Austin | 415 Colorado | 640 Feet | 47 Floors | T/O

[Billy Cannon]

Loving where this one is headed. It will be interesting to see the contrast between this and the parking molar since they are right next to each other.

[We vs us]

I mean ... “cater-corner?” That’s, like, the pronunciation in remote corners of Maine, yeah?

[ILUVSAT]

WOW! Just Wow! Please build this!

[The ATX]

Ryan Companies filed for a right of way closure permit to unload stuff at the site next week. But there's no hint as to the what or why.

https://abc.austintexas.gov/web/perm...rtyrsn=2018844

[The ATX]

No renderings today. This was pushed out to the Dec. 16 HLC meeting.

[The ATX]

The right of way permit was updated later in the day. It's for "unloading light construction equipment." This one is moving right along.

[KevinFromTexas]

Some screen shots from my Google Earth model.



The old Franks building is itself going to be a hotdog in a bun sandwiched between these two towers.

[freerover]

Nice!!! Could I get an updated version once you add the new UT basketball arena?

[lzppjb]

I hope the old Frank becomes something really cool. I loved Frank hot dogs. Too bad he didn't pay his taxes.

[Austin1971]

[

[Billy Cannon]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

I hope the old Frank becomes something really cool. I loved Frank hot dogs. Too bad he didn't pay his taxes.

Or pay his employees

[StoOgE]

Originally Posted by Billy Cannon

Or pay his employees

Or his contractors.

[myBrain]

This looks like it could be fantastic. Really interested in the staggered glass panels - reminds me of the CTF Finance Center in Tianjin, which has a cool 'scaly' look to it:



One thing to note, looking at Kevin's models - this is going to be our tallest building this close to Frost, and is going to block a lot of western views. I'm fine with that if the design lives up - but I'd imagine there will be many who aren't pleased that our most iconic tower will be hidden. In a way I guess it's kind of a milestone - that the building that once dominated and defined Austin's skyline since the early 2000s is blocked by towers that dwarf it.

[The ATX]

From an updated ABJ article that mentions the HLC committee that took a look at this project at Monday's meeting:

Land use attorney Michael Whellan presented Ryan Companies’ plans for the quarter-block during at a Dec. 2 meeting of a subcommittee of the city of Austin Historic Landmark Commission. Steve Sadowsky, Austin’s historic preservation officer, said the plans call for the historic facades along Colorado Street to be demolished and rebuilt at 90% scale. He said he had worked with the developer’s team to preserve the look of the old buildings. The site plan filed with the city showed the look of the old two-story warehouse at 409 Colorado being incorporated into the new tower's design. The three-member committee, though, did not like the proposal since the warehouses weren’t actually being preserved and instead gave the developer the green light to simply demolish the buildings, Sadowsky said. The proposal could still go before the Historic Landmark Commission in January.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n..._news_headline

[KevinFromTexas]

So, maybe someone else has realized this, but I'm guessing the Tower 5c name is referring to its location of 5th & Colorado? At first, I thought it was some trendy hotel chain before I learned it was an office tower. It's kind of a unique take on a naming convention given that most of the buildings so far have had pretty boring names when they attempted to reference their location in them.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

So, maybe someone else has realized this, but I'm guessing the Tower 5c name is referring to its location of 5th & Colorado? At first, I thought it was some trendy hotel chain before I learned it was an office tower. It's kind of a unique take on a naming convention given that most of the buildings so far have had pretty boring names when they attempted to reference their location in them.

Yeah...ILUVSAT made that same connection on November 28 (in the "Austin" thread under "City Compilations").

[The ATX]

Four backup files for this project were posted online for Monday's HLC meeting. But there were no renderings. Anyway, there's plenty of history concerning the three buildings proposed for Demo:

http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=332834

http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=332825

http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=332836

[MichaelB]

Originally Posted by The ATX

Four backup files for this project were posted online for Monday's HLC meeting. But there were no renderings. Anyway, there's plenty of history concerning the three buildings proposed for Demo:

http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=332834

http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=332825

http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=332836

This... couldn't agree more:

You know... things like... soul.... heart.... depth.... texture....the things that brought folks to the area in the first place.

