AUSTIN | Projects & Construction II - Page 86

ATXboom · #**1701** Posted **Oct 16, 2007, 9:58 PM**

Hoof... great call. Their lease was up at the end of the year so they needed to move... but this is a small step in the right direction.

KevinFromTexas · #**1702** Posted **Oct 16, 2007, 10:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by deerhoof

i work in the bank of america tower. on the bottom floor, they are remodeling part of the floor into a bank of america branch next to the downstairs lobby. so, i am assuming that they are going to be moving from next door (where the proposed t stacy building is to be built) into the bank of america tower once they are finished remodeling. so, that could possibly be a step towards the building next door being vacated and torn down to make way for the project. but, this is just speculation on my part.

Yes, that's what Tom Stacy had said in an article from the newspaper. He mentioned that it's not exactly an easy thing to pull off since the tenants in the lowrise next to Bank of America Center have to let their lease expire before they can vacate. They have to relocate all of those operations. It's the Bank of America headquarters for the entire region, of course it'll take a while to get everything squared away. One thing though, he had mentioned the parking garage across Brazos would be built first, then the tower. That has to happen first also to replace the garage behind Bank of America that will be torn down also for the tower. That hasn't happened yet though, so construction is still a ways off.

Strayone · #**1703** Posted **Oct 17, 2007, 12:53 AM**

It's funny what I notice in some pictures, the one Kevin took from S. Lamar near B Springs I see there is a camera on the street light, Big Bro. keeping an eye on us nodoubt, , probably some other good reason as well I just never notice them on the street lights. I would say from those pictures that 360 surely is taller than 600 Congress relative too the fact that the ground is 20 ft lower than the latter. The view at Pease pk is exceptional, I go out of my way while at the Disc course to see it at that spot, good eye Kevin!

andrew.A..T..X · #**1704** Posted **Oct 17, 2007, 2:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATXboom

Priller,

I have heard great things about Asheville... and you can ski nearby I believe!

I think it is crewer

dallasbrink · #**1705** Posted **Oct 17, 2007, 2:32 AM**

Austin is spread out. What is the city sky line outline going to look like after all the big towers are done?

KevinFromTexas · #**1706** Posted **Oct 17, 2007, 3:22 AM**

It'll fill in. There are several more projects in the works that will tie in the clusters to make a fairly even skyline.

Drawings by priller

Take a look at this drawing that priller did.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1191/748354456_039bd41c99_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1012/991833271_fcc64ce6f9_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1300/890544495_cfa954a089_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1329/1160774019_441993b59b_o.jpg

Strayone · #**1707** Posted **Oct 17, 2007, 3:56 AM**

Prillers sketches are stunning, I try to think of other city's it will compare to and all i can think is that it will be very unique. And very new looking...oh and WOW comes to mind!

jgouger · #**1708** Posted **Oct 17, 2007, 2:21 PM**

Wow Priller! Those sketches are amazing. That view of downtown from S. Congress is going to be a sight to see in a few years! Another thing to remember is that those sketches are based on projects announced in last few years. They don't take into account the new E. Ave development, Domain, or any future projects that will be announced in the next few years!

Btw, speaking of E. Ave development, AMLI Residential has been selected as a developer for an urban apartment complex there. From today's statesman:

_____________________________________________________

AMLI picked as apartment builder at East Avenue
Groundbreaking at former Concordia site will be next year

By Shonda Novak
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, October 17, 2007

The developer of a $750 million project planned for the former Concordia University campus in Austin has tapped AMLI Residential to build a 315-unit apartment complex on the site, which is destined to be one of the city's tallest, densest developments outside of downtown.

East Avenue Investment Group LP chose AMLI from several unidentified local and national companies to build the apartments because of its track record with other urban projects here, said Andy Sarwal, who is leading the team that will redevelop the 23-acre campus at Interstate 35 and 32nd Street.

PAGE SOUTHERLAND PAGE
(enlarge photo)

AMLI's complex in the East Avenue community, featuring 315 apartments atop 45,000 square feet of retail, is scheduled to open in 2010.

