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

[paul78701]

Originally Posted by migol24

This project is exactly how I wished the Domain would turn out. But I get hate on here for saying what I say about the Domain. Specifically the part where he says, "we're not building a walled garden here." It feels open and interacts with the environment.

The "walled garden" comment is spot on. The Domain is built as an entity unto itself. It doesn't feel as if the flow into the adjacent neighborhoods was considered at all. This seems to be done with a fair number of these types of developments though.

[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...

[chinchaaa]

Originally Posted by lonewolf

it's incredible how much the footprint of the school for the deaf harshes the vibe in this area.

if gibson, james and nellie were thru streets connecting congress and first..

if we had a 10 acre park+ampitheater...

if we built condos/apts and a littany of shops and restaraunts...

it's a whole new city

I would imagine the school could sell their land for $$$$ and rebuild a bigger, better campus somewhere else.

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by chinchaaa

I would imagine the school could sell their land for $$$$ and rebuild a bigger, better campus somewhere else.

Maybe. There is a high enough likelihood that the neighborhood will fight any development dense enough to make the economics work.

But, that land is prime for something.

[paul78701]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

Maybe. There is a high enough likelihood that the neighborhood will fight any development dense enough to make the economics work.

But, that land is prime for something.

One would think that they could at least sell the land along Congress. It could fetch a pretty penny and probably be redeveloped without affecting the school as it currently is.

[smallfrie]

Originally Posted by paul78701

One would think that they could at least sell the land along Congress. It could fetch a pretty penny and probably be redeveloped without affecting the school as it currently is.

Do those deaf kids pay property taxes? Are they an asset to the city? Why should they have a few feet of green space when a developer could build a some needle structures there?

[paul78701]

Originally Posted by smallfrie

Do those deaf kids pay property taxes? Are they an asset to the city? Why should they have a few feet of green space when a developer could build a some needle structures there?

WTF? Huh? I'm not suggesting that those kids should get screwed over or that they aren't any kind of asset. The site has a lot of green space. I'm just saying that they could raise some funds for the school by selling some of that Congress footage that I doubt they even use.

[Sigaven]

I remember some chatter awhile back about a sale in the works for the TSFTD - anything ever come of that?

And I'm all for more brown, orange, and cream colors, all of which Lake Flato is very good at. We have enoguh blue glass, let's bring about some more colors and textures.

[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.

[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.

[MichaelB]

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.

[lonewolf]

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.

it's half a mile from the urban epicenter and houses 544 students on a surface area larger than the capitol grounds. the campus is 68 acres.

i've lived here for 20 years and have stepped on their campus twice. both times for charity.

i know they have a small museum but aside from that i don't know of any way the public interacts with it

it's perfectly reasonable to consider other options for a site that is funded by taxpayers. nobody wants to eliminate the school or force them into less adequate facilities.

the campus was laid out 40 years ago in a completely different austin and i don't think it makes sense for the city going forward to keep as is

the opportunity cost here is massive. we are forfeiting a lot here.

how many millions of dollars in property tax are we giving up every year?

how many thousands of hours of traffic are we taxing our residents with?

i get why it's a sensitive subject, but we are adults

[chinchaaa]

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.

40 years is historic now? no one is saying to shut the school down. calm down.