"Staff has evaluated this building for designation as a historic landmark and has determined that while the building may not rise to the level of an individual landmark, it is an integral part of the context of the Warehouse District, a branded destination in downtown Austin".

[WhiskeyTango]

City is recommending they preserve 2 of the 3:

Lonesome / Chinatown (419 Colorado) -- Not historic / release demo permit

Searsuckers (415 Colorado) -- Historic / encourage rehab & adaptive re-use

• "Staff has evaluated this building for designation as a historic landmark and has determined that while the building may not rise to the level of an individual landmark, it is an integral part of the context of the Warehouse District, a branded destination in downtown Austin."
• "The building is important to the context of the greater Warehouse District, but probably does not have community value in and of itself."

Walmart Tech (409 Colorado) -- Historic / encourage rehab & adaptive re-use

• "Staff believes that despite the changes to the building, the building has architectural significance."
• "While none of the businesses that used this building qualify as individually significant, the use of the building as a garage and later warehouse indicates its significance to the business district in downtown Austin."

[urbancore]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

This... couldn't agree more:

You know... things like... soul.... heart.... depth.... texture....the things that brought folks to the area in the first place.

"Staff has evaluated this building for designation as a historic landmark and has determined that while the building may not rise to the level of an individual landmark, it is an integral part of the context of the Warehouse District, a branded destination in downtown Austin".

I mean, I love history....but these buildings brought folks in for oil changes and tires, then real estate and insurance.
They were under utilized till people came for sushi at Kenichi and (martinis and manicures) at Girard's bar, Cuba Libre.

The facades have been changed who knows how many times. So what is it we REALLY will miss, which facade? The NYT did a great piece on this a few years ago, I wish I could remember the article title for the link, that helped me understand this phenomenon. NYC in the 70's had high crime, high unemployment, young people were broke, it was a city in steep decline...yet people pine for those days of the dirty, gritty Big Apple. The article postulated that despite the facts that (if they bought property) they probably made a FORTUNE, the city is cleaner, jobs are plentiful, crime is all time low, drug use is way down, what people really missed from the 70's........was their youth.

Austin just doesn't have history like SF, Chicago, Philly, Portland, Boston, or even San Antonio and Galveston. Austin doesn't have "history" it has "nostalgia". We all pine for our past. Sure the Warehouse District was cool, but was IT cool?, or were we young and in love with the city/our lives/our lovers/our youth? I believe as people age, this kind of thinking contributes to NIMBY's squawking about how we can never change the "character" of a neighborhood. NIMBY's will never define the word "character", just like the historic commission will not define which facade was/is the "integral part of the context" of the district. It's impossible, because it's different to each person even at different times in their lives.

Remember the reporter who lamented the destruction of the character of SOCO because the Baptist Church decided to allow the development of their vacant land for a hotel....which wiped out the food trucks that had been there for 5 years or so...? That was the when the Austin preservationists "jumped the shark" for me, it's become hard to take it seriously. Now we dipping the Overton house in amber? Does the city plan to pay his descendants the market value for it, I doubt it. Overton was cool to be sure, but HISTORIC, no. Though he does have one of my favorite quotes of all time....said the 112 year old vet "Just keep living, don't die.."

We are a young town...lots of towns have history, we don't really. It's what makes us unique. I love it.

For the record, I've spent more time in the Warehouse district than I can even fathom. From Ruta Mya, to the Lizard Lounge, Mezzaluna, to that bar with the sharks in the floor, to OCH, Fado, the list goes on and on. I love that district, it will forever be where I partied HARD from early 90s to now. I met my wife at Lavaca Street. But history is history, and these buildings are NOT historic, even if I wish they were.