AUSTIN | Project Updates Thread Part II

[lzppjb]

I also finally noticed the Austin Food Bank on South Congress is going to move east next year, and their 5 acre site and building are now on the market for $5.3 million.

[Tech House]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

I also finally noticed the Austin Food Bank on South Congress is going to move east next year, and their 5 acre site and building are now on the market for $5.3 million.

Wow, that's a lotta dough for 5 acres in one of the most desolate parts of town. Around 2004, I bought 5 gorgeous acres with a house, 2 cottages, horse stable, and a pond, for $214,000. But it was a few miles SW of Lockhart. Location, elocution, electrician.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by Tech House

Wow, that's a lotta dough for 5 acres in one of the most desolate parts of town. Around 2004, I bought 5 gorgeous acres with a house, 2 cottages, horse stable, and a pond, for $214,000. But it was a few miles SW of Lockhart. Location, elocution, electrician.

Not to steer the topic away, but Lockhart is way cheap. We went down there for something on Craigslist a year or so ago, and the guy we were buying from mentioned the property next door was his. He said he bought the lot for $1,500. It was an old neighborhood maybe 3 blocks from downtown Lockhart.

[Tech House]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Not to steer the topic away, but Lockhart is way cheap. We went down there for something on Craigslist a year or so ago, and the guy we were buying from mentioned the property next door was his. He said he bought the lot for $1,500. It was an old neighborhood maybe 3 blocks from downtown Lockhart.

This is an example of why I would never trust high property values in Austin the way I do in places like coastal California --- high prices in Austin exist in a spatial bubble, which to me is just as risky as a temporal bubble.

[lzppjb]

All I know is it could allow for more development down that way.

[lzppjb]

53 townhomes to be built behind the Broken Spoke.

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/busi...ebook_2014_sfp


Austin-American Statesman

[KevinFromTexas]

https://www.facebook.com/independent...type=1&theater


https://www.facebook.com/jerryjeffwa...type=1&theater


https://www.facebook.com/paramountth...type=1&theater


https://www.facebook.com/paramountth...type=1&theater


https://www.facebook.com/paramountth...type=1&theater


https://www.facebook.com/paramountth...type=1&theater

[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

[The ATX]

Here are the Block 87 renderings from the Statesman article:

[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

[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.

[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".

[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.

[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.

[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

[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.