Jude Galligan

Plans Evolve For Rainey Street’s Waller Center

Jude Galligan | September 16, 2013 |

Here are the latest revisions to the 3 acre Waller Center plan – an ambitious project that stretches along the east bank of Waller Creek, from E Cesar Chavez to Davis Street.

The updated renderings (below) give a more comprehensive vision for the massing of three distinct towers, and how they could be best be oriented. According to the ABJ‘s interview with development firm, The Sutton Company, their target is to submit plans to the City of Austin for approval by late November

Here’s what we know about the goals of the project:

Tower A is a 21 story office building
Tower B is a 46 story residential tower
Tower C is a 38 story mixed use Tower
Target FAR is 10:1
26,000 ft retail (possibly grocery store)

Checkout the images below.

Downtown Austin News & Rumor Roundup

Jude Galligan | September 15, 2013 |

Wooldridge Park is open again

Wooldridge Park – the basin-like lawn and gazebo at 9^th & Guadalupe – opened this past week after a year-long upgrade with drought-tolerant turf grass, a new irrigation system and electrical upgrades including high-efficiency LED light fixtures.

The upgrade was made possible, by in-large, due to the selfless and dogged determination of DAB friend Michael McGill, a city council staffer in Sheryl Cole’s office and a founder of Friends of Woolridge Square.

If you see Mike in the ‘hood, and you value downtown Austin, please take a moment to tell him: “Thank you.”

That aside, the question everyone is asking is if the park will revert back into a hangout for homeless people, as it was pre-upgrade. I have a hard time believing that the people who invested so much time and energy into upgrading this place will allow it to revert back into a Hooverville.

I’ll keep tabs on this and update everyone in a few months!

New Kids on the (Downtown) Block

Downtown Austin’s largest property holder – Thomas Properties – just let go of it’s book of commercial properties… sort of.

Orlando-based Parkway Properties Inc. acquired Thomas, in what is described as a “merger,” but it remains to be seen how the acquisition will impact downtown Austin, as Thomas Properties’ influence runs deep around here.

The ABJ did a bang-up job detailing the properties impacted and digging into the local reaction.

Children’s museum shutters downtown

The Austin Children’s Museum closed its doors earlier this month, as it prepares to rebrand and relocate to new, custom-built, space out in Mueller.

First opened in 1983, the museum moved to its 2^nd Street location in 1997. Since that time, 2^nd Street has grown into a thriving live/work/play strip of downtown. I think that the bright green, children-themed façade of the museum helped lend an air of comfort to people exploring downtown from the suburbs, which helped revitalize downtown. So, it’s departure is a loss for downtown.

The ABJ previously reported that the building would be leased, but I’ll be interested to see if it is razed for another skyscraper instead.

The Whitley Apartment Building Is For Sale

Jude Galligan | September 10, 2013 |

Downtown Austin’s most recently completed apartment building is for sale according to commercial real estate company CBRE’s website.

The timing is interesting because the Whitley just welcomed its first tenants only a few months ago. And, we were very excited when Royal Blue Grocery was announced as an anchor bodega-grocery store.

Construction of the Whitley was first announced back in September 2011, and would replace the former Whitley Paper warehouse that occupied a half-block at the northeast corner of 3rd & Brazos Street (just south of the Railyard condos).

Since the building’s completion, they have already achieved 66% occupancy, according to the info on CBRE’s website. That’s nearly 176 apartments rented in just a few months!!!

Details:
-266 units (66% leased)
-16 stories
-12,000 ft of ground level retail space (100% leased)
-333 structured parking spaces
-Price is to be determined by market

whitley-apartments-austin-exterior — View of the Whitley from southwest corner of 3rd & Brazos

Big Changes Coming to Guadalupe & Lavaca

Jude Galligan | September 10, 2013 |

There’s so much chatter about transportation projects that have varying degrees of reality, it’s hard to keep track sometimes.

One of those projects is coming online in the very near future and going to have big impacts on the downtown transportation grid.

Starting next year, the right most travel lanes on Guadalupe and Lavaca will become the Transit Priority Lanes for the MetroRapid busses. Vehicles in these lanes will be restricted to transit vehicles and cars making right turns.

Notably, in addition to the new MetroRapid busses, all the bus transit will be diverted to those streets from Congress Avenue, which will pay dividends for drivers on Congress and also significantly improve the pedestrian environment – the latter that I predict will catalyze more sidewalk and pocket park cafes along Congress.

Phase 2 of Medical District Plan Aims For 2018

Jude Galligan | August 27, 2013 |

Last month, DAB took an in-depth look at the first phase of the Medical District plan, which looks at opening a UT medical school in the fall of 2016, while the planned opening of the Seton/Central Health hospital in January 2017.

But that is just the first phase.

Unlike the first phase, the second phase of development would not be developed by UT Austin, but instead by the Seton network and/or Central Health. The second phase, which happens south of 15th Street, would kick off only after Brackenridge can be repurposed or destroyed, which means sometime after 2017 (if all goes to plan).