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Jude Galligan

W Hotel Residences Sneak Peek

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from the vantage point of the pool deck

Members of the DANA were provided with a backstage pass to downtown Austin’s W Hotel Residences. We’ve always admired the sleek monolithic design of the building, and even through the construction dust you can envision the interior will make a similar impact.

DANA members on the 37th floor of W Hotel Residences

The contractor is expected to hand the keys over to the hotel portion in September/October. The doors won’t be open, but that should be the time when the hotel can begin to furnish everything. The Austin City Limits venue and residential condos will be ready in Q1 of 2011.

The most significant milestone will be the removal of the street barriers mid-summer! This is great news for any resident or retailer in the 2nd Street District.

Flickr Slideshow

mezzanine level seating for the Austin City Limits venue

New Discoveries

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83 Rainey Street – “Icenhauers”

Rainey Street continues to sprout interesting uses of dilapidated bungalow houses. Chris Howle helped us spot the new TABC permit application sign in the window of 83 Rainey Street, right next door to El Naranjo. The applicant reads “Icenhauers” and they are applying for mixed-bev late night service. Another bar is not ideal for a district yearning for more uses, though good concept execution can go a long way.

C’est la vie.

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Pecan Street Cafe

We love the new location of Pecan Street Cafe. The 504 Trinity Street location is close enough to “Pecan” Street to keep the name, and it is more inviting than the old location.

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Chain Drive

Maybe not new, but we stumbled across a bar kept on the extreme DL. Located on Willow Street, behind the pedi-cab headquarters, it doesn’t look like it’s still open.

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Waller Creek Wow

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We had a great turn out at last night’s Waller Creek District Town Hall. A packed house of ~150 people were in attendance to learn about McCann Adams Studio’s (formerly ROMA Austin) final draft of the Waller Creek District Master Plan (“the plan”). The plan consists of recommendations on infrastructure, pedestrian and bicycle use, and appropriate development standards. These recommendations will guide the design of surface level improvements for the nearly 25 acres of downtown land that runs adjacent to Waller Creek.

This was the third town hall for the WCD Master Plan, and the audience had the opportunity to solicit questions of the members of the Waller Creek Citizens Advisory Committee. The comments will be attached to the final draft as it begins to make the rounds through boards and commissions.

It’s unclear how the recommended improvements will be funded. One or two of the sub-projects could be included in the upcoming $100MM mobility bond package. Most likely we will see improvements paid for on an ad-hoc basis by private development, once the tunnel is complete.

In June, the WCD Master Plan is expected to reach city council for adoption and be incorporated into the much larger Downtown Austin Plan.

Upcoming Review Process

April 12th – Waterfront Planning & Parks Board: Land & Facilities Committee
April 21st – Downtown Commission & Planning Commission’s Neighborhood Planning Subcommittee
April 26th – Design Commission
April 27th – Parks Board
May 4th – City Council’s Comprehensive Planning & Transportation Cmte.
May 5th – Environmental Board
May 11th – Planning Commission
June 10th – City Council briefing
June 24th – City Council action

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Waller Creek District Master Plan Town Hall Tonight

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The City’s Consultant, ROMA Design Group, is putting the finishing touches on a draft master plan for the Waller Creek District.  The Consultant will present the plan to the public at a Town Hall meeting hosted by the Waller Creek Citizen Advisory Committee.

Waller Creek District Master Plan Town Hall
April 7, 2010 6:00-8:30 pm
Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC) Auditorium
600 River Street, Austin TX 78702

Light refreshments will be served.

Public input gathered will be used to finalize the draft Master Plan before it is taken to boards and commissions, the Planning Commission and to Austin City Council for approval. The meeting is the final step in a series of public outreach efforts that the City has conducted over the last year.  The plan has been posted online at: http://www.wallercreekplan.org

Two Bike Boulevards! Draft Released

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“The staff recommends that both Rio Grande Street and Nueces Street together, in the northwest district of the downtown, be designated as the Downtown Bicycle Boulevard with no traffic calming tools implemented on Nueces Street.”

Two streets, rather than one, could receive improvements to facilitate the mobility of bikes and cars.  City Staff heard the massive amount of discussion about Rio Grande being a better option.  According to the memo to Council (pdf), Rio Grande currently carries 24% less traffic than Nueces.

After the comments by Rob D’amico and the League of Bicycle Voters, it was easy to be discouraged that the eventual proposal would be too watered down.  Now, we have the actual proposal – thick with feedback from all stakeholders.  As someone that lives and works downtown Austin, and having read through the draft, I’m happy with the recommended improvements.  A few highlights:

Rio Grande:

  1. Parking in front of Wahoos would become “back in” angled parking
  2. New hike and bike bridge over Shoal Creek @ 4th Street
  3. Parking along Rio Grande remains largely unchanged
  4. An array of traffic circles, medians with speed cushions, speed cushions, and pedestrian curb-extensions

Nueces:

  1. Great Streets from 3rd to 7th on Nueces.
  2. Install sharrows from 7th to 13th
  3. Replace parking on one side of the street with enhance bicycle lanes.

The recommended speed limit through out the project is 25mph.  Slower is better, IMO, and hopefully the proposed round-a-bouts on Rio Grande will help improve traffic flow, compared to the stop signs currently there.

In summary, these recommendations are light touches.  This isn’t an expensive project.  This will not be a promenade, and it was never intended to be that way.

-Jude