound on I-35 earlier and happened to notice that --- East Avenue ----- is already rising up and it's simply HUGE. There's no other way to put it. The floor area is ENORMOUS. I was able to get down there and snap a couple pictures, but unless I stopped my car and got out (in the nasty cold and rain) and snapped pics from the upper deck, there's no way I could relay just how gigantic it really is. I recommend you all go take a look at it, if you get a chance.

I'll add it to my list. I hadn't realized it was already under construction.

http://i.imgur.com/0Hourh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/4uN9Ch.jpg

That project is huge. You can see it under construction on Google Earth. I measured the building, and it is 200 feet by 400 feet. Are you talking about the construction site west of Harmon Avenue at the southwest corner of Harmon Avenue and Concordia Avenue? The address is 3400 Harmon Avenue. That project will be 73 feet tall with 5 floors.

There are some taller buildings that were at least designed for that area. A couple of them are being designed by the same firm that is doing Streetlights at Barton Springs.

There's a tower planned for 921 Luther Street at the East Avenue Parcel 5 site that is supposed to be 205 feet with 16 floors. Another one on Parcel 2 at 1020 East 32nd Street is 190 feet with 16 floors. Both of those would easily be taller than anything north of Dean Keeton/24th Street. The nearest taller buildings to those are 8 blocks to the south and are nearly a mile southwest of that area. So this would create a mini skyline in that area independent of the UT Campus.

[ROCrot]

Originally Posted by Syndic

Okay guys, so 2012 is over with and it was a pretty good year for Austin. We saw development finally pick up again to pre-2008 recession levels. Many projects were announced and begun. It's looking like 2013 will be even bigger. I figured I'd make a list of downtown projects for the new year. Please correct me if you have more up-to-date information or if I forgot anything. (BTW, we need to update the list on the front page, too.)


Projects that will be starting in 2013:

1. Shoal Creek Walk - early 2013
2. 6th & Lamar (former KVET studios) - early 2013
3. Capital Studios (11th & Trinity) - early 2013
4. 3rd and Colorado - early 2013
5. GreenWater - early 2013
6. Fairmont Hotel - March 2013
7. New Central Library - Summer 2013
8. IBC Bank Plaza - 2013
9. Seaholm - 2013
10. 7Rio - 2013
11. StreetLights at Barton Springs - 2013
12. Broadstone at the Lake - 2013
13. Rainey Center - late 2013

Projects that will be completed in 2013:

1. The Whitley
2. Gables Park Plaza II
3. Eleven Austin
4. Hyatt Place
5. RiverView Apartments
6. Calloway House
7. 2400 Nueces
8. West Campus Tower

Projects that will continue construction in 2013:

1. JW Marriott Hotel
2. 3eleven Bowie
3. SkyHouse Austin
4. East Avenue apartments

Anyone updating this page?
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=198519

[Syndic]

Nope. I haven't seen BevoLJ around lately. Maybe someone could edit his post? Or just delete it and post an updated one under their name? Or we could wait for him to return, I guess.

Anyway, I updated my list with those projects.

Projects that will be starting in 2013:

1. Shoal Creek Walk - early 2013
2. 6th & Lamar (former KVET studios) - early 2013
3. Capital Studios (11th & Trinity) - early 2013
4. 3rd and Colorado - early 2013
5. GreenWater - early 2013
6. Fairmont Hotel - March 2013
7. New Central Library - Summer 2013
8. IBC Bank Plaza - 2013
9. Seaholm - 2013
10. 7Rio - 2013
11. StreetLights at Barton Springs - 2013
12. Broadstone at the Lake - 2013
13. 300 East 5th Street Hotel
14. Hotel Van Zandt - 2013
15. Hotel ZaZa & Apartments -2013
16. UT System Headquarters -2013
17. Rainey Center - late 2013

Projects that will be completed in 2013:

1. The Whitley
2. Gables Park Plaza II
3. Eleven Austin
4. Hyatt Place
5. RiverView Apartments
6. Calloway House
7. 2400 Nueces
8. West Campus Tower

Projects that will continue construction in 2013:

1. JW Marriott Hotel
2. 3eleven Bowie
3. SkyHouse Austin
4. East Avenue apartments

I already had GreenWater on there. It would be nice to get updated projections for when some of these will start, if at all.

One that's still a mystery is Trinity Place. When will that start? If they're already taking down billboards on the site, you would expect it would be pretty soon, right? I'm going to tentatively add them.

[Syndic]

Also, check out this cool helicopter tour of downtown Austin. It's all going to look very different soon, of course. But it's a cool perspective. It looks really big.

