downtown Austin's real estate and neighborhood blog
NEWS FLASH: According to a source at City Hall, the Austin Transportation Department is slated to give a big presentation June 14 that will be “a substantial briefing” on urban rail and begins to start answering Uncle Lee’s 30 crucial questions and “then some.”
The mayor has pushed a 2012 bond election funding a first leg for a new mode of mass transit in Austin.
The Statesman reported that glass panels fell from the W Hotel residences on Friday.
We were at La Condesa when she heard the crash, and snapped this pic that shows where the culprit glass panes fell from. Crazy!
For the first time since the bubble burst, the average price per square foot of a downtown Austin condo has increased four months in a row. Last month, downtown Austin closed 62 condos* with 29 more pending!
In May, we counted 41 closings of new-construction condos from the Four Seasons Residences, W Hotel, Austonian, Spring Condos, and Barton Place. The W takes the cake with 15 closings in May.
On the other hand, the number of resales comes in at 21 units closed – a strong showing – averaging a price of $334 per square foot. We also count 29 resales pending as of May 31st! So, we can expect next month’s closing count to be similarly strong.
[Read more…] about Downtown Austin Condo Sales Remain Strong In May
The 2nd Street shopping district is likely to get a jolt from patrons still paying off college loans with a new Urban Outfitters clothing store.
As evident by the colorful graffiti, the faux-thrift store (call it ironic?) retailer has plans to move into the ground floor of The W Austin Hotel, which opened in December 2010.
I shop exclusively at Kohl’s, but allegedly Urban Outfitters’ new spot is a big deal because their only other Austin location is not so far away on Guadalupe Street, up near the University of Texas main campus. Perhaps they are targeting the PBS Austin City Limits crowd from shows taped there?
Jokes aside, this is a vindication that downtown Austin is becoming a destination and not in the way of “urban pioneers” loading up on Gatorade and PB&J to venture out of suburbia, like they do in Ohio.
For a number of reasons, Urban Outfitters joins the ranks of business interests investing in downtown Austin.
Cole Broadhead, a principal at Retail Solutions, said the folks at Urban Outfitters “do their homework.”
“Those deals take a long time,” he said. “They do a ton of research.”
This weekend at Duncan Park you can catch up with and meet other downtown Austin families.
When: Sunday June 5th from 10am-noon
Where: Duncan Park (9th Street btw Lamar and West)
What: Bring a blanket or chairs, toys, and some snacks.
