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Travis House

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Travis House formerly Hotel Guadalupe and YWCA
Travis House formerly Hotel Guadalupe and YWCA

Austinist is reporting that Travis House could be replaced soon.   I haven’t seen plans for what could replace it, but the owners believe it needs to be razed to do whatever it is they might do.   Eric Van Hyfte of BOKA Powell architects appealed to the Historic Landmark Commission last night (detail pdf).

The structure currently known as Travis House is sort of downtown Austin obscurity.  The building has been vacant for years and was victim of a fire in January.  In past this building has served as a YWCA and also the Guadalupe Hotel.  Before 1946 the site was the location of a Southwestern Bell garage.  I recall while at UT, the building was a halfway house.

Interestingly, directly across the street at the burned out Guadalupe Arts Center, 1705 Guadalupe and 1715 Guadalupe have jointly obtained entitlements for 350 foot height and a 12:1 FAR which translates into a 30 story tower.

It’s my understanding that historic landmarks do nothing to preserve the ‘history’ of a building, only to prevent it from being torn down.   If anyone has more information please email me or share in the comments.

-Jude

image links to pdf

Thanks to DANA’s Roger Cauvin for the heads up on this Daily Texan article!

Bodies In Urban Spaces

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Bodies In Urban Spaces (Philadelphia)
Bodies In Urban Spaces (Philadelphia)

I drove by this group of people dressed in fluorescent colored sweat-gear practicing [something] outside the downtown Austin post office, yesterday.   I learn today that this is the Bodies in Urban Spaces dancers.  Cool!  From the website:

“…Bodies in Urban Spaces, besides being a wonder of organization and stamina, was a model of public art: free, fun, and transformative.” – Lisa Kraus Philadelphia Inquirer, 06.09.2008

Thanks to Austin Texas Daily Photo who also tells us you can catch the dancers today at 11AM in Republic Park.

-Jude

Downtown Austin: Useful Data For Protesting Your Property Taxes

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If you plan to protest the latest property tax assessments, you can maximize your effectiveness by arming yourself with the right tools: sales comps.   Property tax assessments are based on the previous year’s values.  Your most immediate comps will be in your building, then your neighboring buildings, then greater downtown, etc.  To get you started, we are going to focus on fourth quarter 2008 transactions.  You can download the data set below.

21 = number of downtown Austin sales in Q4-2008
$311 = average sale price per foot
$263 = average sale price per foot of properties built pre-2000
$322 = average sale price per foot of properties East of Congress Ave
**this data does not include developer sales**

Not sure of your property’s value assessment?  Visit Traviscad.org and search by your address.  Print a copy of the protest form and submit by May 31st.  BTW, the County’s value assessment has little to do with the amount you can sell your property for – so fight on!

pdf list of Q4 sales.
xls for the quants 🙂

-Jude

Lustre Pearl on Rainey Street

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Lustre Pearl on Rainey Street
Lustre Pearl on Rainey Street, (photo from Maggie’s Austin)

Two evenings ago, we decided to take stroll down to Lady Bird Lake. We headed south from the Sabine and as we crossed Cesar Chavez we recalled another Sabine resident had clued us in to a cool new venue called Lustre Pearl.  Set at the entrance to the old-house-commercially-zoned madness that is Rainey Street, Lustre Pearl is the perfect setting for its downtown Austin location.  Sitting a couple of blocks away from thousands of residents currently and soon to be living in the southeast quadrant of downtown Austin.

Inside you’re greeted to a stripped down old house with the original floors and window transoms.  Outside you have lounge seating and bistro tables surrounded by a artistic metal fence. The outdoor ping-pong table is the perfect touch for Austin.

What’s really special about Lustre Pearl is that it’s removed from the traditional bar/lounge districts.   Reminds me of Spider House, but without the coffee.  Which brings me to the only suggestion I have for Lustre Pearl: be a cafe, too!

-Jude

Lustre Pearl

Thanks to Theresa at the Sabine for the tip!

