AUSTIN | 300 Colorado | 446 FEET | 32 FLOORS | COMPLETE

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by corvairkeith

this was i believe the second revision of the jw marriott. I couldn't fine any pictures of the original design, but it was the most boring beige stucco building you can imagine.

barf

[MichaelB]

Originally Posted by masonh2479

The design is pretty plain. I would be ok with a lengthy delay if the building magically looks amazing afterwards

[The ATX]

There's not going to be a significant change following the inactive status. If there was a big change coming they would have to withdraw the site plan and resubmit another one.

[Jdawgboy]

We should have a forum meet up at Sullivan's while it's still around. I would hope they return to that location but it's unlikely.

[Sigaven]

Originally Posted by The ATX

There's not going to be a significant change following the inactive status. If there was a big change coming they would have to withdraw the site plan and resubmit another one.

I don't think that's necessarily the case if the changes are just cosmetic (ie no major changes to the plans themselves)

[JACKinBeantown]

It seems Austin's 400-foot plateau is moving up to the 500-foot range, with a few peaks here and there. That's positive.

[deerhoof]

Downtown Austin Steakhouse Is Closing -
https://austin.eater.com/2017/12/28/...-austin-closed

"The last day of service will be on Tuesday, January 9, 2018. The 300 Colorado Street building is set to be demolished to make way for a high-rise apartment building.

However, the new apartment building at 3rd and Colorado streets will include a restaurant from Sullivan’s parent company Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group. Other restaurants include Double Eagle Steakhouse and Del Frisco's Grille.

At this point, it isn’t certain which of its restaurant will open, according to a representative from Sullivan's on Facebook Messenger. “At the time the building is ready for us, the company will make the decision based on what is best for the Austin community,” the person wrote."

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by deerhoof

Downtown Austin Steakhouse Is Closing -
https://austin.eater.com/2017/12/28/...-austin-closed

"The last day of service will be on Tuesday, January 9, 2018. The 300 Colorado Street building is set to be demolished to make way for a high-rise apartment building.

However, the new apartment building at 3rd and Colorado streets will include a restaurant from Sullivan’s parent company Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group. Other restaurants include Double Eagle Steakhouse and Del Frisco's Grille.

At this point, it isn’t certain which of its restaurant will open, according to a representative from Sullivan's on Facebook Messenger. “At the time the building is ready for us, the company will make the decision based on what is best for the Austin community,” the person wrote."

Nice update. Year end 2017 has always been the original planned closing date for Sullivan's IIRC. So this one is still on schedule.

[We vs us]

This one’s got a lot more height to it than I remember. If all stays as estimated, it’s got +60ft on Fifth and West. That’s pretty imposing by Austin standards.

[freerover]

-Austin-based Parsley Energy, a fast-growing oil and natural gas company, has signed a 12 year lease to occupy all 302 sq ft of the office space in a 31-story high-rise planned for downtown Austin.

-Construction to start in December

-Sullivan’s could be reopened at another location in austin

http://www.mystatesman.com/business/...RwP3PV3m7UmpI/

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by freerover

-Austin-based Parsley Energy, a fast-growing oil and natural gas company, has signed a 12 year lease to occupy all 302 sq ft of the office space in a 31-story high-rise planned for downtown Austin.

-Construction to start in December

-Sullivan’s could be reopened at another location in austin

http://www.mystatesman.com/business/...RwP3PV3m7UmpI/

That explains the reason for the crossed out usage in the document posted in post #174. I wish they would have signed a lease with 600 Guadalupe instead.

[We vs us]

Did this one reduce in size? At some point I thought it was supposed to be taller than Fifth and West. If it's now only 31 floors, that's some major shrinkage.

This was also interesting to me:

Parsley follows several other companies in Austin, including Google, Indeed, HomeAway and Facebook, that have leased entire buildings either before they broke ground or while still under construction.

Parsley’s newly signed deal is one of downtown Austin largest ever office leases, according to research from Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate services firm that tracks the local office market.

(snip)

Diana Holford, senior vice president in Austin with commercial real estate services firm JLL, said downtown Austin “continues to be the location of choice for employers.”

“Demand is so great, new construction tends to be leased before the building is five feet above the ground,” Holford said. And with demand for space exceeding the supply, she said, “rental rates continue to escalate.”

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by We vs us

Did this one reduce in size? At some point I thought it was supposed to be taller than Fifth and West. If it's now only 31 floors, that's some major shrinkage.

It was planned to be a 315-unit, 44-story, 518' tall building. So, yes, it has been reduced by some 98' - as of now.

[freerover]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

It was planned to be a 315-unit, 44-story, 518' tall building. So, yes, it has been reduced by some 98' - as of now.

