Downtown Austin Blog

downtown Austin's real estate and neighborhood blog

CITYSIT – An Interactive Urban Art Experience

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO7oo0O1JUU]

As I walked into my office this morning, I noticed in the retail shell space below the Monarch parking garage were several massive chunks of ice surrounding a circle of chairs.  There were intermittent jars of water and candles sitting on the long stretch of windows.

As it turned out, this was an installation by CITYSIT.

You go in and sit for 20 minutes.  No talking, just absorbing the sounds.  Sitting still and shutting my brain off is not something that comes easily, but this was a very cool experience.  You can check it out for yourself tonight at 7pm.

-Jude

Warehouse District vs. Capitol View Corridors

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Sign at 5th and Bowie providing direction to the Warehouse District
Sign at 5th and Bowie providing direction to the Warehouse District

Writer Katherine Gregor presents the story of the Warehouse District in this week’s Chronicle.

The Warehouse District is valuable for two reasons:

1) It’s an established destination in downtown.
2) It’s uniquely positioned outside of the Capitol View Corridors (map)

As Michael McGill astutely pointed out: “this is the sort of all day activity that 6th Street and Red River would kill for…this is the envy… this is what you want… this is what people work so hard to design in…”

From the article…

“The irony is that the district is so at risk because it’s so attractive – people want to do new developments in it and close to it,” said Jacqui Schraad, executive director of the Heritage Society. For example, the planned 18-story Westin Hotel will market itself as a chic “Warehouse District hotel”.

What is being proposed is clearly a taking of property rights, however, ROMA is offering an economic alternative that could potentially enable individual Warehouse District property owners to earn more money by transferring their air rights to other projects.  Currently, the adjacent property owners need to work with each other to create an assemblage site large enough to build a high rise.  ROMA’s solution appears to eliminate the need for these relationships of necessity and allow individual property owners to cash in on their property without the need to work with their neighbor.

A system of transference of development intensity could effectively put an end to the CURE based system to pursue additional entitlements.  Arguably, getting rid of the CURE system would eliminate the potential for backdoor lobbying efforts and could reduce the feasibility costs to developers.  Simply put, if you needed more density, you could just purchase it.  But, is there a real market for these air rights? Clearly the owners of the Warehouse District properties are not confident that there is.

This will be not an easy decision.  IMO, the real culprit is the Capitol View Corridors which artificially inflate and depress the intrinsic value of properties that are either outside or inside of the view corridor, respectively.  Were they not to exist, the extreme focus on this small assemblage of land we call the Warehouse District might not be at issue.  But, the existence of the Capitol View Corridors is a subject that is political wildfire with the “no growth” opinions who seem to equate “keep Austin weird” with “keep Austin low and sprawling”.

I’ve always believed that you don’t bite off the hand that feeds you, and Downtown Austin has been feeding off the charm of the Warehouse District for years.  The Warehouse District is an attractive destination for all of Austin and it’s visitors.  If ROMA’s recommendations aren’t adopted, it’s not likely that the Warehouse District will completely disappear, but we can expect it to change.  As our community works to create an amazing downtown experience, losing this district, in it’s current form, will take us further from that goal.

-Jude

Waller Creek District Update

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The entire Waller Creek District Master Plan can be downloaded here.

Waller Creek District Master Plan - Open Spaces
Waller Creek District Master Plan – Open Spaces

The vision for more and safe public spaces along Waller Creek, including park like connectivity from Waterloo Park to Lady Bird Lake, was a primary motivation for choosing to live at the Sabine.  When I tell people about Waller Creek, a common response is “Waller Creek… they’re still tryin’ to get that done, huh?”

The Waller Creek Tunnel Project and subsequent improvements to the district represent one of the most significant urban renewal project in Austin.  I was appointed to the Waller Creek Citizens Advisory Committee (WCCAC) last month.  Since then my understanding of what’s happening with Waller Creek has improved significantly – The Waller Creek Tunnel is on time and on budget and will break ground in late 2010 or early 2011.

Waller Creek District Master Plan - Land Use
Waller Creek District Master Plan – Land Use

At last night’s WCCAC meeting, ROMA delivered a highly compelling draft of a master plan for Waller Creek.  While we were only presented with a draft, ROMA’s Waller Creek districting plan creates a vast amount of public space and a Sabine Street promenade is one example of a progressive districting plan as a whole.  Sabine Street’s wide and underutilized right-of-ways could be converted into a more pedestrian and bicycle friendly promenade.  The promenade would most likely deliver large 30ft+ areas for al-fresco dining, bicycle lanes that connect back into the Waller Creek trail system, and enough room for limited automobile traffic to still get through.

On October 24th, ROMA will present the entire plan at a town hall meeting.

-Jude

Katz's Deli is a 6th Street Staple

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IMG_0052

As Marc Katz has just announced he is running for Lieutenant Governor, it’s probably a good time to revisit a long-time 6th Street favorite: Katz’s Deli.  Borrowing against the success of Katz’s Delicatessen in New York (no relation, I’m told), in 1979 Marc opened Katz’s Deli – says so right on the iconic car parked out front of the deli.  The “Katz’s Never Kloses” 24/7 service arrived in 1983.  The Deli franchise went through a little family drama in the early 2000’s (most of the conflict centered on the Houston location), but the brand remained strong through the strife. For some reason, as a downtown Austin resident with many dining options, I always forget about the place.  But I had lunch there the other day, and I thought it was pretty nice.  And I love the fact that it’s one of Austin’s only true 24-hour restaurant establishments.  Right here in the heart of downtown Austin.

So I thought I’d write about it and remind those of us folks who have forgotten what’s in plain sight.

You walk in and see this immediately on your right:

IMG_0050
A glorious view of “deli”cious canned drinks.  Yum.  I must say, the vegetarian in me was delighted that this innocuous display of sodas was on display rather than smoked meats and hog’s heads.

Promptly upon our arrival, we were seated in the dining area, which had a nice view of pedestrian traffic on Sixth Street.  The menu is reasonably priced and pretty extensive, and they offer breakfast items all day.  I had the “Build Your Own” omelet, which ended up being the McMansion of omelets, if I do say so myself.

The food was fine.  Not amazing, but good.  The place was clean, the service was friendly and prompt. And they’re open 24-hours a day (Never Kloses!).  You just can’t beat that, in my opinion.

IMG_0049

-AG

REMINDER: DANA Urban Core Happy Hour Tonight @ Threshold Interiors

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DANA Urban Core Happy Hour
DANA Urban Core Happy Hour

Quick reminder:  The Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association is hosting their monthly Urban Core Happy Hour at Threshold this evening.  Threshold Interiors is a must see furniture store at 5th and West Ave.

What

Urban Core Happy Hour @ Threshold

When

Thu Sep 10 6:30pm – Thu Sep 10 8:30pm
20090910T183000/20090910T203000

Where

Threshold 801 W 5th St, #100 (map)