AUSTIN | Projects & Construction II - Page 260

Strayone · #**5181** Posted **May 23, 2009, 1:49 AM**

You do make a good case when discussing a single city's population, but most of cities listed have unique reasons for having a pro enterprise and Austin has some as well for not having one. Namely most of the sports entertainment $ in Tx has been diveed up already. And the #1 in town is UT football, after that the major players in Tx, ie Cowboys Spurs...any Houston team already have found fans here in Austin. It's hard to compete with the establishment. OK city gets all of OK. the whole pie and probably parts of other bordering states, somewhat the same with Green Bay, they own the whole state for the most part don't forget Madison is 300k or more, and they are a nationally followed team. If Austin had a Pro franchise we would get no help from any where but central Tx. Good example of cities we would be in the same range with though. Is Columbus' team in the Mls?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottolini

And Milwaukee is yet another smaller city and metro than Austin which has two major league teams, three if you count the Packers.

And Memphis, Nashville, Charlotte, Orlando, Raleigh, Columbus, New Orleans, Salt Lake City....

JGFrisco · #**5182** Posted **May 23, 2009, 2:32 AM**

It's not just about the city - it's about the state. Wisconsin has almost six million people, the bulk of which live in a triangle between Madison, Milwaukee, and Green Bay. The Milwaukee teams and the Packers belong to the state, not just the town.

The difference here is that Austin's team would be...Austin and nothing else. The Cowboys own the state...the Rangers and Astros cover it too. And the NBA would NEVER allow a team 75 miles from SA.

So while Milwaukee itself is only 1.5 million, the TEAMS play to 5 to 6 million people. Austin would not have such numbers.

Urbannizer · #**5183** Posted **May 23, 2009, 4:02 AM**

Does anyone know when The Austonian will be topped out?

migol24 · #**5184** Posted **May 23, 2009, 4:52 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strayone

You do make a good case when discussing a single city's population, but most of cities listed have unique reasons for having a pro enterprise and Austin has some as well for not having one. Namely most of the sports entertainment $ in Tx has been diveed up already. And the #1 in town is UT football, after that the major players in Tx, ie Cowboys Spurs...any Houston team already have found fans here in Austin. It's hard to compete with the establishment. OK city gets all of OK. the whole pie and probably parts of other bordering states, somewhat the same with Green Bay, they own the whole state for the most part don't forget Madison is 300k or more, and they are a nationally followed team. If Austin had a Pro franchise we would get no help from any where but central Tx. Good example of cities we would be in the same range with though. Is Columbus' team in the Mls?

that's a good point. BUT! for the sake of discussion here... let's look at oakland. compare to sacramento (california's state capital), san francisco, los angeles, san diego, cities in which they all have pro sport teams, what is oakland to those cities? austin's a much bigger city than that with oakland having only about 390,000 in pop and you'd think san francisco being only 8 miles away as opposed to san antonio being 1.5 hours away that your argument should also apply to oakland.... no at all, oakland still has 3 major teams. golden state warriors, oakland raiders and oakland athletics. and it looks to me like those teams are quite succesful, franchises in which they have some of the most avid fans in sports. raiders and warriors in particular.... and across the bay SF have the giants and 49ers. san antonio still only have 1 basketball team and if include the entire central texas region (sa and atx) approx over 3.6 million people only have 1 pro sports team. while oakland in itself has 3 teams.

also i'm just reminded! florida has a sickload of teams as well... jacksonville jags, tampa bay buccaneers, tampa bay devil rays, miami dolphins, miami heat, orlando magic, florida mariners. those are six florida cities that have major sports teams... texas although having the same amount of teams still have only 3 cities with major teams.

breathesgelatin · #**5185** Posted **May 23, 2009, 5:13 AM**

I like the idea of an MLS team in Austin. I would totally go to the games.

Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE a theme park in Austin. I just don't feel that Disney should be it. If we're going for the "Keep Austin Weird" thing for the long term, it isn't and won't be a fit.

KevinFromTexas · #**5186** Posted **May 23, 2009, 5:18 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by zx14

Starting on floor 46 today. From the mopac bridge it looks to be and is the same height as frost. To see it in person is really impressive. Cant wait to see it topped out at the end of the summer. Also when you rent a boat you can see the AUSTONIAN just now poking up above the trees at zilker park.

It's at 500 feet now.

The 46th floor is at 500 feet 2 inches.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ()_T

Does anyone know when The Austonian will be topped out?

They're putting on about a floor a week. It's on the 46th now, so 10 more floors, plus the mechanical penthouse. I would say in ~11 to 12 weeks. So sometime in August it should be topped out.

breathesgelatin · #**5187** Posted **May 23, 2009, 5:25 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

You know, I'm really coming around on both the Ashton and the Legacy to different degrees. Ashton still isn't my favorite, but the aluminum (?) accents have helped it stand out some more.

I know we've been criticizing the paleness of the Legacy, and I may have done so on these forums too, can't remember, but dang, I like the styling of it. A. LOT. very, very cool. I am coming around a bit on the colors as well - we have such an overload of brown, and now glass, that something a bit different is cool.

I work at the Domain now, and I've been meaning to get some pictures of the new hotel as it goes up. I'll post them as soon as I can.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to post some pictures I took a few months back at the Crestview Station open house.

KevinFromTexas · #**5188** Posted **May 23, 2009, 5:32 AM**

I think that's aluminum. Yes, those accents really have set off the facade. I like the color of the windows too. The building's really dirty though, so it'll probably look a little different once they scrub it. Those windows are really grungy.

