Austin | 500 S. Congress | 5 Towers | Up to 575 Feet | Floors | Proposed

[paul78701]

Originally Posted by migol24

The Chevron looks to be a part of the project in the video. But in the maps from earlier don't show it as being a part of the project. What's the deal with that?

I believe the ABJ article on this mentioned that they are attempting to buy the Chevron site. So it would seem that they want to incorporate it, but it's not a done deal quite yet.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by The ATX

At about 12:40 in this video of the EC meeting yesterday, there is an excellent fly through video of this project.

https://austintx.new.swagit.com/videos/298075

Interesting...the first presenter mentioned that Lake-Flato is working with Kohn Pederson Fox on this project. Kohn Pederson Fox designed Waterline. I also noticed that, in the video, they were calling this development "Bouldin Place." You can see that when the video flies by the northeast corner of the project.

[ATX2030]

This development plus the Statesman site, 200 E. Riverside, 311-315 S. Congress and 507 S. 1st will add some significant height south of the river.

[migol24]

Originally Posted by paul78701

I believe the ABJ article on this mentioned that they are attempting to buy the Chevron site. So it would seem that they want to incorporate it, but it's not a done deal quite yet.

Oh, man. I hope it happens. My OCD would go out the roof watching that Chevron sticking out like a sore thumb. Lol

[Bblasa]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

That's a whole lotta brown. Are we trolling San Antonio now?

Haha it does have San Antonio’s HDRC written all over it! That’s what happens when you hire a San Antonio based firm. Nothing wrong with it though! The handful of new copper/brown builds like 506 west and one ladybird scattered around will def help it blend and tie into the handful of dated brown structures still downtown .It honestly doesn’t matter at this stage, because like a few of the other lake flato jobs in the nation they start out predominantly warm masonry and then end up all blue glass lol
Cough cough river street residences

[unit]

Originally Posted by Bblasa

Haha it does have San Antonio’s HDRC written all over it! That’s what happens when you hire a San Antonio based firm. Nothing wrong with it though! The handful of new copper/brown builds like 506 west and one ladybird scattered around will def help it blend and tie into the handful of dated brown structures still downtown .It honestly doesn’t matter at this stage, because like a few of the other lake flato jobs in the nation they start out predominantly warm masonry and then end up all blue glass lol
Cough cough river street residences

And there'll be plenty of value engineering if River Street Residences is any indication.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by unit

And there'll be plenty of value engineering if River Street Residences is any indication.

That's exactly what I thought. This project has A LOT of value engineering opportunities.

[GoldenBoot]

^^^Yes. However, this a completely different developer. A well-heeled, international one at that. Value engineering comes at the request of the developer, not the architect. The architect simply works under the parameters set forth by the developer.

We shall see...

[SproutingTowers]

Originally Posted by DougRockstead

I have to admit that I am a little shocked with everyone crying about how the School for the Deaf needs to sell their land so we can build a big building.
We aren't talking about a restaurant or bar. We are talking about a school that was started in 1856 and a campus built over 40 years ago.

This is real Texas history. Let's not forget about what this city is and how it came to be in our pursuit of progress.
I think the school for the Deaf is perfectly fine where it is and we can just build around it.

I agree, the Texas School of Deaf is an important asset for the community.

[Urbannizer]

https://austin.towers.net/gaining-50...ngress-avenue/

If you’re familiar with 500 South Congress, it’s obviously got Ego’s on it, right? Which will most likely be the only thing that remains, and gets relocated somewhere else in the development — we think it is a mainstay and staple of the neighborhood.

[Bblasa]

They are doing a bunch of underground parking, perfect area to build a basement bar! It’s really not that hard to find places for unique Austin spots to be brought back. It’s also super easy to design somthing new to still look old or “Austin weird” . Fingers crossed! The article hits on the big point of keeping prices affordable in these new developments. It’s a shame we couldn’t find money somewhere like the hotel occupancy taxes or somthing to create a fund to help with rents for old Austin style businesses that would like to remain in new developments without jeopardizing their business model.

