Last month, myself and
Downtown_Austin were able to tour The Austonian. We joined a tour of the building and explored the units and amenities on the 9th, 10th and 55th floors. The 55th floor is at 622 feet above the street, exactly double the height of the State Capitol.
The Austonian is the tallest building in Austin. It's 683 feet tall with 56 floors. Its' all residential. It's the tallest in Texas outside of Houston and Dallas. It's also the tallest all residential building in North America west of Chicago.
1. Looking up from 2nd Street.
2. Looking down on 2nd Street. Ashton to left, CSC HQ, AMLI Downtown to right. The brown building down the street is Austin City Hall, designed by Antoine Predock.
3. Looking west over AMLI Downtown, W Austin Hotel & Residences (U/C), part of 360 and The Monarch, and the Hobby Building.
4. Looking up at the W.
5. Looking down on Congress Avenue. One Congress Plaza (left), 100 Congress (right). San Jacinto Center (left), Radisson Hotel (center). Legacy on the Lake (behind).
6. Warehouse District. Hobby Building (left), Plaza Lofts (left), Lavaca Plaza (center), 300 West Sixth (right), Chase Bank Tower (right).
7. Looking north up Congress Avenue. Texas Capitol at the end of Congress. Austin's first commercial skyscraper is in the foreground, the Scarborough Building. Built in 1910, it was Austin's first steel skyscraper. To the right is the Stephen F. Austin Hotel (1924) and the Littlefield Building (1912). 823 Congress, the black building on the right, was Austin's first commercial office building over 200 feet. It was built in 1971 as Austin's 4th tallest building.
8. Chase Bank Tower (left), One American Center (right). 21Rio in far distance to the left). UT Tower (center right in distance).
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10. Looking north from the 55th floor.
11. Looking northeast down at the Frost Bank Tower.
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13. Frost Bank Tower's crown. Note the floodlights inside the crown. Also note the catwalk inside the crown. You can actually walk around on that.
14. One American Center
15. One American Center top. Note the cameras on the roof. One of our tv stations, KVUE, has a tower cam up there.
16. Bank of America Center
17. Bank of America Center top.
18. 300 West Sixth & Chase Bank Tower.
19. 300 West Sixth top.
20. Chase Bank Tower. Note the old "Bank One" sign on the mechanical penthouse behind the dome.
21. Hobby Buildings to the northwest.
22. Looking west toward the W Hotel & Residences, 360, The Monarch, Whole Foods HQ and Austin City Lofts. The white tower crane to the right is working on an 8-story federal courthouse. The large construction site the left is actually a demolition site of the old Green Water Treatment Plant. Along with the decommissioned Seaholm Power Plant nextdoor, the two are planned for multiple towers.
23. W Austin Hotel & Residences construction. The project will include a 2,500 seat theatre for the Austin City Limits tv show. In the photo below, it will occupy the square white structure in the lower left of the photo.
24. Top of the W.
25. W cranes and 360.
26. W cranes, top of 360 and top of Spring.
27. Looking northeast to the Hilton Austin Convention Center Hotel.
28. The large building to the right is Austin's convention center.
29. Looking southeast toward the Colorado River.
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30. Four Seasons Residences nearing completion. The building was designed by Michael Graves.
31. The building has the highest rooftop swimming pool in Texas at just under 400 feet up.
32. San Jacinto Center top.
33. Looking down on One Congress Plaza.
34. One Congress Plaza top. Note the camera on the roof. KTBC has a tower cam up there.
35. Looking south, and down, on 100 Congress. I had to lean over the edge for this one! The roof of 100 Congress in this shot is 294 feet below.
36. Looking down on Ashton.
37. 100 Congress & Ashton.
38. Looking south.
While we were up there, a weak cold front blew in and brought a few sprinkles. The winds kicked up pretty big time and it was hard to get very steady shots. It did make for some interesting shots though with the dust kicking up.
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40. Looking east/southeast.
41. Looking south. Note the dust from the wind.
42. Looking south toward St. Edward's University. You can also see outside of the city limits here, into Hays County on the horizon. The Austonian is actually visible inside of at least 4 counties in Central Texas.
43. Looking south.
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46. Looking south toward my neighborhood. My house would be just outside the frame to the left (east). You can see the top of my old high school on the left side of the pic.
47. These three towers on the horizon are in Hays County, about 20 miles south of Austin. They're located at a concrete plant.
After the tour I stuck around downtown for a bit for some more pics.
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49. 360 Condominiums.
50. Crossing the Pfluger pedestrian bridge, which is now being expanded.
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52. Spring, The Monarch & 360.
53. The W.
54. W top.
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56. Frost Bank Tower, The Austonian, Ashton, 100 Congress & One Congress Plaza.
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58. The Austonian top.
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60. 360 Condominiums.
61. Frost Bank Tower.
62. 360 Condominiums.
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66. It paid off to stay for the sunset.
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71. W top.
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