downtown austin

21c gets glowing review by NPR

Jude Galligan | December 23, 2008 |

Austin’s 21c museum residences and hotel may be on hold for now, but this morning NPR gave a glowing review of the original concept in Louisville, Kentucky. The NPR story incorrectly states that the Austin 21c is under construction; however, Marriott’s decision to not build 1,000 hotel rooms should reflect favorably on 21c’s pro-formas. 21c was originally planned for development at the Whitley paper building on 3rd and San Jacinto, however, plans changed to locate the building(s) at Red River and Cesar Chavez, along Waller Creek.

link to article
link to NPR audio

The Marriott debacle

Jude Galligan | December 22, 2008 |

The inopportune demolition of the Las Manitas restaurant and neighboring buildings has sparked some discussion in the blogosphere. On December 5th, it was announced that the 1,000 room Marriott hotel development was put on hold. Chris Bradford over at Austin Contrarian suggests we charge developers a fee if they delay development of blighted block.

Time will tell how long it takes Marriott to develop to sell the site. One reason to be optimistic that Marriott may still have sincere interest in developing the hotel is that Downtown Austin hotels routinely reach full capacity. Meanwhile, wrapping a block in chain link fence and leaving it to sid idly will not be taken kindly by local stakeholders. I would like to see City Council implement maximum development timelines for projects like this and begin to revoke concessions initially granted to the project.

AustinTowers has some photos of the demolished block.

Austin Fog

Jude Galligan | December 18, 2008 |

This morning Austin is covered in a thick blanket of fog. This is the best fog I’ve seen in years, and a quick search through Google images queues up some picturesque photos that comes with a fog like this. (link)

/it’s a slow news week.
//and, I didn’t want to jump on this bandwagon.

Lake/Flato will design new Central Library in Downtown Austin

Jude Galligan | December 12, 2008 |

Site of Downtown Austins new Central Libary — Site of Downtown Austin's new Central Libary

Lake Flato has been awarded the design contract for Downtown Austin’s new Central Library. They’ve got $90MM to work with to build 250,000 square feet by 2013.

Below is an estimated timeline for the new Central Library project:

May 2009 ~ Citizen/Stakeholder input meetings –Co-sponsored by Library Commission and Library Foundation June 2009 ~ Design phase begins
Spring 2011 ~ Design development completed
Winter 2011 ~ Construction begins
Fall 2013 ~ Construction complete
Spring/Summer 2014-Grand Opening

The site sits partially within a capitol view corridor, so the future building can only be mid-rise and will likely only by three stories. In that regard I like this choice of location. Still, I think this is a poor choice of location in terms of accessibility. I’ve seen plenty of proposed transit maps for ‘future’ Austin, and not a single one shows rail stopping near the library. The people that would benefit the most from this new Central Library are, in my opinion, going to benefit the most from mass transit that can get them to the library! It was an easy choice for the City because they own the land; however, the city could have used condemnation to select a better site that would be more accessible. I expect the building will be beautiful. I just hope it gets used.

Jude Galligan

City of Austin v. Harry Whittington: the saga of a parking garage

Jude Galligan | December 4, 2008 |

17,000 square feet of empty retail space rests at the base of the Convention Center’s parking garage. This retail space has the potential to add vibrancy and day time services to the Entertainment District. This is the only retail space within a few hundred feet of the 555, the Sabine on 5th, the Hilton, the Hilton Garden Inn, and the Convention Center. So, why hasn’t this space been filled?

After the jump: Part 1 of the chronology of City of Austin v. Harry Whittington
[Read more…] about City of Austin v. Harry Whittington: the saga of a parking garage