Hooray for downtown Austin families! While walking on the trail yesterday, we discovered this banner hanging from the Legacy apartments We don’t know Emily, but we couldn’t resist helping her family with the announcement!
Search Results for: legacy
Downtown Austin Places Of Worship
Great cities have diverse populations practicing many forms of religion. Downtown Austin, recently one of the most rapidly growing neighborhoods in Austin, has since the 19th century been a destination for religious services for the entire city. So much interesting history is contained in a handful of downtown Austin cathedrals.
People are drawn to downtown for the active and walkable lifestyle, entertainment, and outdoor recreation. Much less visible is the demand for places of worship. I’m not suggesting that people move downtown because of the historic venues. I am suggesting that once people move downtown they discover these venues. Most of my clients are couples in their 30s-40s (most without children), empty nesters, and singles. While more and more families move downtown every week, I’ve observed a new genre of religious organization emerge that lacks the legacy of Austin’s historic churches, but provide a modern and accessible message. Many of these groups choose to rent spaces like the Austin Music Hall to conduct their services.
In researching this post, I rediscovered Scott Schalchlin and his blog “The Gospel According To Austin” where he shares his experiences at several churches around Austin. One in particular drives home the point that there is something for everybody… checkout Austin City Life at the Parish club on E 6th Street. This is a non-denominational church that reaches out to Austin’s creative class and embraces new urbanism.
I’ve added a handful of places of worship to the Official DAB map of downtown Austin. Please use the comments to let me know of places I’ve overlooked.
Cathedral of Saint Mary
St. David’s Episcopal Church
Central Christian Church
Central Presbyterian Church
Chabad House
Nueces Mosque (aka Downtown Mosque)
-Jude
Pros And Cons Of Living On The Top Floor
One of my favorite websites is Lifehacker.com. I was happy to find this article that highlights the potential downfalls of living on the top floor of a building. Though, depending on the desires of my clientele, quality of the building, and height of the building, I will advocate for the top floor. For instance, if they are sensitive to sound, I’ll point out that having nobody live above you means less risk of some girl in high heals, or a guy in boots with a penchant for pacing, to keep them up at all hours. On the other hand, the top floors will frequently cost more to cool. Especially if the attic space (if any) is poorly insulated.
Below is a quote from the story.
“Apartments are constructed at the cheapest costs possible and change hands often. I frequently pay more in utility bills than friends who have twice the space I do (and the temperature control doesn’t always guarantee comfort). Third floor units often offer vaulted ceilings, which are cool for aesthetic but bad for budgets.”
This statement is a generalization, but I’m comfortable agreeing with it when discussing older complexes and some new construction outside of downtown. High rise apartment buildings like the Monarch, Legacy, and Ashton, which are built from concrete and metal, are not immune to these issues, but they are much less prone to excessive noise and increased energy costs. In most downtown Austin buildings, energy costs are driven by which side of the building you face. If you face west, then you get the scorching hot evening sun. Interview residents in any building oriented north-south, on average those who live in units that face east will have lower energy bills than those living in units that face west.
Lifehacker: “Avoid The Top Floor To Save On Aparment Expenses
Related:
The Downtown Austin Blog studies Austin’s penthouse economics
-Jude
5th Street Commons
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_gzpDn7SqU]
This morning the I visited the folks at 5th Street Commons. They kindly invited me for a tour of their new digs, and to discuss the incentives currently available to renters. Located on the outskirts of downtown Austin, the 150 apartments at the 5th Street Commons are sufficiently close enough to downtown to be included here.
What I like:
1) Ground floor retail and street side parking. Once fully occupied with commercial tenants this should become another walkable district.
2) Smart floor plans. At only 759/ft, the A1 plan is incredibly spacious with enough room for a dining table, kitchen island, and laundry room – without feeling cramped.
3) It’s equidistant to Whole Foods as the Sabine, and closer than Legacy on the Lake, Milago, etc.
4) Standard size washer and dryer included in all units
With advertised incentives, the rents are roughly 10-20% less than AMLI on 2nd or Monarch. Accounting for two months of free rent on a 12 month lease, one bedrooms should begin around $1300 (studios even less), two-bedrooms around $1700.
-Jude
Downtown Austin By The Numbers: How many dwellings?
This is the first in a series of three articles aimed at uncovering the number of residences in Downtown Austin. So, how many dwellings are there? This seems like a simple question, doesn’t it? I’ve never been able to get a satisfying answer – one that doesn’t try to determine the number of residents using a multiplier, is not rounded up or down, and that clearly indicates what is currently being lived in or is ready for occupancy (not under construction).
You may ask, “why don’t you just search Google?” Well, I did. I searched Google for “how many dwellings are in Downtown Austin”. I used other iterations and synonyms of those search terms and could not find a satisfying answer. Much of the data available is old and/or disparate. The last U.S. Census was in 2000. The next is in 2010. Because I am your loyal Downtown Austin Realtor (plug!), I am uniquely suited to discover and share with you my count, building by building, of the number of Downtown Austin condos and apartments.
The official Downtown Austin Blog count of Downtown Austin dwellings after the jump.
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