Downtown Austin Blog — Page 119 — downtown Austin's real estate and neighborhood blog

Downtown Austin Open Houses

Jude Galligan | October 31, 2009 |

(Looking for this week’s open houses? You’ll find them here.)

Open houses in downtown Austin for Sunday, November 1st

The great thing about downtown Austin open houses is that you can generally walk from building to building. Take a stroll downtown now that summer is over and the temperature is cooler. If you’re into adaptive reuses of older buildings, checkout DAB’s list of downtown Austin lofts. Looking for FHA approved condos? We’ve got the info here.

This weekend you can browse at your own pace at Austin City Lofts, The Shore, Villas On Town Lake, Spring, and the Austonian sales center.

Sunday
1) 603 David St #911, 2bd, 2ba, $425,000, 1-3pm [Urbanspace] map
2) 800 W 5th St #201, 2bd, 2ba, $649,900, 1-3pm [Urbanspace] map
3) 80 Red River #103, 2bd, 2ba, $309,000, 1-3pm [John Horton Realty] map
4) 300 Bowie St, Spring sales center, model units, 1-5pm map
5) 200 Congress Ave, Austonian sales center located at 300 W 6th, 12-5pm map

Piranha Killer Sushi…fairly killer, akshully

AG | October 31, 2009 |

I love sushi. However, I DON’T love spending a ridiculous amount of money on said beloved sushi. Enter Piranha Killer Sushi (beware, this is one of those websites with the music….), a sushi restaurant on 2nd & San Jacinto (right next to Max’s Wine Dive) with a nice vibe and a reasonably priced (for sushi) menu.

Here’s what I ate (with pricing info) in order of appearance:

I also splurged and had a kettle of hot green tea and an appetizer salad. My total for EVERYTHING was around $30, which sounds like a lot, until you remember that it’s SUSHI we’re talking about – and that I had a bunch of other stuff, too! And the sushi is good! Not great, but good. My shrimp tempura roll…well, okay, the tempura part tasted a little wonky and not like at other more expensive places, and honestly, my “spicy” sauce on my spicy tuna roll wasn’t totally awesome either, but I could still tell the quality of the fish was fairly good. And nothing was bad or tasted gross or anything like that….I’m gonna put it like this – the food is appropriate for the price point. It ain’t Uchi, folks – but then again, it ain’t Uchi (i.e., I don’t have to be an NBA player to afford a solid meal there). I guess the real test would have been to have some sashimi or full-on sushi, which I did not do because I only really like/eat rolls generally at any other sushi place.

While the taste may not have been absolute perfection, the presentation was a step in that direction, for sure. All of the food was presented in a fun, clean, and crisp way. It was colorful and looked fresh and appetizing (see above photos).

And the atmosphere holds the same attributes as the food presentation. The vibe is light, clean, and airy. I dig the Eanes®-style chairs, the natural-like wood grain finishes and furnishings, and the overall DWR-esque-with-a warm-twist style (very clean and modern, but warm and light):

Bottom line: for the money, I think it’s a good call, and a place that deserves and at least one try for those looking for a decent, not too expensive sushi joint in downtown Austin.

The Skinny:

Location: 207 San Jacinto, Austin, TX, 78701

Hours:

Monday – Wednesday: 11am to 10 pm
Thursday: 11am to 11pm
Friday: 11am to ext. hours
Saturday: 12pm to ext. hours
Sunday: 12pm to 10pm

Link to Menu

’til next time….

The Austonian: Views From 54th Floor

Jude Galligan | October 30, 2009 |

Yesterday, the marketing team at the Austonian invited us to tour the building. This was my third time [near] to the top, and this time I remembered my camera! The 54th floor is the top residential floor. Floors 55 & 56 will be common area for the building. Construction elevators to the highest floor in the tallest residential tower west of the Mississippi are fun. 🙂

Downtown Austin Neighborhood Watch Training Session 10/29

Jude Galligan | October 29, 2009 |

Sixth Street Austin Community Forum

TRAINING SESSION: 6TH STREET NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

We have scheduled a training session with officer Carlisle and officer Ehrler who help coordinate the Austin neighborhood watch programs. The meeting will be held at the Alamo Drafthouse at the Rizt (320 E 6th Street) at 3:00 PM on Thursday, October 29. Complimentary drinks and light snacks will be available.Officers Carlisle and Ehrler will train residents and business owners on how to safely patrol the district, what to look for and how to report and give us guidance on setting up a system appropriate for our neighborhood.Following the training, we will then meet as a group to discuss a system that is appropriate for our neighborhood.

If you are interested in attending this meeting, please RSVP to info@6thstreetaustin.com

Mayor Leffingwell's State Of Downtown Austin Address

Jude Galligan | October 29, 2009 |

At the DAA’s Annual Luncheon & Mayor’s State of Downtown Address yesterday, Mayor Leffingwell gave a bullish speech about downtown Austin growth.

I sat at the DANA table and observed Mayor Leffingwell as I’ve never seen nor heard him before. A Mayor who recognizes that growing Austin’s downtown is not at odds with preserving Austin’s character, and that growing downtown is in fact complementary and necessary to smart growth for the entire city. This is what we heard yesterday.

PRO downtown Austin growth
PRO urban rail system
PRO getting the bums out and dealing with crime*
PRO hotel and convention center growth

*I’m paraphrasing, he was much more diplomatic.

You don’t have to take my word for it. There was a quorum of City Council members in attendance, including City Manager Marc Ott, who can provide their own testimony. The Mayor provided some genuinely funny jokes, too. The best one [kindheartedly] jibbed former Mayor Will Wynn, a downtown resident, about how much he enjoys greeting construction workers in the morning. 🙂

downtown-austin-alliance-2009-report (pdf)

-Jude