Austin | South Austin Projects

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

How old are you?

Did you know a Heather or Lacy? They'd be 29-30 now. I think they lived on that road. Either there or Hank.

Im 32, names sound familiar im thinking back trying to remember lol

[tildahat]

Just noticed yesterday on my way to pick up my daughter from SSVE that right on Jones between the row of really, really run down duplexes on Westgate and the ones that appear to be well maintained over by the Montessori school was a duplex that appeared to be very new and modern. Interesting that the stuff on Westgate didn't deter them from building it....

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by tildahat

But Stassney is about as far from 6th and Congress as Highland Mall and even William Cannon is about the same as Crestview from 6th and Congress, yet those areas are treated as 'central' and '45 is the hinterlands...

I think there's a few reasons behind this.

1. UT. Historically UT has been such a big part of Austin that the true "center" of town isn't 6th and Congress, it's somewhere further north between downtown and UT(the percentage has decreased recently as Austin has grown, but it's still a respectable portion).

2. The river/town lake/ladybird lake. Even today there's just a few connections across the lake. It's been easier for Austin to stretch North than South.

3. Environmental/Developmental restrictions. There are more in the south of town. SoS/Recharge Zone/Karst. Helps to limit density.

[KevinFromTexas]

Well here's one for 78745. A few months ago I noticed the trees were cleared from a lot at 6500 Manchaca Road. This is located between William Cannon & Stassney.

I had searched for anything related to it on the city's site plan review website, but didn't find anything. Yesterday, though, I was riding past the lot with my camera and snapped a few photos. Today I did a search for the property again, and there's an updated site plan review from this month. It also has a link to the older site plan, which I didn't realize existed, but apparently this project goes back to 2009.

Anyway, from the site plan it has a building elevation that shows the height as 59 feet 6 inches with 4 floors. The site plan says they're planning 4 vertical mixed use buildings. The property is 6.3 acres, so it's pretty big and has approximately 600 feet of frontage along Manchaca Road.

That's comparable to what's already in the area. The South Austin ACC Campus is just north of there on Stassney and is 55 feet with 3 floors. That building was even supposed to be taller, 62 feet with 4 floors, but they scaled it down.

Site plan review is here. The building elevation is in the first link. I'm wondering if they'll stick with that plan. This says they're asking for a revision to the original.

https://www.austintexas.gov/devrevie...erRSN=10880075



The apartments in the back are accessed by a driveway from Manchaca Road that runs south of this property.




They still haven't removed the pile of trees yet, but they do have those construction borders up near the sidewalk.

[tildahat]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Well here's one for 78745. A few months ago I noticed the trees were cleared from a lot at 6500 Manchaca Road. This is located between William Cannon & Stassney.

I've been curious what that is - my kids used to go to the montessori school across the street.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Well here's one for 78745. A few months ago I noticed the trees were cleared from a lot at 6500 Manchaca Road. This is located between William Cannon & Stassney.

I had searched for anything related to it on the city's site plan review website, but didn't find anything. Yesterday, though, I was riding past the lot with my camera and snapped a few photos. Today I did a search for the property again, and there's an updated site plan review from this month. It also has a link to the older site plan, which I didn't realize existed, but apparently this project goes back to 2009.

Anyway, from the site plan it has a building elevation that shows the height as 59 feet 6 inches with 4 floors. The site plan says they're planning 4 vertical mixed use buildings. The property is 6.3 acres, so it's pretty big and has approximately 600 feet of frontage along Manchaca Road.

That's comparable to what's already in the area. The South Austin ACC Campus is just north of there on Stassney and is 55 feet with 3 floors. That building was even supposed to be taller, 62 feet with 4 floors, but they scaled it down.

Site plan review is here. The building elevation is in the first link. I'm wondering if they'll stick with that plan. This says they're asking for a revision to the original.

https://www.austintexas.gov/devrevie...erRSN=10880075

This link was not helpful at all. I've clicked the first link, but I have no idea nor the time to click through all of the links (which are all downloads) in that first link to figure out which is the site plan and elevation.

[KevinFromTexas]

It's pretty easy actually. Just open each one. It'll save them in your downloads folder. Open that and go through them. The three that I saved are the files that end with 006, 011 and 026. Those first two are the site plan and the third is a building elevation showing the design and height.

That's how I've been getting all the building heights lately. It's not that bad. Also if you view the files as thumbnails, you can usually spot the building elevations without having to look through all of them.

[wwmiv]

I'm not so keen on the design, but given that it's further out and, frankly, is an enigma for the area, I'm not too worried about it.

[tildahat]

Just FYI, the South Austin Combined Neighborhood Plan workshop is this Saturday:

http://www.austintexas.gov/departmen...ghborhood-plan

I may try to go, even though I'm currently south of the boundaries.

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by tildahat

Just noticed yesterday on my way to pick up my daughter from SSVE that right on Jones between the row of really, really run down duplexes on Westgate and the ones that appear to be well maintained over by the Montessori school was a duplex that appeared to be very new and modern. Interesting that the stuff on Westgate didn't deter them from building it....

