Downtown Austin Blog — Page 148 — downtown Austin's real estate and neighborhood blog

4th Street Stairway Of Death Becoming Less Deadly

Jude Galligan | May 16, 2009 |

[Thanks to DANA’s Greg Anderson for the pics!]

If you’ve been to the downtown Austin warehouse district you might agree that part of the appeal is the intermittent above grade pedestrian experience. Always precarious, though I never witnessed anyone fall. The staircase across from the Spaghetti Warehouse has always been especially dicey.

The City of Austin is making some changes. You will no longer risk breaking an ankle (or a head) crossing the street at 4th & Colorado.

Was it mom and stroller friendly? No. Was it ADA friendly? No way. Was it deadly? Well, almost, but not because of the stairs. Was it charmingly awkward? I think so.

Is this a good use of city funds right now, perhaps at the greater expense of the neighborhood’s magic formula? You be the judge.

BTW, have you joined DANA yet?

Uninspired design — Can we at least have some ivy or vines on the walls?

1/2 City Block For Sale

Jude Galligan | May 15, 2009 |

The ABJ is reporting that the Whitely Paper Co. building, which was the original site for the downtown Austin 21c Museum & hotel, is back on the market for $3.8MM.

Map

KUT – Richard Garriott On Personal Pods

Jude Galligan | May 15, 2009 |

If I’m at home, then there is probably public radio playing in the background. We are blessed here in Austin, Texas to have KUT – a truly terrific local public radio station. Last week they aired a story in cooperation with “Texas Monthly” based on their May ideas issue. Ideas to change the world.

“If you were going to change the world, you could pick a worse place to start than Texas. We approached dozens of Texas thinkers and got ideas from the sublime to the futuristic.”

The segment with Richard “Lord British” Garriott is my favorite as he envisions an over head tram network of personal pods to shuffle people around Austin. He’s even considering putting money behind the idea! (fast-forward to 7:30).

Via PRX.org (audio is 59 minutes and worth a listen)

-Jude

Waller Creek District Master Plan

Jude Galligan | May 14, 2009 |

People viewing the Waller Creek District designs

From the City of Austin website: In February 2009, the City authorized the Roma Design Group to begin the Waller Creek District Master Plan. Over the next 10 months, ROMA will work to identify a community vision for the area, identify opportunities and challenges, and recommend ways to make the vision become a reality. Currently much of the land near Waller Creek cannot be developed because it is in the creek’s 100-year floodplain.

Yesterday’s town hall at the convention center to discuss Waller Creek District Master Plan was the largest turnout I’ve seen for Waller Creek. The large audience seemed to collectively understand the need for change. ROMA design group shared a draft vision for the district’s potential. A couple of things become salient yesterday. This will not become Riverwalk “2”. Development will happen to pay for the tunnel and also to encourage the creek’s use. Development recommendations should not be uniform along the creek as different sections offer unique settings.

Segments of Waller Creek:

North bank to Cesar Chavez
Cesar Chavez to 5th Street
5th Street to 7th Street
7th Street to 11th Street
11th Street to 15th Street

This is good. As an example of the necessity for different sections, compare the North bank to Cesar Chavez with 5th Street to 7th Street. The latter has a beautiful natural limestone bed (in most parts) but is narrowly channeled. The former has more rough terrain and dangerous erosion along the banks. Breaking up the creek into different sections allows for more focused discussion on highest and best use.

As one of the ROMA representatives said, I’m paraphrasing, “Waller Creek is the most significant urban planning endeavor of our generation”. Amongst a myriad of other benefits, this the Waller Creek Districrt has the opportunity to bridge East Austin with downtown, to fundamentally improve Waterloo park and Palm park, and to provide a green setting which to traverse downtown north-south and connect with Lady Bird Lake trails.

Ashton Austin Pricing

Jude Galligan | May 12, 2009 |

Pricing for the downtown Austin apartment building, the Ashton Austin, is available – Jude Galligan, 512-226-3414, judegalligan [@] gmail.com. DAB has been covering the Ashton’s obfuscated marketing for months (click to read all posts). It appears the building is almost ready for prime time. One-bedrooms are large, ranging in size from 940-1029 ft. A pdf of the pricing can be downloaded here. For a limited time, the developer is offering two months free on a 12 month lease which effectively reduces the monthly rent by at least $333 per month.

As of today the model units are not open. Judging by the landscaping and the tone of their communications I think it could be as early as this weekend that the model/sales center opens. Expectations are high from tenants who have grown tired of starkly appointed downtown Austin lofts. The photos show a high end finish out, the floor plans are large, and the views are certain to be spectacular… unless you end up staring into 100 Congress. Stay tuned!

-Jude