AUSTIN | Project Updates Thread Part II

[We vs us]

It's definitely an interesting building, and unique in a downtown that is rapidly modernizing towards the blockier and glassier.

But man, it's just deeply inefficient in a place where we need to maximize, among other things, efficient use of space. Also, pests aren't cool.

[Lobotomizer]

I just hope they don't knock it down before a financed project is ready to replace it.

An empty building is bad, but another massive parking lot would be worse, especially considering The Republic may finally be ridding the city of that horrendous parking lot.

[ThyPiGuy]

Man, hard disagree. "Interesting" is about the nicest thing that can be said about it. 3 different designs by 3 different brothers, none of them particularly good.

The worst part of the building is it has *0* street front interaction in an area that needs all it can get, minus a useless plaza, no retail, and it has an awful pedestrian experience with parking entrances cutting off sidewalks.

I certainly hope whatever replaces it keeps some of the texture the building brings in a sea of glass boxes around it, but otherwise good riddance.

[Maximusx1]

This is where I want a downtown HEB with a tower on top please.

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by Maximusx1

This is where I want a downtown HEB with a tower on top please.

Rainey area certainly could benefit from an urban HEB. I wonder whether HEB is ready to go down that road just yet. Wouldn't they need dedicated parking as part of the package? Kind of like Whole Foods on Lamar?

[Maximusx1]

Originally Posted by austlar1

Rainey area certainly could benefit from an urban HEB. I wonder whether HEB is ready to go down that road just yet. Wouldn't they need dedicated parking as part of the package? Kind of like Whole Foods on Lamar?

Yep and the Hobby building has that!

And I've always wanted an HEB at Holly and Waller. Would be walkable for Rainey, RBJ residents and get school traffic from Martin Middle and Sanchez elementary. Not to mention it's the intersection of I35 and the River.

[Echostatic]

Originally Posted by austlar1

Rainey area certainly could benefit from an urban HEB. I wonder whether HEB is ready to go down that road just yet. Wouldn't they need dedicated parking as part of the package? Kind of like Whole Foods on Lamar?

The new Lake Austin HEB is being built with a few stories of underground parking and a two-story store above ground. The South Congress HEB rebuild will have a three-story garage next to the store as well.

[austin242]

If they build an HEB there that would be amazing. Also would love it if the new building orients itself towards the park. Maybe the State could do something nice for Austin just this one time. I doubt it, but maybe.

Plan A for Zilker Park. Hide the parking. Don't care how I want it now. We are ready for world class. We are becoming one of the wealthiest cities on the planet. We can afford to splurge on ourselves. Also get that darn beer garden at Zilker. They just need to keep trying. Eventually it'll happen. We need those healthy alternatives to hard liquor.

[MichaelB]

Originally Posted by austin242

I may be one of the only ones who thinks this but I really like the hobby building. With just a little spruce up it could really be a great building. The orientation is great and the building itself adds a uniqueness to the area.

You're not alone. Just the " Bigger is better" voice on here is really loud. It is an interesting building and the only example of it's era in that area. The orientation is good... especially how it manages to connect to the park at an angle. Not to mention set backs and terraces. It could be made to be really cool. The biggest problem to face was the lack of quality in the build and how the state ignored maintenance. So it will sadly probably go away.
BUT..... please keep up the advocacy for design. We need better city space built into buildings and not just "square footage". Better neighborhood and less tall for talls sake.

[drummer]

I agree - it is interesting and the orientation is cool. I would say my primary complaint is street interaction outside of the corner that faces the park, specifically. If it were possible for a developer to retrofit the building, that would be okay. If not, I'd say put something that matches the significance of that site there instead with better height. But, to points above - make it interesting, make it beneficial to the larger community, make it an actual improvement. Make it brick or something instead of glass.

[migol24]

Eww. I hate the Hobby Building. I would be happy to see it go away, even if it were replaced with another mid-sized building like the Amli on 2nd st, that houses Taverna. I really think this area needs more of that, especially on that side of downtown. It's so dark and depressing at night.

[lonewolf]

very much like plan A but putting a playground at the base of the land bridge seems very dumb

[Cd1076]

Originally Posted by Maximusx1

Yep and the Hobby building has that!

And I've always wanted an HEB at Holly and Waller. Would be walkable for Rainey, RBJ residents and get school traffic from Martin Middle and Sanchez elementary. Not to mention it's the intersection of I35 and the River.