• Video Link

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by Syndic

One that's still a mystery is Trinity Place. When will that start? If they're already taking down billboards on the site, you would expect it would be pretty soon, right? I'm going to tentatively add them.

A poster on another board had this to say:

This is an assumption and falsified rumor...the billboards came down b/c Reagan National Advertising is looking to redo the signs. (link to the permit case folder: https://www.austintexas.gov/devrevie...erRSN=10873806 )

World Class doesn't own the property outright just yet; and they don't have the man-power, nor the capital (despite the name), to complete a project of that magnitude. They had teamed up with a 'real' development outfit, but tried to reneg the agreement at the last second...the big-boys called Natin's bluff and now they're sitting there without a project, and a 'hard-money' note on the land that matures in less than 2-yrs.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by Syndic

Nope. I haven't seen BevoLJ around lately. Maybe someone could edit his post? Or just delete it and post an updated one under their name? Or we could wait for him to return, I guess.

Between hunting down building heights, taking photos and my forum admin duties, I've pretty much run out of time to maintain the front pages.

Only forum staff members can edit other people's posts/threads. I could "deputize" someone, though. They would have the ability to edit posts, including that one. Would anyone be interested? I've been thinking for a while I could use some help with keeping the front pages updated. Hopefully it would be someone who would stick with it and not lose interest.

[lzppjb]

http://www.statesman.com/news/busine...x-plans/nTq8m/

Lawmakers: Halt Capitol complex plans
American-Statesman Staff

An influential group of Texas lawmakers on Wednesday called for a time-out on unsolicited proposals for public-private projects.

The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission took the vote after a debate about the future of the Capitol complex.

“Did any of us really envision the commercialization of the Capitol complex?” asked Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. “How do we put the genie back in the bottle? I think we made a mistake.”

While the brief debate focused on plans for fully developing the Capitol complex, the freeze on unsolicited proposals would extend statewide, including development on state lands in Austin, until after Sept. 1.

The commission, by a vote of 10-2, rejected an amendment to allow unsolicited proposal to continue to be considered until Sept. 1.

[BevoLJ]

I can try to get to updating it some. The under construction part should be pretty close. There maybe one I have overlooked, if so please let me know.

Tracking down all the info for new projects is what makes keeping that updated very hard. It is a lot more work than it seems. lol.

Edit: Oh... that one that you linked from the Austin forum I will not keep updated. If someone else wants to do that, that would be great. I do try to keep this thread in the city compilations section updated though. I know there are some proposed buildings from the last month I need to add. I'll try to find their info and get them on there.

[ryanbrowne88]

Originally Posted by Syndic

Okay guys, so 2012 is over with and it was a pretty good year for Austin. We saw development finally pick up again to pre-2008 recession levels. Many projects were announced and begun. It's looking like 2013 will be even bigger. I figured I'd make a list of downtown projects for the new year. Please correct me if you have more up-to-date information or if I forgot anything. (BTW, we need to update the list on the front page, too.)


Projects that will be starting in 2013:

1. Shoal Creek Walk - early 2013
2. 6th & Lamar (former KVET studios) - early 2013
3. Capital Studios (11th & Trinity) - early 2013
4. 3rd and Colorado - early 2013
5. GreenWater - early 2013
6. Fairmont Hotel - March 2013
7. New Central Library - Summer 2013
8. IBC Bank Plaza - 2013
9. Seaholm - 2013
10. 7Rio - 2013
11. StreetLights at Barton Springs - 2013
12. Broadstone at the Lake - 2013
13. 300 East 5th Street Hotel
14. Hotel Van Zandt - 2013
15. Hotel ZaZa & Apartments -2013
16. UT System Headquarters -2013
17. Rainey Center - late 2013

Projects that will be completed in 2013:

1. The Whitley
2. Gables Park Plaza II
3. Eleven Austin
4. Hyatt Place
5. RiverView Apartments
6. Calloway House
7. 2400 Nueces
8. West Campus Tower

Projects that will continue construction in 2013:

1. JW Marriott Hotel
2. 3eleven Bowie
3. SkyHouse Austin
4. East Avenue apartments

If you are counting 78704 in the list: The Tree and Gibson Flats will both be completed in 2013. The new development at South Lamar Plaza will also continue construction in 2013.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by ryanbrowne88

If you are counting 78704 in the list: The Tree and Gibson Flats will both be completed in 2013. The new development at South Lamar Plaza will also continue construction in 2013.

I'd never even heard of The Tree until you mentioned it just now.

http://liveattree.com/