AMLI expects to break ground in mid-2008, with the complex opening about two years later. The building will have four stories of apartments atop 45,000 square feet of street-level retail.

Sarwal also said the developers have selected West Lake Hills-based Treaty Oak Bank to open a 4,000-square-foot branch in East Avenue's first office building.

Concordia plans to move within two years to the former Schlumberger Ltd. business campus off RM 620 in far Northwest Austin.

At Concordia's former campus, East Avenue's developers plan a 2.75-million-square-foot urban village with 1,450 condominiums and apartments, 600,000 square feet of offices, 325,000 square feet of retail and a 210-room Andaz-brand hotel, a new upscale concept from Global Hyatt Corp. The hotel will include about 150 condos priced from the $400,000s.

Construction on East Avenue will begin by early 2008, with the groundbreaking of two office buildings scheduled to open in early 2009. Work on the 17-story hotel/condo tower is to begin in the second quarter of 2008 and take about two years to complete.

Hyatt unveiled its new brand in April. The landmark Great Eastern Hotel in London will convert to Andaz in mid-October, and two hotels in Manhattan will follow in 2009.

At AMLI's project, the one- and two-bedroom apartments will have an average of 900 to 1,000 square feet. Rents have not been yet set.

AMLI has more than 2,000 apartment units in the Austin area, and a substantial investment in the Second Street retail district downtown.

There, AMLI has built a 220-unit luxury apartment complex at Second and Lavaca streets, and within three months it will open its second downtown project, a 231-unit complex on Second Street between Guadalupe and San Antonio streets that will include 43,000-square feet of retail space. ALMI plans to build 375 apartments along East Riverside near Lakeshore Boulevard.

Marcy Phillips, senior development associate for AMLI, said East Avenue represents a "unique mixed-use redevelopment opportunity and smart growth" for the city.

"The proximity to medical, university, governmental and downtown communities, as well as the future foot traffic that will be generated within East Avenue, are very attractive to us," Phillips said.

The site is just north of downtown, across the street from St. David's Medical Center and three blocks from the University of Texas.

Sarwal said AMLI stood out from the competition because of its experience in developing urban projects, which are "very different than suburban projects." Projects with ground-floor retail "require a bit of planning and added expense, and AMLI has not only dealt with these issues in prior projects, but has done so with flying colors," he said.

In East Avenue's office portion, Treaty Oak will open its fifth location since the bank's founding in 2004. Bank President Jeff Nash said he is pleased the bank was chosen over national banks "based upon a preference for a locally based community bank as a better fit for this project."

The overall project is shaping up to be innovative. Sarwal has said it will have "many forward-thinking" land-planning, green-building and architectural concepts and technologies to reduce land consumption, traffic, and energy and water use.

The project faced strong opposition from the nearby Hancock and Eastwoods neighborhoods over concerns including height and traffic, but those were largely ironed out during extensive talks between the developers and the neighborhoods.

Sarwal has declined to identify the individual developers in the East Avenue group. However, he has said it is a diverse team of business people with more than 50 years of development experience.

ATXboom · #**1709** Posted **Oct 17, 2007, 8:45 PM**

Las Manitas owners strike deal with Marriott developers
Agreement ends stalemate over Congress Avenue hotel.
Click-2-Listen
By Sarah Coppola

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

The owners of Las Manitas restaurant have signed an agreement that will resolve a stalemate and allow a $250 million Marriott hotel complex to be built downtown.

Lidia and Cynthia Perez will allow the landowners and future developers of 211 Congress Ave. to access and build over an alley behind that block, according to documents filed with the Travis County clerk's office.

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The City of Austin owns the alley, but the Perez sisters have access rights to the alley because they own a building on the same block: 227 Congress Ave. The hotel developer, White Lodging Services Corp., wants to build over part of the alley and needed the sisters' permission to do so.

