AUSTIN | Project Updates Thread Part II - Page 86

The ATX · #**1701** Posted **Feb 25, 2015, 6:07 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

I hate to point this out especially after Spaceman's above post but I've noticed that there has not been a single new proposal announcement this year. Unusual in the fact that we have seen new proposals announced during the first quarter of the past several years. It may be due to the fact that so many projects are under construction or in the works and developers are in a wait and see period.

I also wonder what effect the new council has made on future proposals and if we will see anything new announced anytime soon.

I don't expect many - if any - big announcements for a while. There are just too many in the works. As it stands now Downtown will still be booming for the next three to four years if nothing but the current proposals are built.

hookem · #**1702** Posted **Feb 25, 2015, 7:33 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

I also wonder what effect the new council has made on future proposals and if we will see anything new announced anytime soon.

I've wondered this too.

I think the new council definitely has something to do with it; they are an unknown to developers. It's not necessarily that developers have just decided to stop all new proposals, but I think an unusually high amount of proposals were pushed through before the city government change. So, it's like 2014 really had a lot more major development starts than it should have; and some which missed their chance will drop off rather than navigate the unknown.

So we'll see a lull for a while, maybe a year or even two, while code NEXT is hashed out and we (possibly) see a new city manager. Once the navigation channels are predictable again, if Austin is still hitting on all cylinders, we'll see the proposals start to pop up again.

Tech House · #**1703** Posted **Feb 25, 2015, 6:01 PM**

I'm not even remotely worried about Austin slowing down, other than the necessary adjustment that is coming in the unsustainably explosive development of downtown. Look at these two back-to-back items from the Austin Business Journal and consider what they suggest about Austin's likely future:
http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/blog/t...rancisco.html?ed=2015-02-24&s=article_du
http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2...downtown.html?ed=2015-02-24&s=article_du

Number one on planet earth for tech business environment, and number one in US for both percentage growth in downtown employment and total percent of workforce working downtown. Even if both of these surveys are misleading (as the first one most likely is), they still provide a strong indicator that urban Austin is a boomtown that contends with top cities around the world. There's currently too much emphasis on hotels, but that's going to stop and we'll probably start seeing further development of residential and office space.

Regarding our traffic woes, it's not at all surprising that Austin's suburbs nearly lead the nation in population growth, while the urban core leads in job growth This imbalance has accelerated in recent years, making the suburb-to-city commute absurdly asymmetric.

And regarding the new city council, I believe it will be MORE FAVORABLE to dense, high-rise development because the NIMBY attitude of some council members will primarily apply only to their own districts, whereas they may be eager to approve projects in someone else's district. In addition, there is really only a 3-member core of anti-growth/anti-density council members (Poole, Tovo, Kitchen), and at least 6 members quite amenable to allowing Austin to be the city it naturally wants to be. I'm unsure about Mayor Adler and Ora Houston; Houston voted against a recent up-zoning request in Poole's district, so she might join the other 3 in opposing other high-density developments but I doubt it. Adler is probably every bit as pro-growth as any recent mayor has been. I like the new council, and I think it will be a friend of density and progress.

Syndic · #**1704** Posted **Feb 25, 2015, 10:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

I hate to point this out especially after Spaceman's above post but I've noticed that there has not been a single new proposal announcement this year.

What about Austin Proper? That's no small project. 500 West 2nd Street was also announced not very long ago and is just getting underway.

Stop with the alarmism and melodrama, people.

Jdawgboy · #**1705** Posted **Feb 26, 2015, 12:20 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syndic

What about Austin Proper? That's no small project. 500 West 2nd Street was also announced not very long ago and is just getting underway.

Stop with the alarmism and melodrama, people.

I'm sure Austin Proper was in the works in 2014 and maybe even earlier. If it's part of the Greenwater Treatment redevelopment then all of those buildings (ones going up now and the ones to come) have been in some stage of development for a few years now.