Old Austin: A Virtual Tour

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(really) old Austin, circa 1839
(really) old Austin, circa 1839

Old Austin Neighborhood Association has a block-by-block virtual tour of historic ‘Old Austin’.  Old Austin is that part of downtown which is north of 7th, south of 15th St., east of Lamar, west of San Antonio St.  At Oldaustin.org, you can learn more about the properties on each block.  You can even see historical maps dated from 1839-2008 for most blocks.  Check it out!

-Jude

Interesting Quote

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Andy Langer
Andy Langer

I’m a little behind on my reading, I’ll admit.  But I find Sundays are a great day to catch up on many of the things that pass you by…..all while enjoying a mimosa or glass of wine.  Anyway, last night, wine in hand, I was reading through Austin Monthly‘s March 2009 Issue (the Music Issue) and an interview with Andy Langer piqued my interest.  Andy Langer is not only an Austin music journalism institution, as he’s covered the scene for years and years and lived in Austin for quite sometime, but he’s a national contributor to magazines like Esquire, and has traveled seemingly everywhere to see shows and meet bands.

Anyway, the interview was essentially just a bunch of quotes from Mr. Langer, and one sort of popped out as not only a strong sentiment, but also as being particularly relevant to this blog:

“Find me a place that doesn’t have cranes in the sky building expensive condos and you’ll find me a place that’s seriously depressed and probably a place where I can’t have The New York Times delivered on my doorstep.  And I think that’s probably not a place that I wanna live.”

Andy’s credentials don’t necessarily qualify him as a real estate expert, but he’s arguably got a pretty good background in social culture and the issues surrounding Austin’s social scene. And it kind of sounds like he’s saying that the cities that aren’t building and that aren’t building projects in a way that embraces urban density and development are the cities that probably don’t have or won’t have the cultural reach/appeal that most of us generally recognize being an enhancement to our quality of life.

Source:  Austin Monthly, March 2009 Issue, “Things I’ve Learned” with Andy Langer, by Paul Carruba.

Brazos Place Condo Auction

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Brazos Place in Downtown Austin
Brazos Place in Downtown Austin

19 Brazos Place condos in downtown Austin are being offered via an auction hosted by Kennedy Wilson.  The auction is scheduled for May 17th.  While the opening bids are enticing, a hidden reserve price has been set for each unit.

I’ll definitely be watching this closely.  Most auctions, including this one, have the right to cancel or reschedule if there isn’t a good response.   Judging by the amount of coverage the Brazos Place auction is getting I expect there to be lots of interest.

If you are considering a residence in downtown Austin, then it’s worth giving this auction your attention.  After checking out the auction website, you can contact me to learn more about the building, discuss the dynamics of the auction, and to preview the units.

related stories:
Downtown Austin – Do The Math
Downtown Austin – By The Numbers

For further information, including registration, contact:

Jude Galligan
Downtown Austin Realtor
judegalligan [@] gmail.com
512-226-3414

The Blight of Billboard Structures

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Gotta feel for this guy.  Billboard structures are a blight that affects ALL of us.  With large cylindrical steel or rotting wood supports, these ugly structures are designed to intercept our line of site without regard to its place in the neighborhood fabric.  Unlike buildings (which serve a fundamental need for shelter and receive scrutiny throughout the design phase) billboards structures like this can literally pop-up overnight.  The more invasive the structure, the more eyeballs it’s supposed to catch.

Operators like Lamar, Reagan, Clear Channel, et al, pretty well have a protected business that, ironically, was created out of the laws designed to curb signage.  It’s my understanding that no new billboards may be erected in Austin.  However, billboards may be moved around.  Take one down in order to put one up.   If it’s a commercially zoned property, then there are few restrictions.

It’s unfortunate that this particular billboard structure, so completely in your face and out of context, was installed next to Bridges On The Park – an outstanding condo development that is contextual to the area, utilized good materials, is not too large, is pedestrian friendly, and has welcoming retail on the ground floor.  Still, be on watch for the Statesman’s John Kelso grumpy hate brigade: “bourgeois condo owners get what’s coming to’em”

Sao Paulo decided to take ALL billboards down!

Where is Scenic Austin on this issue?

If you want to familiarize yourself with Austin’s sign ordinace, you can find it here.

-Jude