I think that the "Central Market Effect" might account for any new construction in the vicinity of those run down duplexes. Most of that area is doing very well except for that patch on Westgate. I figure that as long as Central Market is up the road, there is likely to be a rebuilding or rehabbing of the area immediatelty to the south over time.

[KevinFromTexas]

^That area to the south. Years ago, about 17 years ago, we were driving down Westgate through that area where all those apartment complexes are when we heard a loud bang. I remember my ears ringing. Anyway, we noticed the rear passenger side window was chipped and it looked like a bullet had skipped across the glass. My dad was driving, my mom was in the front passenger seat and I was in the back seat behind her. We had guessed it must have been either a high powered pellet gun or else maybe a .22. It chipped the window and left a streak across the glass where it hit. If the angle had been more direct, it probably would have hit me.

[jngreenlee]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

it probably would have hit me.

Since Austin is now the 4th safest city in the county, no need to worry anymore!

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=116

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by jngreenlee

Since Austin is now the 4th safest city in the county, no need to worry anymore!

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=116

Well, to be fair, this did happen in the mid 90s, and believe it or not Austin is safer now than it was back then. Even though Austin is more than twice the size now than it was during the 90s, we have been having fewer murders each year over the last dozen+ years than we did back in the 90s. In 1991, the year of the famous yogurt shop murders, there were 47 murders. There were 33 murders last year in Austin. Austin's population in 1990 was 472,020, while it was 790,390 in 2010.

[tildahat]

Never reported back on the NH planning meeting. Decent meeting. Free breakfast tacos!

I think they tried to rush through too much. Did some snap polls on various pictures of buildings but didn't explain well what we were voting on. People weren't really clear on if they were voting on the style vs. the form, or what that even means. Also weren't clear on the where these building were supposed to be. Just too much info in too short a time, especially since so many probably haven't spent a lot of time reading on these sorts of issues.

From an urbanist perspective, I'd say it was pretty even as far as openness vs. hostility to making the area more walkable and less car centric. Though a disappointing number of people who seem to have the attitude "I want to drive *everywhere* and if anyone else is giving the option of sometimes not driving, it's tyranny and I'm mad as hell about it!" Never understood that. If you want to drive everywhere, fine, but why is it 'tyranny' if I'm given a choice, but 'freedom' if you force me to make *your* choice?

Anyway, I encourage any urbanists in the area to attend to tip the balance. (And yes, I know this is a near duplicate of my city-data post...)

[tildahat]

FYI, the next South Austin Combined meeting is Saturday (23rd) at Crockett High 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. They seem to be going by email more than web now, so I'll just paste the message:

Greetings South Austin Community Members,

Join your neighbors and representatives from ACC South, AISD, and the Manchaca Road Library this Saturday, March 23 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (doors at 8:30) at Crockett High School for a Community Design Workshop and continue the conversation about your vision for your neighborhood.

This Saturday’s Community Design Workshop will bring together residents, property and business owners, educators, public officials and other stakeholders to dream and draw their vision for the portion of the planning area surrounding the intersection of Stassney Lane and Manchaca Road, which includes Crockett High School, ACC South, the Manchaca Road Branch Library, and local businesses—in other words, the components of a great Civic Center.

Participants will work in groups to draft principles and create maps and sketches that imagine the future of the Civic Center. Volunteers from the Austin chapter of the American Institute of Architects will be available to assist participants create a physical vision for the Civic Center.

We are also excited to announce that volunteers from the Dougherty Arts Center will provide children’s activities!

Please visit http://www.austintexas.gov/departmen...ghborhood-plan or call Francis Reilly at (512) 974-7657 for more information. Results from the Kickoff and Visioning Workshops are also available on the neighborhood plan website. A flyer showing the area of focus for this workshop and a general overview of the morning is attached.

We look forward to working with you this Saturday!

Best,
Francis

[tildahat]

Back to "LoCo". Curious what you all think the future of the Stassney and Congress intersection is. Considering the new PSW development at 301 Stassney. Plus - green build, solar panels, good layout for my family, walking distance to new Rapid Bus stop. Bad: That area just isn't very nice right now.

But, there's a lot of room for redevelopment around that intersection and I can see it changing rapidly in a few years. Or it could be the same 10 years from now.

[KevinFromTexas]

They just built a gas station at Congress & Stassney. I did notice they've torn down the car wash on Stassney just west of Congress, but I noticed they had put up another cinder block wall. I'm not sure what they're doing there.

[lzppjb]

The SE corner of Stassney and 35 is also getting a slow makeover. Looks like they're trying to turn it into a shopping center. The shell of what looks to be a bank has gone in already.

[tildahat]

Anyone going to the NH planning meetings? We ended up buying outside of the planning area, so I haven't been, but I'm curious what direction they are taking.

[tildahat]

For those in the area, a chance to vote for more urban infill options in the area:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M6DT3NF