Untouched downtown properties

[Armybrat]

Here's one:

I'll tell you guys one thing that has always mystified me:

Who in heck own that little 2 story brick building (probably from the '20s or '30s) located on the southwest corner of the Congress Avenue bridge as you turn right (west) onto Barton Springs Road?

When I moved here in '59, there was a furniture store on the ground floor that had a display of tropical patio furniture. I swear that display didn't change for at least 30 years.

On the second floor was the office of some union local.

Now I realize that's a small property, but in Vegas they could put a casino topped with a 1,000 room hotel on that footprint.

Anyone know anything about that place?

Why has such a prime piece of property gone virtually unchanged since WWII?

[KevinFromTexas]

I don't know the history of it, but it's old. It's been there since the mid 30s. There's an aerial photo of downtown during the 1935 flood showing water all around it.

I would imagine the lot would be hard to build much on because of its size and shape. It's also kind of awkward since it's right at the bottom of the bridge. Traffic tends to fly down that hill, too, and then there's that odd intersection with Barton Springs Road.

[migol24]

Wow, I've wondered that exact same thing. I've always thought it was cool looking just sitting there all alone. Looks like it was a busy spot at some point and much life was found in it.

I don't know... there's also that Champions building on Pleasant Valley and Riverside right behind HEB. I moved here in Austin back in 1998 when I was still 14 yrs old. When we moved here in Riverside that building was already alone and abandoned and it's still there with nothing going on around it. Does anybody know anything about it? Why hasn't anything been done to it? Seems like a lot of space for nothing.... who even owns it?

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie...,298.42,,0,4.3

[Armybrat]

Speaking of the Riverside area east of I-35, when my family moved into our new home on Elmhurst Drive (between Riverside & Woodland), there was nothing but pasture land east of Parker Lane, which was a gravel road. Summit Street running parallel with I-35 was also gravel.

The old Austin Country Club was about the only thing out on the narrow & winding Riverside Drive.

Van Spinks, the builder who put up a few houses in the Elmhurst area (east Travis Heights) tried to buy some of the undeveloped acreage east of Parker Lane, but he said the landowner was too greedy.....the guy wanted $400 per acre.

BTW - Dad paid $19,500 for the brand new 3/2 ranch style home on Elmhurst. He owned it until 1993.

[KevinFromTexas]

Here's that photo I was talking about showing the building you mentioned. This was taken in 1935 during the major flood that hit Austin.

http://impactnews.com/central-austin...do-river-basin

Originally Posted by The article

Flooding in 1913 merged the Colorado and adjacent Brazos rivers downstream of Columbus, forming a lake 65 miles wide.

[austlar1]

Didn't a Houston developer have a proposal for a 10 or 12 story condo at that location some time in the late 90s or early 2000s? I seem to remember a lot of carping about the kitschy nature of the proposed structure at the time. The feeling was that is was not a dignified enough building for that site, and some people seemed to think it might interfere with the view of downtown as one approached the bridge. The same developer had a similar completed project in Houston somewhere in the Montrose area (on Kirby I think near the eastern edge of River Oaks). I always thought that building would have been a nice addition, and it would have kept things a little weird. I noticed that the furniture store that was in the ground floor the past decade or so has closed shop. It is kind of a derelict building now.

[KevinFromTexas]

Yes, I remember that project. It was called The Gotham. There was a big story about it in the Austin Chronicle featuring the rendering on the front page. I still have it stashed away. I remember the developer put his foot in his mouth when he commented about the bats under the Congress Avenue Bridge, and commented on how they weren't sure how to get rid of them. I think at that point the guy didn't have a chance in Austin.

By the way, a residential project was later built in Houston by the same name. The design is very similar to that building, borrowing its Greek style architecture. If you Google "The Gotham Condominiums, Austin, Texas" you'll find a few more images of it.

Here are two links showing the building in Houston. I'm wondering if this was the same developer. Surely it's at least the same architect, since the architecture firm would have owned the design.

http://www.houstonproperties.com/gotham-lofts.html

http://houstonluxuryhighrises.com/buildings/gotham.html

[JAM]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

By the way, a residential project was later built in Houston by the same name. The design is very similar to that building, borrowing its Greek style architecture. If you Google "The Gotham Condominiums, Austin, Texas" you'll find a few more images of it.

Here are two links showing the building in Houston. I'm wondering if this was the same developer. Surely it's at least the same architect, since the architecture firm would have owned the design.

http://www.houstonproperties.com/gotham-lofts.html

http://houstonluxuryhighrises.com/buildings/gotham.html

I'm glad you posted that - I drive by these quite often. I always imagined them being pricier than they are. The location is pretty good - great proximity to a lot of stuff including Memorial Park, but the traffic around the area can get bad during rush hour, that must be what is holding their value down. ( Unless all that square footage is attributed to stair wells.)

[austlar1]

Yep, that is the building in Houston. I think it actually looks a lot nicer than the picture posted, but that might be because it is partly obscured by trees from the street. I also thought the units were pricier than they appear to be, especially given the fact they are adjacent to River Oaks. Austin condo prices seem so high to me compared to other cities in Texas that have more inventory.

[JAM]

Originally Posted by M1EK

Are you kidding? This looks to be way too far to walk to downtown - so the proper comparison would be against Austin condos a few miles from our downtown - which are actually cheaper than these by a long shot.

Actually, there are quite a few places you can walk to from these, (but who walks in Houston, O-wait, I mean Texas) You can walk to Mid-Town, Memorial Park and Kirby Ave from this location - I've done it many a time. Biked too. There a lots of locations to go just a ten minute walk from these condos. Houston's entertainment district isn't as centralized as Austin's. Houston downtown isn't even the place to go really - as much as I wish it was. But heck, even Austin's downtown gets tiresome at times - after a while you get tired of putting up with other peoples brats who now attend UT (sometimes) and downtown ALL the time.

[paulsjv]

Originally Posted by JAM

...even Austin's downtown gets tiresome at times - after a while you get tired of putting up with other peoples brats who now attend UT (sometimes) and downtown ALL the time.

We could probably have a whole new thread just on this topic alone because I couldn't agree with you more.

[JAM]

to both your points - I feel comfortable owning a condo in DT Austin - I feel the market will always be strong and desirable. I wouldn't feel comfortable owning a condo in most places in Houston, including DT, unless it was a special situation - too much risk (for my tastes) that the development could turn on you. The Galleria area could be an exception. There are also some established areas that come to mind in Houston that I could be convinced to look at closer, but I'd rather go for a town home situation in Houston if I had to go away from single family to lower my costs in order to stay inside the loop. That said, I also wouldn't purchase a condo outside of DT Austin either, I have an appetite for risk, but not when it comes to condos.