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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

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

Downtown Austin Open Houses

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Downtown Austin open house listings for Sunday, March 28th

Ahhh… it’s 8am and it looks like another beautiful day in Austin, Texas.  If you’ve been considering buying a downtown Austin condo, then you should come down and check out a few open houses.  You can generally walk from building to building.  When you’re done, you can enjoy an afternoon on Lady Bird Lake by renting a canoe or kayak from Matt Knifton at the Texas Rowing Center.

This weekend you can browse at your own pace at the Austin City Lofts, 36o condos, Cambridge Tower, The Shore condos, Spring condos, and the Austonian sales center.  If you’re into adaptive reuses of older buildings, checkout DAB’s list of downtown Austin lofts for sale.  Looking for downtown Austin FHA approved condos in order to qualify for 3.5% down?  We’ve got the info.

Sunday
1) 603 Davis #1503, 2bd, 2ba, $695,000, 2-4pm [AvenueOne]
2) 800 W 5th #601, 2bd, 2ba, $649,900, 1-3pm [Urbanspace]
3) 360 Nueces #2508, 1bd, 1ba, $287,500,11-2pm [Platinum Realty]
4) 1801 Lavaca #15A, 2bd, 3ba, $411,000, 12-4 [Uptown Condos]
5) 1801 Lavaca #4J, 3bd, 2ba, $469,000, 12-4pm [Uptown Condos]
6) 300 Bowie St, Spring sales center, model units, 1-5pm map website
7) 200 Congress Ave, Austonian sales center located at 300 W 6th, 12-5pm map website

Don’t see the properties you’re interested in? Ask a Realtor who lives and works in downtown Austin.