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Archives for March 2013

Downtown News and Rumor Round-up

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There’s a number of interesting items relating to downtown in the news recently. With so much going on these days, along with the demise of Google Reader, we’re going to try something new at DAB: an end of the week wrap-up of what’s been in the news related to downtown. If you are like me, it is hard sometimes, to keep up with everything, especially during personally busy weeks.

Do me a huge favor and be sure to leave a comment if this is helpful and if you’d like to see this as a regular feature.

Rainey Street Ramps Up (again!)

Two new projects have filed site plans for new construction within the Rainey Street neighborhood district.

The vacant lot across the street from the Mexican American Cultural Center at 70 Rainey filed paperwork to build a mixed-use sky scraper consisting of a restaurant, residential units, and parking.

Down the street, the North Shore Lofts are moving forward with a multi-family building at the corner of the north shore and I-35, that will bring 44 class A multifamily units to the site.

Austin Towers has more

Capitol Kibosh

Texas lawmakers moved again earlier this week to make good on their sabre-rattling to freeze any development plans around the Capitol Complex.

A senate committee passed SB 894, by State Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston), making unsolicited proposals for development of the area north of the Capitol grounds illegal.

This effectively kills plans for the planetarium and high rise development.

The bill will also force potential developers to pitch their development plans before the Legislature every two years.

Notably, this bill has more than 20 sponsors and is also being supported by Kirk Watson.

KUT News has more

W Hotel for sale?

The Austin American-Statesman got its hands on a marketing brochure that says the W Hotel, also known as Block 21 and the home of the ACL Live studio is for sale.

The tower also includes 159 condominiums that aren’t part of the sale. To date 131 of the condos have been sold or are under contract, at an average price of more than $600 a square foot, according to the offering brochure. Jones Lang LaSalle’s Hotels & Hospitality Group is marketing the property.

Statesman has more

Travis County altering development plans?

County commissioners are considering another $38.5 million building downtown in early April at the corner of West 11th and San Antonio streets. The county previously received a proposal for a $60 million building on the same site.

In December, the county purchased the land for $7.25 million. It includes part of the Texas PTA offices and a parking lot.

Statesman has more

To view or not to view

While not downtown, we’re noting that neighbors are opposing the Taco Cabana development.

Bridges’ Homeowner Association has petitioned the City to deny a zoning request there.

Austin city planner Jerry Rusthoven told KVUE: “City code does not protect people’s views. That came up recently in another case downtown.”

KVUE has more on the dispute and Austin Towers has the details on the development

Higher & Better Use For Downtown Alleys

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This effort could yield some cool results.  The idea is in focus as Art Alliance Austin will feature in April an alley installation adjacent to the Austin Club.

Councilmember Tovo’s office is capturing the attention of downtown stakeholder groups, including Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association and the Downtown Commission, which has spun off a working group, for consideration of a masterplan for downtown Austin’s alleyways.

“Traditionally [alleys] are associated with garbage collection and can be associated with crime,” Tovo says “so, there’s the notion of kind of taking another look at them and really thinking about what kind of potential they might bring to our downtown area.” – KUT News

Repurposing alleys is not a new idea, and many cities around the world have embraced them as valuable real estate.

In fact, the concept for revitalizing downtown alleys has come before Austin City Council at least once before.  Back in 1971, architect David Graeber proposed repurposing the alleys behind 6th Street, from the Driskill Hotel to Waller Creek.

