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Jude Galligan

The Highest And Best Use of Congress Ave Retail Store Frontage Is Not CapMetro

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One of the things that always seemed curious to me is how and why Capital Metro (@CapMetroATX) occupied prime square footage on a heavily trafficked part of Congress Avenue, next to Annie’s. For many years, Cap Metro occupied the first and third floor of this three-story building.

Well its lease expires this coming April, and it seems the landlord is raising the rent. As a result, Capital Metro is moving into 209 W 9th Street (southwest corner of Colorado and 9th), which is owned by Harry Whittington.  There, the transit agency is signing a 5-year $3.3 million lease on 18,800 square feet.  This will allow the consolidation of two call centers – one currently housed at the 323 Congress Ave.

For years, the good energy of clear windows (“fenestration” for my fellow wonks) and ambience of Annie’s seemed to kind of get sucked way by the dark, looming, uninviting storefront of Capital Metro next door.

So what’s next for 323 Congress?

The entire building is 21,900 square feet, and  features open floor layouts, ample lighting and excellent visibility to Congress Ave.  According to this undated flyer from Weitzman, it appears to be listed for sale “between $2.5 million and $7.3 million.”  Or, it could be for lease $24-36/ft/yr by Cielo Realty Partners, as it’s shown on Loopnet.

I’ll be surprised if this languishes too long.  Office vacancies downtown have recently fallen below 12%, according to this Dec. 11 Austin Tenant Advisors press release, which compares well to other major cities such as Atlanta which reports a 24% vacancy rate. Average lease rates for all classes are averaging around $30/square in the downtown area while landlords of Class A office properties are quoting $38/square foot, or higher.

This, in part, is being driven by a number of web/computing-based companies setting up shop downtown, which is about as a good of a thing as a city could ever hope would happen to its downtown office space.  We can expect a higher and better use of our ground level retail, however.

FYI urban transit commuter: The transit store, where folks pick up passes, pocket maps and the lost & found, is also moving to the new location on 9th Street.

Marathon Planning Effort Pays Off: 7 Rio Site Plan Permitted, Awaiting Construction

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An Englishman once said: “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, well you just might find you get what you need.”

And so it was for the folks behind a tower planned at Seventh & Rio Grande, named 7 Rio, who this month saw the City of Austin approve a site plan, allowing construction to move forward.

It was exactly one year ago that DAB posted that the 7 Rio apartments still had legs.

The project was one of a handful of [for sale] condo projects that took a back seat when lenders got squeamish in the midst of the Great Recession. In 2008, on the eve of the housing-crisis fallout, the builders projected a 3Q08 groundbreaking on a 34-story luxury residential 158-unit “point-tower” building.

That vision has been scaled back, and what is coming is a shorter building, with 24-stories, but packing in about 70 more apartments [for rent].

7rio-austin-site-rendering
original rendering of 7rio has since been scaled back

Part of the site is in the Capitol View Corridor, but a point-tower over podium design could have gone up as high as 50 stories. Given that demand remains so high for units in the urban core, this feels like a bit of a missed opportunity for CWS Capital Partners – the Orange County, California based developer – to create something striking, and the Austin community to reap some additional property tax and density.

One other observations is that the current site plan application says only “residential & parking,” while the initial proposal included 7,300 square feet of retail space.

Site vs. CVC

I’m just hoping CWS doesn’t sacrifice developing an inviting, pedestrian/shopper friendly building, for something barren of storefronts.

It is nice to see a project developed by a great local architect Brett Rhode getting off the ground, and we’ll all accept that the client calls the shots. (Note: Rhode: Partners portfolio still shows specs for the first design.)

 

What’s Missing? Clues To Downtown Austin’s Next Apartment Tower

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What’s missing is a clue to what might become downtown Austin’s next apartment high-rise.

Back in August we discovered the old warehouse on the corner of Trinity and Cesar Chavez had been acquired by World Class Capital Group, and quickly conceptualized into an apartment tower, with the working name of Trinity Place.

For decades, two small billboards stood at the eastern edge of the lot.  If you were heading east or west on Cesar Chavez you wouldn’t have missed them.  As of this week, those billboards have been taken down!

Now, WCCG would not decide to forfeit that steady billboard lease without a good reason.  I speculate this is a signal that development efforts are progressing.

Trinity Place conceptual footprint – Cesar Chavez @ Trinty (pdf)

Getting Around Downtown Austin During Formula 1 (F1)

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The City of Austin has published some great resources for folks living/working/visiting downtown during the inaugural Formula 1 race.

I think the best practice will be, next to walking, to take the FREE Downtown Loop – This free bus service will help you get around downtown. It will run Nov. 16 – 18 from 7 a.m. – 2:30 a.m, every 15 minutes (may be delayed due to traffic). It will circle 15th St., San Jacinto, 7th St, Red River, Cesar Chavez and Lavaca on a continuous loop. (map)

The ‘Loop will be like the Dillo, except people are expected to use it. (Oh, snap!)

Parking and shuttle service is the 2nd best way to get to COTA. The myriad of State parking garages along San Jacinto will finally pay off.

G’Raj Mahal Cafe Will Expand Onto Rainey Street Proper

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One of our favorite Rainey Street restaurants, G’Raj Mahal, yesterday publicly announced plans that they would be setting up a second location at 73 Rainey Street.

From their Facebook Page (link) announcement:

The Graj is sooo excited to announce a second site in progress. The trailer remains but we have long out-grown our kitchen demands and plan to expand just down the street on Rainey. It’ll mean faster service!!! and we will get to finally cook up some new things, too!

Below is a picture of the property they are expanding into.  It’s on the east side of Rainey Street, next to the leaning house, two doors north of Javalina.

We’re wondering if they are going to end up moving all of their operations to 73 Rainey, and if the existing 91 Red River (at Davis Street) will be assembled into a larger development. That’s just us speculating. Most importantly, I would love to see the Austin Bike Zoo remain part of the vibe.

We asked Sidney Roberts, owner of G’raj Mahal, if they were going to rehab the house at 73 Rainey and if they were going to use an interior kitchen.  She responded, and also gave some insight into how service will work at the new location:

the house on 73 will be adapted so we are actually going to have a built-in trailer of sorts facing the interior of the house but “parked” in the graj…that meets city standards for restaurants…the majority of seating will remain outdoor though with improved cooling and heating capacity and we will have a small amount of indoor seating, a wine/beer bar, and indoor bathrooms…byob will still remain at the current space and we can cater parties that wish to to that…the trailer will have a simplified menu and will operate as a more standard trailer…walk-up service, but the seating and other accommodations will be there

Sidney also said that, depending upon city approvals and funding, they hope to have the new location up and running by the new year.

For a detailed review of the original location, including more pictures, the menu, and other important information about eating at G’Raj Mahal, be sure to checkout DAB’s review of G’Raj Mahal in Austin.