downtown Austin's real estate and neighborhood blog
According to this WSJ article…
“Houston-based developer Hines says it won’t likely start construction as planned in the first quarter on a mixed-use project it is developing in downtown Austin with the Austin Museum of Art. A Hines spokeswoman says the company still hopes to start construction in 2009. Hines will need to prelease at least half the project’s 425,000 square feet of office space before it seeks financing for the office component, the spokeswoman says.”
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.
Last year I purged my book shelves by giving away hundreds of books that I’ve collected over the years. I kept a dozen, or so, that were too significant to give up. Since it’s been a slow news week for Downtown Austin, I thought I would use this time to recommend a couple of books that you can read over the holidays. After reading these books it will come as no surprise why hundreds of thousands of people across the country are retreating back to the cities after 50 years of suburban growth.
Extra credit
I encourage you to check out another book by Stewart Brand “The Clock of The Long Now“. This book is about many things including how civilizations evolve, how the digital age changes the way we archive and access our collective knowledge, and more. Throughout the book is a story about the design of a 10,000 clock that will be installed in the side of a mountain. Great read.
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:
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.
LP: $320,000
SP: $310,000
SF: 1,194
Top floor at Plaza Lofts for $260psf is a very good deal. From Kumara Wilcoxen’s listing… “Top floor condo located in the most desirable location downtown. 13ft ceilings, floor-ceiling windows, polished concrete floors, granite, travertine marble baths. Walk to dining, entertainment, town lake etc.”
311 w 5th st, austin, tx 78701
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