The Marriott hotel project will displace Las Manitas at its current location, 211 Congress Ave.

Earlier this year, the city offered the Perez sisters a $750,000 forgivable loan to renovate and move into the building they own up the block. But the idea sparked a public outcry and the sisters decided in August not to sign the loan, saying they didn't like the loan terms.

The sisters had used the alley access issue as a bargaining chip of sorts in their negotiations with the landowner of 211 Congress Ave., the Finley Company, and White Lodging. The developer previously offered the sisters money to grant permission to use the alley, but the sisters did not accept and the negotiations broke down last fall, prompting city officials to step in with a loan offer.

It's not clear whether or how much White Lodging has paid the sisters to grant the alley access. The sisters' lawyer, Amon Burton, referred calls to Elyse Yates, the sisters' media representative.

Yates said the sisters won't say how much, if anything, the sisters have been paid. She said she did not know the sisters' plans for the restaurant.

Finley and Richard Suttle, an Austin lawyer who has been representing White Lodging, have not returned calls today.

The one other property owner on the block, Mary Ogden, also must sign off on Finley and White Lodging's use of the alley. Odgen owns 217 Congress Ave., site of the Copa Bar & Grill.

Odgen's lawyer, Harry Whittington, said Ogden is willing to allow the alley use and plans to sign an agreement with the landowner and developer soon.

White Lodging wants to build over the alley directly behind 211 Congress Ave., but not behind Ogden's or the Perez sisters' properties. In the agreement, the Perez sisters allow use of the alley for trash pickups and deliveries, and also as a construction staging area as the hotel is being built.

[email protected]; 912-2939

priller · #**1710** Posted **Oct 17, 2007, 8:57 PM**

Thanks guys! Now that I'm not so crazy busy at work and actually get the weekend off, I'm hoping I can start working on the models again. It's been a while...

Another problem I had run into was my spankin' new MacBook Pro laptop had rendering issues with Google Earth. But I have a friend that works at Apple in their graphics department (and his roommate works at Google) and they were able to find a fix for the problem. It will be ready in the next big OS release (which Apple calls "Leopard"), so I should be getting that Real Soon Now.

bigdogc · #**1711** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 12:45 AM**

that show from north lamar (pease park) is going to look great when 360 is finally done. it stands out so much more from that point than anywhere else.

KevinFromTexas · #**1712** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 1:20 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by priller

Thanks guys! Now that I'm not so crazy busy at work and actually get the weekend off, I'm hoping I can start working on the models again. It's been a while...

Another problem I had run into was my spankin' new MacBook Pro laptop had rendering issues with Google Earth. But I have a friend that works at Apple in their graphics department (and his roommate works at Google) and they were able to find a fix for the problem. It will be ready in the next big OS release (which Apple calls "Leopard"), so I should be getting that Real Soon Now.

Great to hear. Someone at the Austin Skyscraper Forum sent me a PM asking if I knew of any 3D models of Austin highrises. I sent them a link to your thread of models. I never got a reply back though.

TexasRules777 · #**1713** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 8:07 AM**

Priller, Will we be able to see your buildings with texture on windows software instead of the white outlines we download now? Also this is a great site I didn't know how much i read it until the forum server went down

crewer · #**1714** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 12:13 PM**

I was looking over the Skyscraper website's profile on Ausitn, and there seems to be some outdated information. This is what they have listed for Spring:

http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=41034

I don't recognize that diagram, and they have it at 36 stories. Most of the buildings under construction have no diagrams. Who maintains that?

I do like how they are organizing all of the cities. Very informative!

ATXboom · #**1715** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 5:21 PM**

DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT

Developers buy downtown block
Click-2-Listen
By Shonda Novak

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Friday, October 19, 2007

Two Austin real estate investors have purchased a block north of the Sixth Street entertainment district, one of the last full blocks available for development downtown.

Jimmy Nassour and Stephen "Duffy" Oyster paid an undisclosed price for the land, now used as a parking lot. It is bounded by Seventh, Eighth, Trinity and Neches streets. The seller was Whitney-Jordan Group, a New York-based real estate investment company that is closing out the last of its Austin holdings.