[FrankLloydLeft]

Originally Posted by Urbannizer

https://austin.towers.net/gaining-50...ngress-avenue/

This is great news in my opinion!

I am curious what they'll actually do in terms of layout so it keeps that seedy flavor to it, but I think places like Mama Dearest are proof of concept that you can bake in the dank to a new dive bar.

Otherwise would love to see a comically large Egos with windows and maybe a patio anchoring this space and really stand as an unofficial landmark for Austins changes.

[H2O]

Originally Posted by Bblasa

They are doing a bunch of underground parking, perfect area to build a basement bar! It’s really not that hard to find places for unique Austin spots to be brought back. It’s also super easy to design somthing new to still look old or “Austin weird” . Fingers crossed! The article hits on the big point of keeping prices affordable in these new developments. It’s a shame we couldn’t find money somewhere like the hotel occupancy taxes or somthing to create a fund to help with rents for old Austin style businesses that would like to remain in new developments without jeopardizing their business model.

https://www.austinedc.org/cultural-trust

[Werdman89]

Please join me in voicing your support for this project here:
https://speakupaustin.org/t7287

There is also a Zoom meeting tonight, and in-person meeting March 18th, and another Zoom meeting March 20th. You can find the info in the right-hand column in that link.

[Geckos_Rule]

Back on the topic at hand, I really hope that in this or whatever development ends up being realized here keeps the grocery store space.

25,000 sq ft isn't huge for a grocery store, but IIRC, that's about the same size as both the Whole Foods and the Target at Plaza Saltillo (individually, not combined), and about double the size of the downtown Trader Joes.

It's pretty tough to imagine Whole Foods having any interest in opening something here, given how close the flagship location and Plaza Saltillo locations are, and the relative lack of locations anywhere else in central Austin. Same with Trader Joes' Seaholm location, as well as HEB, given that this spot is extremely close to the new Soco/Oltorf spot, and is still within 10-12 minutes of their locations on Lake Austin blvd, 7th Street, and Riverside.

IMO, there are four potential things this could end up as (ranked by how much I'd want them):

1. A Central Market, which is obviously still owned by HEB but serves a different purpose and customer base. I'm probably biased because I love CM, but it's not too easy to get to either the 38th or S Lamar locations from downtown.

2. An Aldi, of which there are plenty in Dallas/Houston but none in Austin. I'm not too familiar with them, but I believe they are typically a smaller footprint (about this size) compared to HEB and others.

3. Eataly, given the fact that it's shown in the video (though it could be a placeholder), and are usually right around this size (the ones in Dallas being even larger). They also seem to regularly go for more central locations within larger developments. And, it also seems to fit in terms of the market, both because Austin lacks the amount of Italian specialty places that many other cities have (CM being the closest thing), and because they are typically pretty fancy which fits for what's likely to be pretty expensive rent.

4. Some other store I'm not as familiar with, some new concept from an existing store (e.g., a sort of HEB equivalent of whole foods 365), or just a Target or some other psuedo-grocery/general purpose store.

[Urbannizer]

This is back from March but I see it hasn’t been posted here:

https://services.austintexas.gov/edi....cfm?id=425039

[Bblasa]

If anyone could pull off where a waterfront and soco meet I would put my money on them. I love that they are modeled more into building destinations rather than just quick buildings for profit. So much potential for this district and they definitely have the resources and capital.
I hope the city can get behind it

[Urbannizer]

Last day for Ego’s is August 11th.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

To be fair dilliam specifically said on that site. He was not referring to the school, only the building that sits on the site of redevelopment. Ergos not withstanding. Let's calm down a bit...

Nice, a voice of reason.

I'll be moving the Texas School for the Deaf posts to the Misc thread.

EDIT: Well, the TSD posts were most of this thread. LOL

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by Urbannizer

Last day for Ego’s is August 11th.

Ego's is now staying open until at least the end of August. It'll be longer if the landlord can find a cheap fix to the plumbing problems in the building. It makes sense to stay open since we all know a project of this size won't be starting anytime soon.