The ATX · #**1706** Posted **Feb 26, 2015, 2:19 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

I'm sure Austin Proper was in the works in 2014 and maybe even earlier. If it's part of the Greenwater Treatment redevelopment then all of those buildings (ones going up now and the ones to come) have been in some stage of development for a few years now.

Right. A Green Water hotel has been planned since ~2006.

427MM · #**1707** Posted **Feb 26, 2015, 3:10 AM**

A new favorite spot for watching construction--Yellow Jacket on e 5th

hookem · #**1708** Posted **Feb 26, 2015, 5:48 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syndic

Stop with the alarmism and melodrama, people.

No one is talking alarmism and melodrama.

Just a predictable lull when compared to last years frenzy, I think. It will all even out over time.

The ATX · #**1709** Posted **Feb 26, 2015, 7:16 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 427MM

A new favorite spot for watching construction--Yellow Jacket on e 5th

Seems like it might be a little dusty.

MichaelB · #**1710** Posted **Feb 26, 2015, 4:53 PM**

Sigh.... another hidden gem bites the dust.

Jdawgboy · #**1711** Posted **Feb 26, 2015, 7:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hill Country

Seems like it might be a little dusty.

Also watch out for real Yellow Jackets. They sometimes build their nests in bamboo. Those things sting like nobodies business.

427MM · #**1712** Posted **Feb 27, 2015, 1:34 PM**

The Waller Creek project and this new 1,066 room hotel are sure to pump some energy into this area

The ATX · #**1713** Posted **Mar 2, 2015, 3:41 AM**

This site has some new (to me) renderings of the SoCo motel that is opening this summer:

http://www.hotels.com/hotel/details.html...STINATION&page=1&searchParams.sortOrder=

Here's one of the renderings:

chaust · #**1714** Posted **Mar 4, 2015, 12:46 AM**

Hello Austonians.

Please advise if any buildings are on the horizon that will match or top the tallest currently erected?

Thank you.

hereinaustin · #**1715** Posted **Mar 4, 2015, 3:37 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by chaust

Hello Austonians.

Please advise if any buildings are on the horizon that will match or top the tallest currently erected?

Thank you.

Not sure if either will be built, but The Independent (61 floors) and one of the Waller Center buildings (52 floors) are contenders for taking the tallest building title.

Syndic · #**1716** Posted **Mar 4, 2015, 3:58 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by chaust

Hello Austonians.

Please advise if any buildings are on the horizon that will match or top the tallest currently erected?

Thank you.

This will sound confusing but people from Austin are referred to as Austinites despite the name of our tallest building being named "The Austonian". I still don't get why they named it that. As if the name of our city was "Auston", not "Austin". Maybe the developers spent too much time in Boston and got confused.

Maybe we should retaliate by building a huge building in Boston and name it "The Bostinite".

DoubleC · #**1717** Posted **Mar 4, 2015, 4:53 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syndic

This will sound confusing but people from Austin are referred to as Austinites despite the name of our tallest building being named "The Austonian". I still don't get why they named it that. As if the name of our city was "Auston", not "Austin". Maybe the developers spent too much time in Boston and got confused.

Maybe we should retaliate by building a huge building in Boston and name it "The Bostinite".

Naming it the Austinite sounds silly :p. Naming it the Austinian makes it sound "mini", which it isn't!

KevinFromTexas · #**1718** Posted **Mar 4, 2015, 5:08 AM**

Really it should be the Austglassian, but whatever.

drummer · #**1719** Posted **Mar 4, 2015, 1:45 PM**

Austonian really does sound like they pulled names out of a hat at some work party.

austlar1 · #**1720** Posted **Mar 4, 2015, 9:55 PM**

The naming of the building was met with considerable derision in the local press and in online forums while The Austonian was under construction. The developers (and their Spanish deep-pocket investors) obviously were not sensitive to local concerns. I always thought the condo board would change the name once the owners took control of the building, but I guess that is not going to happen. I have gotten used to the name, but it certainly does not make any sense.