Archives for July 2011

Delayed Rainey Street Hotel Plans Finalized

dab | July 29, 2011 |

Hotel Van Zandt, proposed initially in parallel to The Shore Condos in Downtown Austin’s Rainey Street District in 2008, is still kicking.

Downtown Austin Blog reported in March that plans had been filed for the hotel, though it was unclear what scope the project had taken on. Today I confirmed the project will be 16 stories, about 180 feet, and about 320 units, plus 10,000 square feet of meeting space and a 5,000-square-feet of resturant office.

There will be about 159 [Read more…] about Delayed Rainey Street Hotel Plans Finalized

Another Boutique Hotel Planned For Congress Ave?

dab | July 25, 2011 |

It appears developers are pursuing a boutique hotel at the 800 block of Congress Avenue, in addition to one planned at the 400 block. We thought that once before, but this time different people are involved and it looks more certain.

The hotel, planned in the Bosche-Hogg Building — a historic building at Congress Avenue and Eighth Street plagued by low occupancy and bought out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy — will have 210 rooms and 120,000 square feet of office space, according to my intel. [Read more…] about Another Boutique Hotel Planned For Congress Ave?

New Downtown Austin BMX Park From Above

Jude Galligan | July 22, 2011 |

The team at Mutiny Bikes mounted a camera to an RC helicopter to get this great footage of Downtown Austin’s new BMX park. Thanks to Mitch McGovern for the tip!

Imagine Downtown Austin…

Jude Galligan | July 19, 2011 |

…with audacious building heights. From the awesome “Austin, what if?” thread at Skyscraper Page (pic by The Genral and Priller).

No Tower of Babylonic Courthouse Until 2015?

dab | July 18, 2011 |

There is a presumption that buildings in downtown Austin financed with public money have a better shot of getting off the ground quicker than private ones.

That was the case among many hopefuls, perhaps, when Travis County purchased the former Austin Museum of Art block to build a skyscraper courthouse.

But Travis County Purchasing officer Cyd Grimes busted that myth in a recent article by InFactDaily, telling the subscriber political newsletter the project won’t break ground for three or four years.

“A lot of people have been pushing this (public-private partnership),” she said. “I’m not convinced that it’s going to be cheaper, better, or faster. I think if we went and borrowed the money and did either a Construction Manager at Risk, or a Design-Build, we would be quicker down the road.”

[Read more…] about No Tower of Babylonic Courthouse Until 2015?