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Social Cycling In Downtown Austin

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Kudos to these guys for last week’s successful fund raising campaign. Those funds will go towards rides like this. The first ride is called “Taste of Downtown” and will meet up this Saturday at 1:30 at BoConcept.

Austin on Two Wheels is teaming up with Keith Byrd from Social Cycling ATX to put on the Discover the City on Two Wheels Spring Urban Living Ride Series. We will be offering three exceptional social rides in April that highlight the best of what Austin has to offer: Taste of Downtown Tour, Pampered Pedal Ride, and Boggy Creek Farm Picnic Ride.

These rides are part of the test for a new concept bike store in Austin dedicated to the simple pleasure of riding with friends, not competition or workouts. In addition to these unique rides, we will have some great Dutch bikes and cargo bikes to test ride while you’re there. We’ll be giving away some gift certificates from cool local business to participants who help us with feedback on this project plus everyone who gives us feedback will be entered into a drawing for an Electra Amsterdam Royal 8 at the end of the series.

All rides will leave from our ride host BoConcept at 430 W 2nd St.

Shoal Creek Walk Moves Through Planning Commission

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Rendering of Shoal Creek Walk

Schlosser Development’s Shoal Creek Walk concept, to be located where a large surface level parking lot currently exists, has agreed to include an affordable housing component (in addition to $2.3MM in green-scaping concessions) in order to receive the Planning Commission’s recommendation for a height variance to 350 ft.  The building is intended primarily as an office tower, but has included 90 residential units at the top.  Schlosser may pay a $3 per foot (for all area greater than 687,000 ft) fee in lieu of actually building the affordable dwellings.

ANC Gives Greenlight To Developers?

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California builder OMG proposes parking/condo tower on West Lynn

In a rare move, it seems the Austin Neighborhood Council has blessed a new residential tower at West Lynn and 12th.  Sources indicate that the “Anawo” tower will replace Nau’s Enfield Drug store, and will be the first of it’s kind for Clarksville.  A spokesperson for the California based builder, OMG, says: “The neighbors are our partners.”

The proposed tower is part of a category of buildings often called “parking farms” because of the extreme parking density.  A site plan submitted to city staff indicates the 12 story tower will consist of 10 levels of parking garage capped with 2 levels of office condos.  “The entire structure is designed with mobility in mind – a parking ratio of one space for every one-hundred feet of office space is a testament to our commitment to include the feedback we received from stakeholders.  You’re going to be able to park your Prius next to your neighbor’s Prius next to their neighbor’s Prius, and so on.”

Anawo tower will require a variance to achieve the desired height of 120 feet, however ANC’s support is expected to find sympathetic ears on the City of Austin Planning Commission which will hear from OMG next Tuesday.

Demolition work on Nau’s could be complete by July.

Progress at 800 W 6th Street

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There’s progress at the corner of W 6th Street and West Ave.  The corner lot – 800 W 6th Street (tcad) – and adjacent lots, formerly home to Page Southerland Page, have been assembled and are owned by Cypress Real Estate Advisors.  For years, the corner lot served as a tire repair shop.  Not exactly the highest and best use.  Last week that tire repair shop was torn down.

In 2007 and 2008, Cypress was planning a residential tower.  The land is not in a CVC, but is not zoned CBD, and they would have needed variances in order to build what they wanted.  The project never got any legs as this was when the economy began to tank.

According to an article by Jacob Dirr (pdf) at the ABJ this past February, Cypress is planning a six-story, Class A, office building.  They do not need any variances, but do need an anchor tenant before construction begins.

It’s possible we’ll see the demolition of the PSP building in the next couple of months.  Short run use is likely to be a surface level parking lot.

-Jude

Car2Go Expands Pilot Program To State Employees

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Soon, you’ll see more of these little buggers zipping around downtown Austin.  I’ve had the opportunity to drive one, and they truly do not feel that small once you’re inside and driving.  The flexibility of parking anywhere within a defined radius – you do not need to return it to where you picked it up – makes these cars perfect for one-way commutes.

Press release from Daimler