A developer reviewed setbacks, building preservation and underground parking with the Historical Landmark Commission for a ~551,000 SF tower to rise above 308-316 Congress. The proposal does not include the surface lot next door.
I’d guess a floor count around 35-stories. For reference, 500 West 2nd is 500,000 SF and stands 29-stories. It sits on a larger footprint without setbacks.
A developer reviewed setbacks, building preservation and underground parking with the Historical Landmark Commission for a ~551,000 SF tower to rise above 308-316 Congress. The proposal does not include the surface lot next door.
I’d guess a floor count around 35-stories. For reference, 500 West 2nd is 500,000 SF and stands 29-stories. It sits on a larger footprint without setbacks.
At least that small lot directly behind the buildings will be no more.
Best solution would be to build on all the surface parking on the block and cantilever a portion of the building over the historical structures, keeping them intact.
Here’s an example of that in Toronto. They do a good job of incorporating existing structures into new builds, wish we’d follow suit.
Yuck... Too bulky and stubby... Leave the existing buildings and build on the open lots. Floor count only in the 30s... yawn... Make it 60 plus stories and I'll be more interested...
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"GOOD TIMES!!!" Jerri Blank (Strangers With Candy)
It all comes down to what property is available to develop. Clearly the owners of the surface lots aren't interested in selling for development. I'm sure they offers almost daily.
A plan to construct a 55-story tower containing multifamily residences behind historic storefronts on Congress Avenue would be the first new residential building on the so-called Main Street of Texas since the completion of the Austonian condos in 2010 — but the proposal faces scrutiny from the city’s Historic Landmark Commission due to this important downtown corridor’s many protections and design restrictions.
The committee’s recommendation is to postpone this item to its upcoming December 14 meeting, asking the applicant to provide more information including detailed illustrations of the potential building along with the request for a deeper setback and increased restraint in the project’s expected demolition. It ain’t easy to build anything new on Congress Avenue, and we often find ourselves at odds with the HLC’s old-fashioned takes on this kind of growth when the alternative often seems to be allowing underutilized historic buildings to decay — but in this case, we also think the developers ought to show a bit more of their work before getting the green light.
Ah that’s the sort of sleuthing I’ve come to rely on Max Tower for. I spent a lot of time on the HLC slides trying to find out how tall this thing is supposed to be, and aside from a couple of dotted lines in some of the pics that MIGHT suggest significant height, I couldn’t find any details. And 55 stories is pretty damn significant. That’s a huge ass building.
Austin | 308-316 Congress | Feet | 55 Floors | Proposed
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