(enlarge photo)

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Nassour and Oyster also are buying a small parking lot at Ninth and Brazos streets from Whitney-Jordan. That tract, across from the Austin Club, will continue operating as a parking lot under a long-term lease, Nassour said.

Nassour, a lawyer, has represented the company in real estate transactions for several years.

After owning the block for than two weeks, Nassour said he and Oyster are seeing strong interest in the property, including from a hotel developer and from a national residential developer "that was interested in doing something quickly"

He said the block would be suitable for a mixed-use hotel, residential, retail and office project, which he and Oyster could develop by themselves or with a future joint-venture partner.

He and Oyster "bought it as an investment and we will let the market tell us what to do with it," he said.

"Our current plan is to operate it as a parking lot until we can assess the highest and best use," Nassour added.

And with the site already financially successful as a parking lot, Nassour said, "it mitigates the holding costs" until he and Oyster decide its development course.

"If we had a viable proposal, we'd get started on something immediately," Nassour said.

The block, however, could face some development challenges.

Because of rules that protect views of the state Capitol from various viewpoints, buildings would be capped at 75 feet high on about 80 percent of the block.

The city, however, is reviewing the Capitol view corridor restrictions, and the corridor that slices through the block could be eliminated.

If that happens, "the sky's the limit," Nassour said. "It just gives us a lot of other options."

Charles Heimsath, a local real estate consultant, said despite the view corridor limits, the site is "well-suited to a mixed-use type of development."

Another potential issue is that the land is immediately west of the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless and the Salvation Army shelter.

Nassour's previous real estate deals include the purchase and subsequent sale of the Southfield Building, with a group that included Alan Topfer, Roy Butler, John Lewis and Mark Schultz, and the purchase and conversion of a former Hawthorn Suites hotel in North Austin into condominiums, a project in which he teamed up with the Sutton Co.

Oyster developed the Oyster's Landing Marina on Lake Austin, and is part-owner of the Chuy's Hula Hut and Mozart's Coffee Roasters in that project. Oyster also recently sold about 60 Tony Roma's and Pancho's Mexican Buffet restaurants in several states.

[email protected]; 445-3856

Mopacs · #**1716** Posted **Oct 21, 2007, 11:30 PM**

New rendering of W/Block21 on their website:

WestAustinite · #**1717** Posted **Oct 22, 2007, 3:15 PM**

Does anyway else think the "W" looks taller in that rendering than what was proposed? There seem to be about 28 floors visible above the lower structure. Perhaps an optical illusion...

GoldenBoot · #**1718** Posted **Oct 22, 2007, 6:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WestAustinite

Does anyway else think the "W" looks taller in that rendering than what was proposed? There seem to be about 28 floors visible above the lower structure. Perhaps an optical illusion...

Yeah, this building has grown since Stratus' winning proposal for Block 21. As of now, the last I heard was that the tower will be 433' tall. However, that was when the proposal was for a 32-story building and not the 35-story structure they are currently marketing.

AusTex · #**1719** Posted **Oct 22, 2007, 10:10 PM**

I walked past the sales office for the W and the model looked awful. The tower looks plain with a very flat top. I thought buildings in Austin had to have an interesting top!? This one does not. The scale of this flat top will be very stark and contrast, unfavorably with our skyline I am afraid. Also the model is in gray tones which is not what the renderings show. The W in Dallas looks great. I have a feeling this Austin building will mar the Austin skyline since it will be so visible from the south. I hope I am wrong.

actham · #**1720** Posted **Oct 23, 2007, 1:55 AM**

I have to agree. The Dallas W is a fantastic design. Ours seems very plain, boxy, and uninspired to me. I sure hope it looks better in person! Speaking of uninspired, has anyone seen any rendering of the new Marriot towers now that they have scaled back the project? I’m also really curious to see what the Post Office towers will look like.