Archives for September 2009

Walton’s Fancy and Staple Pleases Me

AG | September 29, 2009 |

Walton's Menu Board and Deli — Walton’s Menu Board and Deli

A little deli and flower shop with some big backers (namely Sandra Bullock, who also has ownership interest in Bess) opened in downtown Austin earlier this year. All of the DAB crew was pretty excited to have another daytime-use casual cafe downtown. It’s technically the second location for a Walton’s (there is a Walton’s florist shop on Bee Caves). I’ve been a few times this year, but I took the almost extinct ‘Dillo there last week with the express purpose of doing a little write up on the place.

First of all, I think the atmosphere is awesome. The place is kind of split up into three different parts: 1) the front, deli area with some seating, 2) a little flower shop in the back of place and 3) a separate alleyway that consists of only seating. There’s also a small outside dining area. Here are some pictures:

The vibe in here is….well, frankly, it’s adorable. It’s kind of a clean and airy 1940’s vibe. Very light, very sunny. Feminine, but not uncomfortably so.

Now, on to the food. Hog Island Deli fans may not like this statement very much, but it’s been said, and I agree, that Walton’s Fancy and Staple fills the gourmet sandwich void in downtown Austin. I think we all at least can agree that it’s a hell of a lot better than Subway, Which Wich, or Murphy’s. I ordered what I considered more of a specialty sandwich, the seafood po boy:

It was really, really good, as everything I have ordered there has been. It was pricey ($12.99, if I remember correctly), but oh-so-delicious. Everything on the sandwich was fresh and cooked to order, and was delivered to my table pretty quickly after ordering. I didn’t have dessert, but it was not for want of temptation (the desserts are also reasonably priced, in my opinion):

After I ate, I meandered over to the florist shop area. Very adorable, but not extremely affordable. Here are some close ups:

To sum up:

Pros: Great vibe, great food, fills downtown Austin’s gourmet sandwich void.

Cons: A little pricey.

Check it out and judge for yourself: Walton’s Fancy and Staple Website

-AG

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Downtown Austin Plan Districts Town Hall Meeting on October 10, 2009

Jude Galligan | September 29, 2009 |

(As sent from the DAA)

“The City of Austin’s Downtown Austin Plan team invites you to participate in a town hall meeting on Saturday, October 10. Details below. We hope you will attend and share your thoughts on the key issues affecting downtown.

Dear Downtown Austin Plan Stakeholder,

Please join us at a “Town Hall” Meeting and share your vision and ideas about the nine districts in Downtown Austin. On Saturday October 10th, 2009, we will be meeting to share our preliminary thoughts and recommendations — and to get your input — on some key issues facing Downtown:

– Downtown District Goals and Priorities
– Downtown Transportation
– Live Music, Art, and “Creative Culture” Policies
– Historic Resources and Preservation Policies
– Land Use and Urban Design Regulations

These issues and more are being addressed by the “Downtown Austin Plan.” For more information about the Plan, please see the project website at:http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/downtown/downtownaustinplan.htm

The specifics of the meeting are as follows:

Event: Downtown Austin Plan — Town Hall Meeting
Date: Saturday October 10, 2009 Time: 9:00 a.m. to Noon
Place: Waller Creek Center, 625 E. 10th Street Room 104
Parking: At this time, we are unsure about the availability of off-street parking, but there is on-street parking in the area. Transit: For bus route information, please consult:http://www.capmetro.org/planner/.

Please feel free to pass this invitation along to any interested individual wishing to attend.

You may receive this invitation more than once as we may have you on multiple stakeholder lists so please excuse the redundancy. If you have any questions about this event, and to RSVP, please contact Jorge Rousselin atjorge.rousselin@ci.austin.tx.us or (512) 974-2975.

The Downtown Austin Plan Team”

Downtown Austin Round Up

Jude Galligan | September 29, 2009 |

Hi How Are You Gets iPhowned — "Hi, How Are You" gets iPhowned

-Arthouse at the Jones Center raises $5MM to triple their space.

-Congress Avenue dresses up with a new retailer.

-David Byrne talks to heads of Austin’s bicycle community at the Paramount

-West Elm bridges the furniture affordability gap between Ikea and Ligne Roset this Wednesday.

-CapMetro delays commuter line until 2010, is content to be Austin’s whipping boy.

Downtown Austin Open Houses

Jude Galligan | September 26, 2009 |

We’ve received several inquiries about open houses, so Downtown Austin Blog will begin listing open houses each weekend. The great thing about downtown Austin open houses is that you can pretty quickly bounce between buildings.

Make a day of it this weekend and drop by the Old Pecan Street Festival on 6th Street. On this weekend’s calendar we’ve got the Austin City Lofts and Villas On Town Lake.