I was told by an older gentleman in the neighborhood that there used to be an HEB at the corner of Cesar Chavez and Waller where the Central Health building is now. Wish it was still there!

[kingkirbythe....]

Psst, Hey Kid! You Wanna Buy Two Blocks in Downtown Austin?

https://austin.towers.net/psst-hey-kid-you-wanna-buy-two-blocks-in-downtown-austin/

It’s not exactly a fan-favorite building, but we’re still quite fond of the concrete-heavy 1970s institutional architecture of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas headquarters in downtown Austin. The two-building complex, its original western structure opened in 1973 and the near-identical eastern expansion completed in 1990, occupies two full city blocks — and now that TRS has begun executing its plans to relocate to a new building at Mueller by 2023, those two blocks are up for grabs in a fast-growing corner of downtown. Now offered for sale by real estate giants CBRE, the 3.83-acre site has been redubbed the Waterloo Innovation Center:

[jbjjbjbb]

Originally Posted by Cd1076

I was told by an older gentleman in the neighborhood that there used to be an HEB at the corner of Cesar Chavez and Waller where the Central Health building is now. Wish it was still there!

Posted some photos of it in the Historic Images thread

[Cd1076]

Thanks for the link! That's so cool, wish the HEB building was still there in that condition.

[zrx299]

Originally Posted by kingkirbythe....

Psst, Hey Kid! You Wanna Buy Two Blocks in Downtown Austin?

https://austin.towers.net/psst-hey-kid-you-wanna-buy-two-blocks-in-downtown-austin/

It’s not exactly a fan-favorite building, but we’re still quite fond of the concrete-heavy 1970s institutional architecture of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas headquarters in downtown Austin. The two-building complex, its original western structure opened in 1973 and the near-identical eastern expansion completed in 1990, occupies two full city blocks — and now that TRS has begun executing its plans to relocate to a new building at Mueller by 2023, those two blocks are up for grabs in a fast-growing corner of downtown. Now offered for sale by real estate giants CBRE, the 3.83-acre site has been redubbed the Waterloo Innovation Center:

It still blows my mind that Brutalist architecture was so popular in the '70s that every city has these cold, industrial, dystopian, concrete bunkers scattered around.

I know beauty, art, etc is all subjective, but whew... Brutalism is one I'll never understand.

[kingkirbythe....]

Originally Posted by zrx299

it still blows my mind that brutalist architecture was so popular in the '70s that every city has these cold, industrial, dystopian, concrete bunkers scattered around.

I know beauty, art, etc is all subjective, but whew... Brutalism is one i'll never understand.

Testify!

[kingkirbythe....]

Comedy Club Linked to Joe Rogan Planned for Austin’s Ritz Theater

https://austin.towers.net/comedy-club-linked-to-joe-rogan-planned-for-austins-ritz-theater/

The historic Ritz Theater at 320 East Sixth Street will soon host a comedy club linked to recently controversial podcast host and new Austin resident Joe Rogan, according to a number of local property filings and an application to the city’s Historic Landmark Commission. An application to install new signage at the front of the building is listed on the consent agenda of the commission’s upcoming February 28 meeting, with backup documents for the renovation item using the name Comedy Mothership.

...

Previous reports indicated that Rogan planned to open a comedy club in West Austin, but his acquisition of the One World Theatre fell through for unknown reasons, with East Sixth Street mentioned last year as a new potential location for the club.



I'm glad the space is going to be used. Yay.

[mercury6]

Originally Posted by kingkirbythe....

Comedy Club Linked to Joe Rogan Planned for Austin’s Ritz Theater

https://austin.towers.net/comedy-club-linked-to-joe-rogan-planned-for-austins-ritz-theater/

The historic Ritz Theater at 320 East Sixth Street will soon host a comedy club linked to recently controversial podcast host and new Austin resident Joe Rogan, according to a number of local property filings and an application to the city’s Historic Landmark Commission. An application to install new signage at the front of the building is listed on the consent agenda of the commission’s upcoming February 28 meeting, with backup documents for the renovation item using the name Comedy Mothership.

...

Previous reports indicated that Rogan planned to open a comedy club in West Austin, but his acquisition of the One World Theatre fell through for unknown reasons, with East Sixth Street mentioned last year as a new potential location for the club.



I'm glad the space is going to be used. Yay.

love the comedy club crowds