AUSTIN | Project Updates Thread Part II

[JoninATX]

3215 Exposition



http://3215exposition.com

I find it kind of strange for having a tower crane for a project like this?

[ivanwolf]

Originally Posted by The ATX

At 908 Nueces there is a 4-story condo project that got approval. But that would be on the other side of the street.

Do you know what condo it is, any renders? I just saw that when I walked by Aspen yesterday.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by ivanwolf

Do you know what condo it is, any renders? I just saw that when I walked by Aspen yesterday.

I just knew what it was from a building permit, but DAB had renderings a while back. It's called Esquina Austin:



http://downtownaustinblog.org/2014/1...in-908-nueces/

[The ATX]

This could be something big. Cielo Property Group filed for a CVC determination today for 900 Congress. The site is currently occupied by a 4-story Prosperity Bank.

https://www.austintexas.gov/devrevie...erRSN=11442384

[urbancore]

Originally Posted by the atx

this could be something big. Cielo property group filed for a cvc determination today for 900 congress. The site is currently occupied by a 4-story prosperity bank.

https://www.austintexas.gov/devrevie...errsn=11442384

ooooh snap!

[AustinGoesVertical]

Originally Posted by The ATX

This could be something big. Cielo Property Group filed for a CVC determination today for 900 Congress. The site is currently occupied by a 4-story Prosperity Bank.

https://www.austintexas.gov/devrevie...erRSN=11442384

Office tower?

[MTM-ATX]

The new 2016 Capitol Complex Master Plan has just been released. I really like the Texas Mall that would replace Congress Ave north of the Capitol and new buildings to replace many o the surface parking lots.

http://www.tfc.state.tx.us/divisions...n_PROPOSED.pdf

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by MTM-ATX

The new 2016 Capitol Complex Master Plan has just been released. I really like the Texas Mall that would replace Congress Ave north of the Capitol and new buildings to replace many o the surface parking lots.

http://www.tfc.state.tx.us/divisions...n_PROPOSED.pdf

Lots of positives, but it's a shame they still have to devote so much time/attention/money to parking. Especially with so much parking that goes unused 500 day each biennium.

[resansom]

From the PDF - looking south, down the proposed mall, from north of the capitol:

I like the mall - not so much the big, stubby buildings.

[drummer]

Even with the big, stubby buildings, it could add to density. I agree 100% on Novecek's parking complaint. If these big, stubby buildings have little coffee shops and restaurants on some of the ground floors, I'd call it a win given that it's being done by the state and not private developers.

So far as the mall - I agree, it looks great. I haven't read the document as my internet can be frustratingly slow in China sometimes; downloading pdf's simply doesn't happen on these days. Does it say anything about any other roads be closed to traffic? Do the E/W roads cross through the mall area? From the picture it looks like they might. What is really cool is that this would mesh well with the Speedway pedestrian street on the UT campus.

[MichaelB]

I know this won't go over well with so many "size queens" on here.
BUT .... i'm really happy they kept the heights low. It feels like DC. Keep focus in Capitol complex on the capitol.

I like the mall... but damn it's going to really really cause traffic issues in the area. Especially on game days! ( not that the state cares...)

[KevinFromTexas]

I was thinking the same thing. I just hope the buildings have something to offer at street level. The mall is nice and all, but it would be great to have some retail in the buildings so that there is a catalyst to attracting people there and having them use the mall. The mall idea also goes to show how awesome it would be to have a museum of some sort there. I know the Bullock museum is there, but I still wish we had either an aquarium or planetarium in that area. And I don't mind the stubby buildings, I just hope the designs are good.

[drummer]

I was thinking the same thing - it could turn into a neat museum district. Blanton across the street, Bullock there on the mall, and then the SkyscraperPage.com/Austin Museum of Urban Development or something...

[the Genral]

Where are the fountains?!? Why can't we ever get any stinkin fountains??? And please don't quote Blazing Saddles and say "Fountains? We don't need no steekin fountains"! We do. If those aren't east / west traffic lanes, then how cool would it be to put a fountain at a few of the intersects? I agree this would be a great place for an art and museum district. Keep the buildings shorter than the Capitol dome but at least put some style into what's built there with lots of options for vistors and residents like shops and eateries. This is a great seg way from campus to downtown, and far more appealing than 40 story + stuctures scattered in and around the north side of the Capitol.
btw, what's that tall building to the left, south of the cap. supposed to be?

[wwmiv]

I agree on all points:

#1: This should be fundamentally mixed-used directly fronting the pedestrian mall. Ideally (and since we know people read this forum occasionally, I really hope this idea goes somewhere), I'd like to see a mall that has a variety of shopping, with the broader bulk of a few of those building's first and second floors being museums of different kinds. That's essential for a cultural district. I'd like to see the creation of a much larger art museum, an aquarium, and a planetarium, with smaller museums and galleries interspersed throughout the shopping venues as well. The rest of the buildings' entirety would be office space for state workers. Off the pedestrian mall, I am totally okay with designs that are aesthetically pleasing at the street level, but don't particularly interact with the pedestrian level apart from a few restaurants occasionally at the corners, etc, and for it to be entirely state offices.

