Downtown Austin Blog — Page 24 — downtown Austin's real estate and neighborhood blog

Free Dance Classes in Downtown Austin This Weekend (Sunday)

AG | August 24, 2013 |

I’ve been taking dance and fitness classes as Ballet Austin for a while (read my review of my first class here) and I love it! My absolute favorite class is the Cardio Blast, but I take several classes there. And I found out the other day that they are doing an ENTIRE DAY of FREE CLASSES this Sunday, August 25, 2013!

If you are looking to spice up your workout routine, or just looking for something free and fun to do this weekend in downtown Austin – I definitely suggest checking this out. Here are the deets:

When: Sunday, August 25, 2013, 1pm-5pm. Schedule of classes HERE (scroll down). Each class is 40 minutes long with a 20 minute transition time between classes.

Skyhouse Apartments on Rainey

AG | August 23, 2013 |

If you are looking for a new downtown apartment to rent come late November 2013, Skyhouse Apartments on Rainey Street across from the Milago Condos may be a viable option.

They’ve been on our radar lately, most notably because of the recent announcement confirming that Royal Blue Grocery will be occupying a large part of the ground floor frontage, which will be a HUGE add to the Rainey Street District (we’re excited about the Salvage Pizza, too!).

Post by Downtown Austin Blog.

I personally also think this is an interesting apartment development because Novare and Batson-Cook are building / have built, for all intents and purposes, the EXACT same building (the footprints of the units are a little smaller in the Austin iteration) in two other major southern cities that I’ve lived in – Houston and Atlanta.

Prices for the Skyhouse Austin [Read more…] about Skyhouse Apartments on Rainey

Downtown Austin News & Rumor Roundup

Jude Galligan | August 20, 2013 |

It’s official: Rainey St getting a grocer, pizzeria

Exalted sighs of relief erupted among residents in the Rainey Street District, which includes yours truly, with the recent announcement that we are getting proper food establishments… the kind open before 4pm.

Royal Blue Grocery will add a fifth location to its collection of neighborhood grocery stores with a 2,550 square foot location fronting on Rainey Street at the base of the SkyHouse apartment tower. Salvation Pizza will open its second Austin location, bringing authentic New Haven style pizza there too.

Don’t get me wrong, the food trucks are great but sometimes you just want a simple morning coffee.

Brazos benches yanked out

If you haven’t noticed yet, there are a few less benches along Brazos Street around 6th Street. The city took decisive action after businesses and residents in the area banded together to demand a solution to the vagrants camping along there and harassing passers-by. In all, 23 benches were taken out, cleaned and put in storage to live somewhere else another day.

(Disclosure: I voted in favor of supporting a letter to remove the benches as a board member of DANA)

According to a pretty darn good report from KXAN, “The city’s sit/lie ordinance, where loiterers are asked to move, does not apply to benches. It only applies to planters and sidewalks. One business owner said he was calling police for help about six times a day.”

Dell Medical School prep-construction starts this fall

The University of Texas is losing no time getting to work on its ambitious medical district master plan.

Earlier this week, UT officials spent their evening at City Hall, first getting the Urban Transportation Commission’s blessing to move Red River, then a couple hours later sailing through the Planning Commission.

UT officials told the Planning Commission that they plan to get the road reconstruction and utility relocation started this fall, and that sometime between 2014 and 2015 Red River would be closed to through traffic while work is underway.

Transportation Director Rob Spillar promised at the meeting that the campus would focus on bike and pedestrian ease-of-use, not car-centric plans. (Note to Bill Powers: Careful with those benches!)

UPDATE: Rendering of Block 1

Jude Galligan | August 19, 2013 |

As a follow up to our post last week showing you the elevation drawings for Block 1 (aka Green Water Treatment Facility) at the corner of E. Cesar Chavez and San Antonio Streets, the rendering below was spotted on Reddit this afternoon. It clearly shows how the building will stair step from Cesar Chavez.

The Riley – New Development In Downtown Austin’s Warehouse District

Jude Galligan | August 16, 2013 |

Tom Calhoon, owner of the building at the southeast corner of 4th and Lavaca (Warehouse District), is redeveloping his property into an event-venue space called The Riley.

You might recognize the building, as it used to be home to 219 West, and recently the Red Room. The latter operator was not there long and notable for accusations of LGBT discrimination.

Details are sparse, but it’s very interesting to see downtown development that’s not a high rise!

Also, this is the second major development on this intersection… caddy corner, Gables and Hotel ZaZa are expected to break ground soon on a 25 story tower.