“By establishing cafes, boutiques, business offices and unusual shops, the alley could be a major economic stimulant to the downtown area.  Businesses could face either the alley or 6th Street, or more advantageously, both.” – David Graeber

Austin Architect, David Graeber's "Serendipity Alley" concept from the 1970s. Daily Texan, September 24, 1971
Austin Architect, David Graeber’s “Serendipity Alley” concept from the 1970s. Daily Texan, September 24, 1971

[Image credit Art Alliance Austin/Creative Action and TBG/Dan Cheetham (Fyoog) and Michelle Tarsney]

Plan To Revitalize 6th & Congress Announced, Underwhelms Everyone

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Stream Realty Partners has a contract to acquire the downtown block bounded by Congress, Fifth, Sixth and Brazos streets, according to the Austin American-Statesman.  Here are the details on what’s planned:

  • The deal consists of five parcels totaling 2.3 acres at the southeast corner of Congress and Sixth, plus a half-block directly east on Fifth Street between Brazos and San Jacinto Boulevard.
  • Stream Realty is acquiring the portfolio in a partnership with Wanxiang America Real Estate Group and Diversified Real Estate Capital. Heitman LLC is providing financing.
  • The site includes the 26-story Bank of America tower. Stream will continue to operate the 256,911-square-foot tower, which is 90 percent leased, as an office building and leave as is.
  • Vacant 501 Congress building will be remodeled by 2014 into a contemporary five-story building with 112,000 square feet of first-class office space and a rooftop deck.
  • Existing valet parking garage will be torn down and replaced by 2014 with an eight-story parking garage with 300 spaces and street-level retail space
  • The site also includes the nine-story Littlefield parking garage with 535 spaces, plus 24 apartments and 30,000 square feet of retail space. By the end of this year, Stream plans to renovate the apartments as well as the retail space, which has been vacant.
  • The half block site on East Fifth Street between Brazos and San Jacinto, which is home to a Bank of America drive through, will be sold for an unknown development.

6th Cong plan

Much of this site is entitled with 25:1 FAR, so it’s a disappointment to see an absence of big plans.

Still, it will be better than the vacant buildings currently occupying the 5th Street block between Congress and Brazos.  It’s hard to notice these days, given the amount of foot traffic that passes by this block creating an illusion of activity, but this is a major dead zone within the core.

The glass is half-full, though, and of the changes coming to this block, we’re most excited about street level retail being added where that valet garage is now. So much of the urban experience takes place at eye level within the street-scape.

The street belongs to everyone, whether you are a visiting hipster from Tulsa, Oklahoma in town for ACL, a Bastrop native walking to a lunch appointment, a UT student looking for love on Sixth St. or a family from Bee Caves enjoying downtown on the weekend. Having active storefronts makes downtown feel welcoming and alive, and having them lit at night adds an air of comfort and safety that an inhuman, dark parking garage does not.

This is an exciting time to be watching and writing about downtown Austin. The rate of change and investment is unprecedented and is an incredible maturation of the policy strong Austin mayors like (state Sen.) Kirk Watson and Will Wynn put in place.

-Jude

UT student housing, not condos, coming to 17 & Guadalupe

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About a month ago, the Downtown Austin Blog had a post hinting at the redevelopment of the abandoned, sad-looking Arby’s at 17th and Guadalupe, received with some skepticism.

Guess what? It’s going to be developed into an 80-unit student housing apartment complex and they want to do it fast.

About a quarter of the block at 1715 Guadalupe has been an abandoned fast food restaurant with its onsite parking use for contract parking. Recently, it has been sold to a developer for mid-rise student housing, with below grade parking.

Here’s the catch: The construction schedule requires work to begin by March 15, in order for the project to be ready for UT student move-in this August. The entire project area will have underground parking, which will required about two months of demolition, excavation and grading work.

It will be interesting to see if this still becomes student housing if the project deadlines cannot be met. Initially, this lot was going to be redeveloped into downtown mixed-use and someone literally scratched out “condos and retail” on the site plan application and wrote “apartments”.

UT had record freshman enrollment this past year, and if the market said lending was easier for that use, then that’s how the chips fall.

There’s likely to be universal consensus that a mid-rise student complex will be great for adding some life back into that part of town, and be especially good for the adjacent Dive Bar and Arturo’s coffee shop.

