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Downtown Austin Open Houses

Jude Galligan | March 14, 2010 |

Open houses in downtown Austin for Sunday, March 14th

The great thing about downtown Austin open houses is that you can generally walk from building to building. If you’re into adaptive reuses of older buildings, checkout DAB’s list of downtown Austin lofts. Looking for downtown Austin FHA approved condos in order to qualify for 3.5% down? We’ve got the info.

This weekend you can browse at your own pace at the Milago condos (btw, have you visited Rainey Street recently?), Towers of Town Lake, 360 condos, Spring, and the Austonian sales center.

Sunday
1) 54 Rainey St, #501, 2bd, 2ba, $369,900, 12-3pm [Pacesetter] map
2) 40 N Interstate-35, #11A3, 2bd, 2ba, $584,000, 2-4pm [Turnquist] map
3) 360 Nueces St, #2508, 1bd, 1ba, $287,500 11-2pm [Platinum Realty] map
4) 360 Nueces St, #1810, 1bd, 1ba, $279,800 2-4pm [Urbanspace] map
5) 300 Bowie St, Spring sales center, model units, 1-5pm map website
6) 200 Congress Ave, Austonian sales center located at 300 W 6th, 12-5pm map website

Don’t see the properties you’re interested in? Ask a Realtor who lives and works in downtown Austin.

The Shore Condos Battle Developer AND Villas On Town Lake

Jude Galligan | February 24, 2010 |

The rumble on Rainey Street… it’s a clash of the condos!

Like most condominiums, The Shore Condos are controlled by its home owners association (HOA). Like several condominiums in downtown Austin, The Shore Condos are actually a sub-association of a more senior association. In this case, The Shore Condos are the “residential unit” and one half of a master association called the Waterfront Master Condominium Association, Inc. The other half is a “hotel unit” – ostensibly setup as the place holder for the Hotel Van Zandt (and may still be).

In 2005 High Street Rainey, LP purchased Lot 1, Red River Addition, from Sack Family Holding, Ltd (the “Waterfront Property”). In 2006 High Street Rainey, LP created the Waterfront Master Condominium Association, Inc. Prior to that, when the Villas On Town Lake’s land was originally deeded, the seller withheld a 50 x 50 right-of-way easement where Red River meets Davis St in order to provide access to the south of Davis Street in perpetuity.

In 2007 High Street Rainey LP + JMIR-Austin Hotel, LP + The Waterfront Master Condominium Association, Inc. sued the Villas On Town Lake Owners Association, Inc for encroaching on that easement. Note that at this point in the story, the “residential unit”, aka the Shore Condominium HOA is not named in the lawsuit. In fact, the “residential unit” wouldn’t learn about this lawsuit until recently.

As best as we can figure out, the Villas decided this easement could be used to locate a dumpster. The developer of The Shore, who by right also has use of the 50 x 50 easement, removed the dumpster and the parties sued each other. In 2008 the parties reach a written settlement agreement, but for reasons unknown this agreement wasn’t actually executed. Earlier this month, the Villas filed a motion to enforce that settlement agreement.

Not so fast.

[youtube = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZPRf8qL8h0]

The Shore Condominium HOA (“residential unit”) legally intervened by filing an objection to the Villas motion to enforce the settlement agreement, on the grounds that any settlement agreement would bind The Shore Condominium HOA to something they weren’t a party to. So, the Shore HOA wants to put the kibosh on a settlement agreement that could adversely affect their interests.

B-b-b-but wait it gets worse!

The Shore Condos seem to be unclear about how, or if, they are would be bound by the settlement agreement. The Shore Condominium HOA asserts in a legal filing that:

The Shore Association is not clear on how such terms [re: the settlement agreement] would impact its’ members regarding the easement contemplated.

To the best of our knowledge this is a Mexican standoff. Since the original parties sued each other, it’s unlikely they will both simultaneously drop all of their claims. The judge is unlikely to enforce a settlement agreement that would bind a party that was not originally part of that agreement.

Friggin’ dumpsters.

Downtown Austin Link Roundup

Jude Galligan | February 10, 2010 |

1) Bridge over troubled water

OK, not really troubled water, but I couldn’t resist a title so apropos for a city that likes to bitch and moan about growth, yet doesn’t make the hard decisions necessary to steer growth and prefers to react to it, (breath) imagine the hostility we’re going to see for this bridge. One look at the notoriously poorly moderated comment sections of the Statesman’s online posts (seriously, take a look to feel less good about humanity) is all you need to run far, far away from the headaches of local public policy making and sound urban planning.

2) Rainey Street getting smart about traffic

Last week’s commentary by a Milago resident about the perils of walking in the Rainey Street district has spurred the City into action. “Those people” move into the district and now they want to change it with crazy things like sidewalks. Less than 48 hours after this video editorial aired, there were pneumatic traffic counters straddling the district’s streets recording passing cars, and adolescent kids (primarily DAB readers/writers) jumping on them.