Sunday
1) 800 W. 5th Street #704, 1BR, 1BA, $374,900, 1-3pm [AvenueOne]
2) 80 Red River Street #103, 2BD, 2BA, $309,000, 12-2pm [John Horton]

Take The CAMPO Survey

Jude Galligan | September 26, 2009 |

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) is presenting the three possible concepts for investing in the transportation system between now and 2035.

Give your feedback here and help positively impact Central Texas for decades to come!

Thanks to the Thomas Butler with the DAA for the link!

-Jude

Repost: The Best Panorama Of Downtown Austin

Jude Galligan | September 25, 2009 |

Downtown Austin Panorama Photo by TXAlex at SkyscraperPage Forums

high res version.

-Jude

There Are Downtown Austin Condos That Are FHA Approved

Jude Galligan | September 24, 2009 |

(UPDATED AS OF JANUARY 25TH 2013)

To qualify for an FHA loan in Travis County the purchase price of the residence must be under $288,750. For FHA loans, you only need at least 3.5% down payment. Consider downtown Austin condos like the Avenue Lofts or the the Shore Condos, two of the five downtown buildings that are FHA approved condos.

FHA approved downtown Austin condos:

360 Condos
904 West (expired as of 10/02/2012)
Avenue Lofts (expired as of 10/02/2012)
Posada Del Ray
The Shore Condos

FHA approval has ZERO to do with the quality or desirability of a building. In fact, it is smart Home Owner’s Associations and developers that open up their projects to as many financing options as possible.

-Jude

Defining Austin's Urban Core

Jude Galligan | September 23, 2009 |

Maybe this is unique to my peers in the real estate world, but how often do you hear the term “urban core” as it relates to Austin? Some people just say “Central” Austin, but to many that doesn’t imply South Austin, or East Austin. Generally, when I write about the urban core of Austin this is the area I’m referring to.

How do you define Austin's "urban core"?

For some of you this might be too narrow, but I suspect most of you will accuse me of drawing too broadly. Notice that UT is excluded as UT is always referred to as UT. Arguably, it’s one of the most urban areas of Austin – most university settings are dense, walkable, and active – but in my opinion it doesn’t compare well to the other neighborhoods due to the narrow demographics.

Oltorf is still a boundary to the south. Lamar is no longer a boundary to the west. To the north, MLK is a natural border between UT and downtown. To the east I’ve chosen Pedernales, but I could be convinced to include Pleasant Valley.

More importantly, what does it mean to be inside Austin’s urban core? Well, generally this is how I see it…

1) you can expect to find mixed-use development
2) you can find remnants of Austin’s history
3) you can find urban infill projects
4) decent transit (a generous term for Austin)
5) You could walk to downtown
6) There are no malls

Of course you could find some of the above items miles from downtown, but as a bundle of characteristics I think they work pretty well. Austin’s “urban core” is a nebulous term that is as flexible as it is convenient. This map shows what would have not only been the core, but most of the city at the turn of the century. The boundary will likely grow as our city matures. Let me know what you think.

-Jude

LiveMusicClips.com

Jude Galligan | September 23, 2009 |

Entrepreneur and downtown Austin resident Milan Malkani has launched LiveMusicClips.com. LiveMusicClips.com is a place for bands to promote their shows by publishing the what/when/where info of their upcoming gigs.

As Milan puts it “I can’t play an instrument and my vocals are painful to listen to, so I figured if I can’t be in my own band at least I can help others.” To help generate some momentum and spread the word they are giving away a pair of 3-day passes to ACL – check them out!

-Jude

Photo Of Waller Creek Flooding In 1935

Jude Galligan | September 22, 2009 |

Thanks to LoneStarMike at SkyscraperPage for finding this. What a great photo. It looks as if this photo was taken from the vantage point of where the Austin Convention Center is today. You can see the intersection of Red River and Cesar Chavez St (formerly and appropriately known as Water St, historical map). It’s striking to see a large house on the southeast corner where we now have a surface parking lot. It appears that gas cost $0.12 per gallon. And, what is the sign on the shed towards the right? Crazy.

You can see a BBQ joint on the left, but it doesn’t seem to be located where Iron Works BBQ is today. The structure in the photo looks like it is west of Waller Creek …interesting.

From the Weigl’s website… “Fortunat quickly filled the hole and the Weigl’ operation found a new home in 1935. Shortly after their opening, disaster struck. On June 5, 1935, one of the worst floods Austin has ever seen raged throughout the city. After the waters receded, the Weigls were forced to cut out pieces of floorboard to scrape massive amounts of mud into the basement.”

Click on the photo to enlarge.

-Jude