But, like cutting into an overcooked, yet still tasty steak, the current plan leaves bit sadness about what could have been.

Street-level retail and condo owners, which would have been vested in the community, would have been much juicier than student housing. Not to mention: the site is zoned for DMU-CURE and not in the Capitol View Corridor, which means density could have been packed in there.

We’ll also not that unlike other apartment projects percolating around the core, this one – because it is student housing – is unlikely to be converted into condos at a later date.

On the other hand, having student housing bleeding into downtown does it’s own unique part to keep the core vibrant, and really adds a level of affordability and youthfulness to downtown, which a luxury high-rise condo tower would not.

Royal Blue Grocery Announces Next Location @ The Whitley

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Big news for those living and working on the east side of Congress Ave.  Royal Blue proprietor, George Scariano, confirms with DAB that the lease is officially signed with The Whitley!

This will be the locally loved grocer’s fourth location.  The 2300 ft store will anchor the Railyard District, and we can expect an opening in July.

The store will be a full blown coffee shop, offering beer & wine, with an on-site kitchen serving baja-style seafood tacos, tacos al pastor, and flattop burgers.

We can’t wait!

Republic Square Postured For Awesomeness

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The ABJ is predicting the next niche of downtown to blossom will be anchored by Republic Square Park – which was a surface parking lot through the mid-70s.

The Plaza Lofts kicked off the modern idea of downtown condo life overlooking the park.  Next came the AMLI on 2nd.  The Post Office site is now controlled by a joint venture between Endeavor and Andrews -Urban.  The Federal Courthouse is now complete, and it is pretty good looking as courthouses go.  Travis County deployed tons of cash to buy the block immediately south of Republic Square.

There’s a new master planning effort underway for the park.  Our take is that the park needs more concessionaires, to give people a reason to go there in the daytime.

Oh, Republic Square is also going to be an anchor for the upcoming MetroRapid.

No doubt, Republic Square Park’s rejuvenation is largely due to excellent stewardship.  Kudos to the Austin Parks Foundation and Downtown Austin Alliance.

The area of downtown centered around Republic Square has begun a slow transformation from a bland, parking lot-studded section into a center of urban activity. – Austin Business Journal

rep_park_map

Signals That Lustre Pearl Is Moving

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In response to an application to relocate the structure that is Lustre Pearl, the City of Austin Historic Landmark Commission staff recommendation is to permit the move once a new site is located and approved by staff.

Relocating the structure would free up the CBD zoned dirt for a mixed-use tower on the northern end of Rainey Street.

Opening Lustre Pearl in 2008, Bridget Dunlap was the first to see the opportunity in repurposing Rainey Street’s dilapidated CBD-zoned bungalows into bars.

From the HLC brief…

The house was built c. 1907. The City Directory indicates E.A. Murchison residing at 97 Rainey Street in the first listing for the address in the 1906-07 City Directory; however Mr. Murchison’s listing in the name directory indicates him residing at 1303 E. 12th Street.

The next listing in 1909 indicates physician and surgeon Dr. Samuel H. Haigler residing at the address. He resided there until 1913, after which Mrs. Sara A. Spence, widow of Robert Spense, was the resident and owner until at least 1924. J.C. Sample, a carpenter and his wife Minnie were the next residents until approximately 1933. For the remaining years the house was owned and rented by a series of families, none of which resided at the address for more than a few years at a time. All residents, save Dr. Haigler, were blue collar or “non-professional” workers with occupations such as waiter, dishwasher and janitor. Starting in the late 1940’s surnames of the residents indicate a demographic change from Anglo to Hispanic residents as is typical for addresses in the district.  – HLC background info (pdf)

 

What is and isn’t happening at Seaholm

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It has been almost one year exactly since the site plan to begin redevelopment at Seaholm was filed, and still there is no major activity on the site. The lack of apparent progress was reinforced when news broke recently that the city of Rollingwood snagged a Trader Joes before Seaholm.