#2: I agree that the designs should remain shorter and give a D.C. type atmosphere, but the only problem is that requires stringent design standards to accomplish (because the D.C. atmosphere is less about the lack of height - although it does have that and because it is federal law and city statute - and more about the particularly about the level of and type of design), drastically increasing the cost of development. That's not going to happen in a cost-conscious GOP state. I do like the shortness, but I'd like to see a more modern aesthetic with a more local vernacular. That's more expensive than generic, but less expensive than D.C. throwback, and with greater attraction, too: it creates a unique space which is always great for tourism dollars and thus great reinvestment into the community (and great tax benefit as well from that increase in dollars AND the increase in property tax values for the surrounding area, a win-win for everyone involved: the government, developers and bis business, and the area which isn't an area that we'd have considered gentrified or nearby any areas that could gentrify as a feed-off effect, so we're also avoiding any kind of social justice issues that might be at play if this were a different neighborhood).

#3: Further north from the Capitol I would support taller buildings perhaps up to 300-400 feet, but only toward the northwest since that preserves, by keeping towers out of the line of sight, the view toward the capitol dome for drivers coming south on I-35. This would also create a nice canyon effect surrounding the dome by counterbalancing any increases in height from the new medical center.

[drummer]

Those east-west crossings do look vehicular to me from the image above - 18th street looks to have curbs, but then again, I know it's a very basic schematic. Fountains would be nice, though I don't know how many of them are necessary. I think that, if done well, they can certainly add to this type of area. This is a perfect example of a case where the state and city should strive to work together - even bring in the university as it bumps right up to it and students might be a big market for stores/restaurants (though not exclusively due to other traffic in the area). The more I think about it, the more potential this area has.

Elephant in the room, since it was mentioned briefly above - traffic. Greater density (and losing a north/south vehicular street - for a very good reason, of course) begs the question of what other modes of transportation would help to alleviate the gridlock. Thoughts?

[Maximusx1]

Originally Posted by Novacek

Lots of positives, but it's a shame they still have to devote so much time/attention/money to parking. Especially with so much parking that goes unused 500 day each biennium.

Which parking goes unused for 500 days? The only lot that is unused in the interim is the lot at 15th and Colorado/Lavaca and that is exactly where one of the new buildings is being built. All other parking is used every single day by the tens of thousands of state agency employees (Comptroller, RR Commission, PUC, Tx Ag dept., etc.) who have nothing to do with the biennium calendar. And yes, they need parking.

I saw a brochure once for a planetarium planned at Congress and MLK back when people were bidding on the decommissioned space shuttles. The brochure showed an eight story glass cylinder with a space shuttle inside. Was very striking and would have been a spectacular addition to this museum district.

I'd love to see this area served one day by a subway. Call it the Capitol/Museum stop on the north-south line from Crestview to South Congress and Oltorf.

Fountains don't look so good in a drought. There is a great fountain at the Employee Retirement System building at MLK and San Jac that hasn't been turned on in 10 years. While I do love fountains, I would predict the same fate for any new ones in this gubment area.

You guys do not give much credit to our current crop of state leaders, but they do love that Capitol building as a monument to (themselves) Texas. They will do a lot to protect it and keep it impressive from all angles.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by Maximusx1

Which parking goes unused for 500 days? The only lot that is unused in the interim is the lot at 15th and Colorado/Lavaca and that is exactly where one of the new buildings is being built. All other parking is used every single day by the tens of thousands of state agency employees (Comptroller, RR Commission, PUC, Tx Ag dept., etc.) who have nothing to do with the biennium calendar. And yes, they need parking.

Page 45 of that linked document
http://www.tfc.state.tx.us/divisions...n_PROPOSED.pdf

shows the parking demand both in-session and out of session. It's not just 15th/colorado/lavaca that significantly decreases use.

To which this plan proposes thousands (7.5k) of new parking spaces (over and above anything that is lost to development).

[clubtokyo]

Originally Posted by Novacek

Page 45 of that linked document
http://www.tfc.state.tx.us/divisions...n_PROPOSED.pdf

shows the parking demand both in-session and out of session. It's not just 15th/colorado/lavaca that significantly decreases use.

To which this plan proposes thousands (7.5k) of new parking spaces (over and above anything that is lost to development).

What is the likelihood of this happening, and how quick? Looks really neat.

[MTM-ATX]

Not sure when it starts but Phase 1 funding is approved. Page 12 of the Master Plans says this:
The 84th Texas Legislature has funded Phase 1 of the master plan,
including approximately 1,025,000 gross square feet of new office
space; this phase consolidates approximately seventy-five percent of
current lease space into the Capitol Complex. Phase 1 implementation
also includes 4,840 new parking spaces, three blocks of the Texas Mall
landscape and associated streetscape improvements, and needed
infrastructure upgrades to support the new development.