When was that the plan? According to this thread, the original plan was for 458' which is a drop of less than 30'.

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by freerover

When was that the plan? According to this thread, the original plan was for 458' which is a drop of less than 30'.

Before they made the switch to office, the original multifamily tower was supposed to be much taller.

That in itself is interesting to me. I get the flip from residential to office -- presumably based on demand and profit margins -- but don't understand why then they'd reduce the height by slightly less than 100'. Unless it's a FAR limitation, that's far less leasable space than they originally might've had.

[freerover]

Originally Posted by We vs us

Before they made the switch to office, the original multifamily tower was supposed to be much taller.

That in itself is interesting to me. I get the flip from residential to office -- presumably based on demand and profit margins -- but don't understand why then they'd reduce the height by slightly less than 100'. Unless it's a FAR limitation, that's far less leasable space than they originally might've had.

I found the problem. The original height was 458' but it went up as talk about the project progressed only to come back down with the most recent announcement. The drop in height is a bummer. It probably came down to the reality of financing the project like with what happened with the Fairmont. Hopefully the drop it hight is made up by a improved design.

Maybe they found a way to increase the sq feet per floor which you would want in an office project vs a residential tower. I just didn't think there was that much space there to make the building much fatter. If they could do that then it would make sense that it gets shorter because you can't make the building fatter and keep it at the same height without a lot more in construction costs.

[KevinFromTexas]

Austin seriously needs a supertall. If we're seeing buildings switch uses and be pre-leased...in full...before they even clear the site, then that should be telling developers something. We could seriously use another 10 office towers of at least 500,000 square feet.

Originally Posted by freerover

When was that the plan? According to this thread, the original plan was for 458' which is a drop of less than 30'.

The original design was for 458 feet and 39 floors, but a new site plan and elevations showed it with 44 floors and 518 feet and slight design changes. People are bummed out (now) because it would have been taller than the Frost Bank Tower.

[We vs us]

Turns out ABJ has better coverage.

Parsley Energy Inc., a highly active oil driller and one of the few headquartered in Austin, has pre-leased all of the office space, according to a Tuesday announcement. The lease is for 12 years.

It is a slight pivot from Riverside Resource's earlier plans. The Austin-based developer had initially envisioned 300 Colorado as a 44-story residential tower with ground-floor retail. Ironwood initially bought the property in 2006 and later formed a joint venture with Riverside.

and

There's no indication yet of how the building might look. The Tuesday announcement only said "an entirely new concept" is in the works for the design. However, the Statesman reports the skyscraper will be 18 floors of offices atop 13 stories of above-ground parking — about 420 feet tall in all.

Construction is expected to begin in December with delivery estimated in December 2020.

The decision to switch to offices will add more capacity in a tightly constricted market. The asking rate for Class A office space in the Central Business District was about $52 per square foot in the fourth quarter, the highest across the metro by far, and vacancy was 6.8 percent, according to data from CBRE Group Inc.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...d-for-300.html

[Jdawgboy]

Yet more more space being lost in a rapidly shrinking entertainment district. At least with the residential proposal there was going to be a restaurant component.
They might as well say from the get go, 18 floor office with 13 floors of parking. So did Austin give up at reducing single person car commutes or what??

[freerover]

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

Yet more more space being lost in a rapidly shrinking entertainment district. At least with the residential proposal there was going to be a restaurant component.
They might as well say from the get go, 18 floor office with 13 floors of parking. So did Austin give up at reducing single person car commutes or what??

There is still a restaurant component.

At 300 Colorado, Del Frisco’s [Company that own's Sullivan's signed a 10-year lease and plans to open a Del Frisco’s Grille, an upscale concept featuring modern American cuisine, said Bill Martens, chief development officer for Del Frisco’s.

As far as all the parking levels, it's the right thing for them to do. They city has to be the one to get better public transit options approved first. Investors can't not provide parking out of the hope that Austin will get transit in order. You don't make public transit better by taking away parking spaces for people who work at a single company. You make it better by getting people in the city to vote for public transit.

I think the move to offices is a great development. I would rather see space used in downtown for badly needed office space to support a growing economy and growing business that is actually based in Austin. Seems like great news to me.


Austin badly badly badly badly baldy needs more office space. As of last July, out of the top 15 cities vying for Amazon, the only ones with a lower office vacancy rate are San Fransisco and New York City. NYC is building 11.1 million sq feet right now, SF is building 6.6 msf and Austin is 1.9 msf. We have hit a huge huge stumbling block for generating new business and growing the economy. I don't mean for Amazon HQ2. I'm talking about for anything. We are having a very hard time servicing our existing companies.