AUSTIN | Project Updates Thread Part II

[The ATX]

Here are the Block 87 renderings from the Statesman article:

[jbssfelix]

Originally Posted by The ATX

Here's a new high rise project - Block 87. It's a vision now but the owners are looking for development proposals. Renderings are included with the statesman article:

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/busi...emium-referral

Since I just moved to Austin, does anyone have a resource that maps the "blocks" that are always in reference? I feel totally out of the loop when someone mentions "block ##". Haha. Thanks!

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by jbssfelix

Since I just moved to Austin, does anyone have a resource that maps the "blocks" that are always in reference? I feel totally out of the loop when someone mentions "block ##". Haha. Thanks!

The only one I have ever seen is a very early one done in the 19th century, but it's useless because the block numbers have changed since then. But obviously the block numbering system is documented somewhere because developments continued to be identified by block number.

[atxsnail]

it's hard to imagine something like this Block 87 rendering right across the street from the salvation army and arch.

btw, has anyone ever noticed this area of downtown is hilariously labeled "financial district" in google maps? i see state and federal buildings, parking lots, garages, churches, and not much else here

[wwmiv]

Too bad it's a vision... I like the green accents.

[AustinGoesVertical]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Too bad it's a vision... I like the green accents.

I like this one's chances better than the "Le Meridan Hotel and Residences" vision. Does finding a developer by next year mean finding one before January 2016, or within a year. If it's the former, then this one could turn into something substantial quite quickly assuming the interest is there. If you recall 5th and West came out of nowhere really and they didn't put a lot of stake into pre-sales to determine if it would break ground. Would be a step in the right direction for this part of the city.

[wwmiv]

This might be another sign of developments being drafted (along with Waller Park Place and the Fairmont) as a result of the floodplain reduction from the Waller Creek project's completion. This article also needs to be posted in the thread for the Episcopalian archives, since that's the location and owner and they're looking to be good downtown citizens by maximizing their impact, which is great and exactly what we all constantly complain about from other developers.

[OtherKevin]

Originally Posted by jbssfelix

Since I just moved to Austin, does anyone have a resource that maps the "blocks" that are always in reference? I feel totally out of the loop when someone mentions "block ##". Haha. Thanks!

Originally there were 179 blocks downtown, which were divided into lots and sold to the public. Over the years, more of the state owned blocks were sold to the public, and then downtown was expanded with more roads. To keep things simple they just kept numbering the block as they were sold. Unfortunately, this makes it very confusing today unless you have a map.

Here is a map of downtown from 1853 which you can click for the full sized version.


Now you can see why the four blocks of the GreenWater development are 1, 23, 185, & 188. Hope this helps!

[OtherKevin]

Here is an older map from 1939, before the Penitentiary land was sold off.


Also, they decided to stop numbering the downtown blocks after 190. So, when the original courthouse block was sold (located between blocks 26 and 27) they simply named it "OLD COURT HOUSE BLOCK".

[KevinFromTexas]

This is definitely something to keep an eye on. The article states another option is to convince a buyer for the property which would likely lead to it being redeveloped. Previously, this site had a 7-story residential building planned for it.

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl...ss-avenue.html

Theater group wants to buy prime Congress Avenue property

Sep 17, 2015, 2:35pm CDT

The State Theater – and its parent group the Austin Theatre Alliance – are looking to expand their property portfolio on Congress Avenue. The property being targeted is 721 Congress Ave., a vacant and neglected retail location next to the theater.

Community Impact reports the city of Austin and the theater alliance have terminated a lease that the city had on the State Theater, which was largely a bookkeeping move to allow the city to use money from a 1998 bond proposal to repair that property. Ending that lease frees up Jim Ritts, CEO of the Austin Theatre Alliance, to negotiate a possible purchase of the next door property, which he said has a leaking roof that is damaging the theater building.

[Homecreek]

This may have been pointed out before but history is repeated itself. The old courthouse block in the old map is the same one the county is planning to build on.

[OtherKevin]

Originally Posted by Homecreek

This may have been pointed out before but history is repeated itself. The old courthouse block in the old map is the same one the county is planning to build on.

I remember back when the county bought the block, and articles included its historic use as one reason why that location was chosen. I don't think it is an coincidence that they want to build on the northern half of the block; the same half set aside for the original courthouse.


The original courthouse opened in 1855. By 1876 offices were moved to a larger and more modern structure at the corner of 11th and Congress. The original courthouse was demolished in 1906.

Fun Fact: The 1876 courthouse was not built on the same block as the original because people complained about the location.

[LoneStarMike]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Previously, this site had a 7-story residential building planned for it.

I really liked the 7-story building that they were going to build there.



When I first moved to Austin in 1982, that space was a Reynolds Penland Men's Store.

Before that, it was a Walgreen's



http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/675...res/?width=930

[JACKinBeantown]

Does anybody have a rendering of what Austin's skyline will look like when all the current buildings under construction are finished?

[JoninATX]

Looks like a new 5 story apartment building will take place where The Villas at San Gabriel used to be.

07/06/2015

Work will consist of the new construction of a 365,000 sf podium apartment with 5 levels of wood frame apartments in Type IIIB construction and 1 level of apartments of Type IA construction (concrete structure with metal stud framing) over 5 tiers of underground parking garage of Type IA construction. There are 92 units with 394 beds.

The project is in the University Neighborhood Overlay (UNO) district and will comply with the design guidelines for the UNO as well as Smart Housing and AEGB (Austin Energy Green Building) one star.

There is a leasing office on the ground floor, an exercise room on parking level 1 and an interior courtyard with a swimming pool and spa.

http://www.virtualbx.com/projects-bi...el-subbid.html

[The ATX]

This is surprising to me. The owners of the Villas on Town Lake are looking for development offers for their 2 acres:



http://www.mystatesman.com/news/busi...emium-referral

[lzppjb]

Going to box that MACC in.

[drummer]

They're not gonna like that.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by The ATX

This is surprising to me. The owners of the Villas on Town Lake are looking for development offers for their 2 acres:

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/busi...emium-referral

There'd actually been rumblings before about that possibility.

[Urbannizer]

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl...ey-street.html

Originally Posted by ABJ

Kimber Modern founder backs out of Rainey Street hotel
Sep 22, 2015, 8:03am CDT

The plan to build a second Kimber Modern hotel in the Rainey Street District has come to an abrupt halt.

Kimber Cavendish, a partner in the first Kimber Modern hotel at 110 The Circle south of downtown, has pulled out the project.

"I wanted to let you know that the hotel on Rainey slated to be a Kimber Modern will no longer be a Kimber Modern. I am not involved in the hotel project any longer and it's going to be named something else and run by a different company. I thought you should know the most recent news so no one becomes confused," Cavendish said in an email to the Austin Business Journal.

Mike Rhodes of Acero Construction, which had been in the partnership to build a second Kimber Modern at 62 East Ave., said he wouldn't be able to comment at the moment.

"I'll give you an update in a few weeks," Rhodes said.