When Trader Joe’s announced it was moving into Seaholm in 2012, reporters were told that construction could begin that summer and Trader Joe’s would be open this year.

While the Downtown Waste Water Tunnel Project, which has been a big part of Seaholm’s construction delay, is nearing an end of work, there is still a lot that has to get completed with Seaholm plans before we’ll see major construction at the redevelopment.

Seaholm Map

A number of issues, including tree protection issues, are obstructing site plan approval for Seaholm, and in November 2012, the deadline to resolve the conflicts was pushed back to May this year. It’s worth noting, so as not to be confused, Heritage Trees had in the past been an issue related to the Green Water Treatment plant redevelopment, but that trees are impacting Seaholm is something new.

The new Central Library, which is also part of the redevelopment, is also slow off the mark. It seems engineers filed their site plan without doing a number of basic things first, such as obtaining a capital view corridor determination (which has been filed and is pending). Tree protection issues are also impeding progress at this site. The deadline to clear the site plan is in April, with construction set to begin by fall 2013, with completion in 2016.

At the very least, steady progress seems to be making way on the extension of Second Avenue, over Shoal Creek to West Ave., which will be very important to the site.

bridge 1

This week, City Council will likely approve a request to prepare a staging area for a construction of the library and a project enhancing the Shoal Creek trail, which also adds future access in Seaholm via the new car/bike bridge.

Construction is slated to begin this summer on improvements include completing the gap in the existing Shoal Creek Trail (from 5th to 3rd Streets), constructing the bridge on 2nd, and improving the Shoal Creek bank stabilization and mitigating erosion, as well as other enhancements to the trail.

After spending Saturday morning cleaning up Shoal Creek, as part of Its My Park Day, it’s evident that Shoal Creek could use major improvements. That the new bridge and bank/trail restoration is ramping up is an exciting development in the otherwise lackluster apparent progress related to Seaholm. Have a look below at how it looks today.

Bridge today

Downtown Austin Parking Requirements May Be Eliminated…

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…by the City of Austin.

Still, today’s market demands parking, and lenders will continue to require their businesses to deliver a minimum number of parking spaces.

It would be a symbolic and legal step forward though because minimum parking requirements have many negative effects, including:

  • Generate greater automobile usage and reduce use of transit and walking.
  • Increase building construction costs and make units less affordable.
  • Negatively affect the aesthetics of the built environment.
  • Perpetuate the inefficient use of available parking. (Currently many parking spaces in garages downtown sit empty throughout the day and night.)

“The city of Austin currently requires businesses to provide a certain number of parking spaces proportionate to the size of the business’s building. Multiple city commissions have expressed support for changing this requirement.

Colin Pope, editor of the Austin Business Journal, said that eliminating the requirement would be more of a symbolic move because developers would still provide parking to keep tenants happy.” – YNN

Hotel Van Zandt To Begin Construction This Summer #foolmetwice

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If you’ve been around downtown Austin since 2006, you’ve been hearing about the Hotel Van Zandt.  It was a sister development to the Shore Condos, sharing the northern end of the site.  Hotel Van Zandt was initially planned to be a $100 million, 29-story hotel and condo tower.  The scope has been reduced to 16 stories and will include just the hotel component.

“Greg Clay, chief investment officer for JMI Realty, which is developing the Hotel Van Zandt, said his company has applied for building permits and expects to break ground by June on the 16-story, 327-room hotel. It which will be operated by Kimpton Hotels, a San Francisco company, which specializes in chic boutique hotels.

Though JMI has owned the site at Red River and Davis streets since 2006, the project had been stalled by the recession and other factors, but now it’s back on track.” – Austin Business Journal

I’m eager to see this hotel built.  We’ve heard this story before, though I’ve heard enough scuttlebutt this time to be optimistic we really will see dirt start turning.

-Jude

[above rendering by WDG Architecture]

hotel-van-zandt-site