And yes, I'm coming around to Legacy. I'm still not so crazy about the pale color, but I really do like the detail. The windows on the building are its best feature. The balconies are good too.

Downtown_Austin · #**5189** Posted **May 23, 2009, 3:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

I think that's aluminum. Yes, those accents really have set off the facade. I like the color of the windows too. The building's really dirty though, so it'll probably look a little different once they scrub it. Those windows are really grungy.

And yes, I'm coming around to Legacy. I'm still not so crazy about the pale color, but I really do like the detail. The windows on the building are its best feature. The balconies are good too.

From a distance I still see Legacy as being the victim of the ugly stick and barely mediocre, but like your picture shows, on the street scape level it works. I've walked by the entrance dozens of times and it's very welcoming, IMHO.

I got a sneek peek of the Ashton's amenity deck - DAMN - from finish quality to views it's going to be incredible.

LiveattheOasis · #**5190** Posted **May 23, 2009, 8:30 PM**

Columbus does have an MLS team, they won the title last season. We've pushed hard enough to get a USL team, the Aztex, but hopefully we can move them up to MLS. Continue emailing the city council, Mike Martinez has helped us through the whole process, he's a big fan of the idea.

ATXboom · #**5191** Posted **May 23, 2009, 10:09 PM**

Pro Sports franchises make decisions more broadly. The main areas of consideration are:

1. Status of the league [shoudl it expand at all, does a team want to move]
2. Amount of Fortune 1500 companies [need big sponsors]
3. Gross Metropolitan Product [need lots of fans that can afford to attend games]
4. TV market [how much advertising dollars can be had]
5. Relative market [is there a big college sport there, another team near by, etc]
6. Demographics [what sport is the local population drawn to]
7. Does the city want a team [is the city going after a leage offering incentives]

So for instance Austin has a bigger GMP than San Antonio. Austin has a larger metro population than Buffalo, Jacksonville, Memphis, Milwaukee, OK City, Nashville, Ottawa, Salt Lake City, Green Bay, New Orleans, etc... While Austin has all these things it is the other stuff that prevents a franchise from being established.

Have said all of that I could see MLS being feasible in Austin in the next decade. In the next 2 decades I could see MLB feasible in Austin. Maaaaaaybe NHL but I don't think so. No way NBA or NFL.

If Austin completes its boom period and becomes stagnant like a rust belt city it may decide to offer incentives and agressively pursue a franchise?? If not any team would most likely locate between Round rock and Cedar Park.

My 2 cents.

priller · #**5192** Posted **May 23, 2009, 10:19 PM**

A few photos from this weekend:

hookem · #**5193** Posted **May 23, 2009, 11:08 PM**

Awesome pics priller. I love how you include something else of interest or beauty in most shots, not just the building. The city or developers should be paying you for these shots

I may have said this before, but man do our alleys look clean. Not much "urban grit" to be found, they look like what I'd imagine alleys in Salt Lake City look like.

LoneStarMike · #**5194** Posted **May 24, 2009, 12:54 AM**

Wow! Great photos everyone. You guys finally shamed me

into gettin' off my lazy butt

and taking some photos myself. These are from Friday May 22.

1. Skyline from South Lamar on the site of the abandoned Magnolia Condo Project near Lamar Square

2. Closer view

3. Frost, Ashton, 100 Congress and the Austonian like the tall kid in the back row of the class photo

4. View from Whole Foods 2nd floor terrace

5. Austonian from Whole Foods 2nd floor terrace

6. Skyline from TMI Castle

7. Skyline from TMI Castle

8. 21 Rio from TMI Castle

9. Midtown and that new church parking garage from TMI Castle

10. Skyline from TMI Castle

11. Closer View

12. Monarch & Spring from near West Sixth St

13. View from Lamar at Cesar Chavez St

14. Gables, Spring & Monarch from Cesar Chavez St

15. Skyline from Lamar Pedestrian Bridge

16. Gables, Spring & Monarch from hike and bike trail

17. Approaching Lou Neff Point

18. View from Lou Neff Point (From Frost south to Lady Bird Lake

19. View from Lou Neff Point north and west of Frost Tower

20. View from Lou Neff Point

21. Skyline from Lou Neff Point

22. Amtrak's Texas Eagle heading to San Antonio

23. Skyline & Texas Eagle from Lou Neff Point

24. Skyline from Lou Neff Point

Northcrossed · #**5195** Posted **May 24, 2009, 2:33 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoneStarMike

9. Midtown and that new church parking garage from TMI Castle

ACC is a church now? Or is there just lots of praying during finals?

LoneStarMike · #**5196** Posted **May 24, 2009, 5:14 AM**

My bad. That's what happens when you get old.

tgbAustinite · #**5197** Posted **May 24, 2009, 2:37 PM**

awesome photos guys! our skyline keeps getting more and more beautiful.

KevinFromTexas · #**5198** Posted **May 24, 2009, 6:27 PM**

Really nice photos, priller and Mike. Thanks!

AustinSkyscrapers · #**5199** Posted **May 24, 2009, 9:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by tgbAustinite

awesome photos guys! our skyline keeps getting more and more beautiful.

You're right. The skyline is destined to become a majestic beauty in Texas.

Dan Denson · #**5200** Posted **May 25, 2009, 3:46 AM**

These are beautiful photos. They should be posted in "My City Photos", too.