3) Oh, hi! Ummm… We’ll be needing your land. KTHXBAI

City approves the use of eminent domain, should it be necessary, to get control over an important piece of land for the Waller Creek Tunnel Project. For decades this assemblage of lots that front I-35 has been a surface level parking lot. For the next 4-5 years it will be a staging area for creek diggin’.

The Shore Condos Closeout

Jude Galligan | January 11, 2010 |

Perhaps in light of the upcoming Sabine auction, The Shore Condos is aggressively working to closeout their sales program. We just received a note from sales office: eight units remain and discounts range from 10-25% off of original asking prices. A large 1bd + study on the 18th floor can be purchased for $243,750. This same unit would have been offered at $325,000 in late 2008.

A pdf of the remaining units and pricing can be downloaded here.

DAB readers will recall that 2009 was a great year for the Shore, as they quietly discounted and sold nearly 75 units over this past summer. In fact, in November, we closed on our new space at the Shore [we’ve leased our beloved 1bd at the Sabine]. The construction quality is outstanding, and the proximity to Rainey Street and the trail cannot be beat.

G’Raj Mahal Cafe (Not Garaj Mahal) – MENU, HOURS, and REVIEW: Indian Restaurant Now Open in Downtown Austin

AG | December 13, 2009 |

9/25/2012: Breaking news….G’raj Mahal announces through their Facebook page that they are expanding! 2nd Location will be at 73 Rainey Street, and it looks like they will have live music. Check out our story on the details of G’raj Mahal’s expansion here.

7/3/2012: Updated menu below! Large groups should note that G’raj Mahal now only takes a maximum of 3 credit cards per order – no matter how many people are in the group. I was told by a server that this policy has been around for years, but I’ve been with several large groups there and June 2012 was the first time this happened, so I think it’s actually relatively new. This policy seems particularly odd to me personally because the minimum credit card order there is $10 (last time I checked, unless they’ve changed that, too), so logic would tell me so long as the total bill for each card is larger than $10, there shouldn’t really be an issue from a fees perspective. I guess maybe it has to do with the servers not wanting to take the time to run multiple cards? I’ve asked Sidney Roberts, the owner – but she has yet to give me a response or reason on the issue….will keep you updated!

Incidentally, it’s also worth noting that the gratuity for parties of 5 or more is now 20% (it used to 18%, per their older menu).

7/2/2010: G’Raj Mahal is currently open from 5pm-12am on Weekdays, 5pm-3am Fri-Sat. CLOSED Mondays. Also looks like all delivery will now be going through Longhorn Delivery (contact info on menu). G’Raj Mahal is BYOB!!!

Sidney, the owner also wanted me to let everyone know that the lamb is halal, blessed, and grassfed – for those following strict diets.

REVIEW:

If somebody asked me what I thought about eating Indian food made in a truck, my *go-to* response would be – “less good choice.” At least, that was until I tried G’Raj Mahal Cafe (no website yet, but you can find them on Facebook), located at 91 Red River Street in Downtown Austin. Ummmmm…super yummy!

This gem opened a couple of weeks ago, and when I had the opportunity to try it out the other day, I was very pleasantly surprised. I had the Vegetable Goan Coconut Currie with the Classic Vegetable Samosa, which was all washed down with a Mexican Coke:

Looking at the menu, I initially thought the pricing seemed way super high. After all, this is food made from a trailer. However, the food was made to order, tasted fresh and high-quality, and the portions were generous. While I still think it’s a bit on the pricey side, I also believe that it’s worth it.

**UPDATE 12/14/2009: The owner (Sidney aka Ms. GM) just contacted me to tell me: “FYI…We reduced our prices this week slightly for the entrees as much as we could. However, we use such high grade ingredients, we are somewhat restricted to obey our food costs. We will soon have a late night menu with $5-8 items like naan wraps, lamb burgers, Indian “taco” salad, and spicy goan sausages.” Once I’ve received the updated menu, I will post it.

G’Raj Mahal Cafe does table service and take-out. The table service I experienced was friendly (even deferential) and the overall vibe was good. I would note that there is no indoor seating, but the outdoor seating is covered, and what I would describe as breezy, surrounded by peacefully flowing pieces of gauzy white fabric. Here’s a shot of the typical table:

Overall, I think it’s a good, unique addition to the downtown Austin restaurant landscape, gives the east side of Congress a quality casual dining option, and is a small business that I will support. It’s just a few steps from our residence at The Shore Condos. My only real complaint so far is that it’s only open for dinner (from 5pm-3am everyday). I think a Saturday/Sunday lunch (business permitting) would be awesome.

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