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El Sol Y La Luna – it's all good

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El Sol y La Luna: a catalyst for change on east sixth street
El Sol y La Luna: a catalyst for change on east sixth street

Quick… think of the top three table-service restaurants, east of Congress, which are open at 7am to serve breakfast on weekend mornings?

Stumped?  Can’t even think of one?

There weren’t any, until now.

This morning I had breakfast at the new El Sol y La Luna restaurant at 6th & Red River.  THIS is what is needed on East 6th Street!  There are so many residents and visitors in this area ready to spend money on items other than alcohol.   I’ve never been to their first location on South Congress, but the vibe was a combination of Magnolia meets Las Manitas meets Habana.   The food was very good (I had an american breakfast of eggs, bacon, and waffles).  Two entrees, two drinks, plus tip was $25.  El Sol y La Luna gave me a reason to walk on the northern edge of the 600 block of East 6th street, which is a good sign for other businesses to move to the district.

I don’t want to sound overly grand, but I really think that in combination with the efforts of the DAA, DANA, and 6th Street Austin, El Sol y La Luna is the catalyst for change on East 6th.  Show your support through patronage.

El Sol y La Luna

-Jude

Brazos Streetscape Improvement & Reconstruction Project

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It’s been a few years in the making and it now appears that Brazos St will get the make over we’ve been expecting.  This month, the city should begin to send out RFPs for the construction work, which is expected to begin this summer and stretch from Cesar Chavez to 11th Street.  There will be significant infrastructure improvements.  The most visible improvement will be the addition of Great Streets sidewalks.

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/publicworks/brazos.htm

Bill Spelman

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4waRVxV_Flk]

The light is shining bright on Downtown Austin, at least as much as city council place 5 is concerned.  Bill Spelman is running, unopposed, for Austin city council place 5.  Spelman, professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, is also the chair of the Waller Creek Citizens Advisory Committee and an advocate for the Waller Creek Tunnel Project.

Perhaps even more relevant to Downtown Austin’s interests is Spelman’s curriculum vitae includes research in criminal justice, police operations, prison policy, and urban economic development.

Go Bill!

panhandling is not the real issue

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I learned something interesting this week.  The anti-panhandling ordinance is only enforceable if the ‘victim’ or another witness requests that the ‘offender’ be cited.  Otherwise, the police are not obliged to intervene.  I’ve come to a conclusion regarding the perceived safety of downtown Austin: panhandling is a red herring issue.

The real issue is the ARCH doesn’t have the capacity to service the thousands of homeless people in Austin.  They try, but can’t, and those under served are relegated to the streets of the Entertainment District.  These people are easy prey for drug dealers.  Over the past six months I’ve seen a surge in drug dealers and gangs staking their turf.  Ask any resident that has a view of East 5th street if they’ve recently seen some hooded guy loitering in the middle of a sidewalk for hours on end.  What are they doing?

The convention center, hotels, retailers, and residents are becoming more vigilant and zero tolerance on Downtown Austin crime is becoming the battle cry.  Downtown stakeholders seem to have reached an unofficial consensus that the police must begin to: 1) shift to a beat system of patrol 2) spread out on weekend nights 3) be more effectual in responding to 911.   As a participant in many of the Downtown Austin stakeholder groups, I tell you that the Police force is given plenty of slack.  Judging by the frustrated voices at recent meetings, I don’t know how much longer that will continue.

Spring condos topping out party pics

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[shameless plug 🙂 for more information about buying at the Spring condos, including the inside scoop on pricing at Spring and at other luxury buildings in downtown Austin, contact Jude Galligan, Downtown Austin Realtor   (512) 226-3414   judegalligan [@] gmail.com

Southwestern view from 41st floor at Spring condos
Southwestern view from 41st floor at Spring condos

If you witnessed a line extending half-a-block down w. 3rd on Tuesday evening it was the line to get to the top of Spring condominiums.  The party was to celebrate their topping out at the 41st floor.  Using the cargo elevator, attendees were taken to the 41st floor.  Once on the 41st floor you walked off the cargo and greeted by a cavernous space filled with guests (similar to the Austonian party).  Judging by the line and logistical challenges, including a 45 minute wait to get a tour of the interiors, I don’t think the Spring developers planned for the volume of guests!  Still, the drinks were flowing and everyone looked to be having a great time.  The views were what you would expect at that level… while the sun was setting… amazing.

Guests were also invited to tour a couple of furnished model units.  Many existing buyers were in attendance, eager to get their first glimpse of a completed floor plan.

After the jump you can find a few pics of the interiors.

[Read more…] about Spring condos topping out party pics

Downtown Austin condos: do the math

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The math
The math of Downtown Austin condos

OK.  We did the math.  Below is DAB’s analysis of the inventory of condos in Downtown Austin.

776 residences were delivered in 2008
670 +/- units have sold
106 unit surplus.

This is a net absorption of over 600 units in one year.  The 360 Condominiums has only 2 units left.

789+/- units under construction in downtown Austin
+/- 350 of the 789 units are under contract

545 +/- units remain in downtown through at least 2013.

There are no projects coming online that are not already under construction. It takes 2-3 years to build a project and it is unlikely a developer will get construction financing for another 12-18 months.

To put things in perspective, Miami area is delivering approximately 60,000 high rise condominiums during this development cycle.  Miami MSA is approximately 2,387,000 people. That is a ratio of 1 condo for every 40 Miami MSA residents.

The Austin area is delivering approximately 1565 high rise condominiums during this development cycle. Austin MSA is approximately 1,600,000 people… that is a ratio of 1 new condo downtown for every 1,022 Austin MSA residents.  A single project in downtown Miami is larger than the entire number of units being delivered in downtown Austin over a 6 year period!

360 condos retail space for sale

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According to Taylor Andrews of Andrews Urban, via the Statesman, the nearly 14,000sf of retail space below 360 condos is for-sale, coincidentally for about $360psf.  Royal Blue just moved in.  Mulberry is super-cool.  Haven’t been to Blu Cafe, yet.

From the article… “The space, totaling about 13,700 square feet, is almost all leased. Tenants already open or coming soon include Garrido’s, a restaurant from former Jeffrey’s executive chef David Garrido; Mulberry and the Lara Reynolds art galley.”

Proposed Federal Court House Discussion

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Over at Austin Contrarian we can find some interesting thoughts on the [poor] location of the proposed Federal Court House. Specifically, I give it up to Miggy for this simple, yet significant, observation:

“Taking a one-block by one-block square of valuable downtown land largely unencumbered by the capital view corridors off the tax rolls permanently doesn’t help Austin at all. This is where density should be targeted and this building is far from helping that goal. Also to say that the bunker-on-three-sides structure is pedestrian unfriendly would be an understatement.”

Also, Miggy brings up another concern about moving the post office to Red River.

“On a final note – the moving of the Post Office to over near Club de Ville and Red River makes no sense to me either. How many office workers will find that location convenient? And how will that dead retail streetfront (or worse-yet – similar suburban parking lot and drive-thru) help the still nascent Red River entertainment district which is already threatened by any number of other forces. I don’t know what the reasoning was but just based on my surface knowledge – they should have kept in the bottom of the Ovation building as planned.”

Andrews Urban and the Post Office own the block of land across from Stubbs. The post office was going to move there in order for Andrews Urban/Novare to build Ovation where the current post office is located. IMHO, Ovation has ZERO chance of being built within the next five years, so hopefully Miggy’s point is moot.