downtown Austin's real estate and neighborhood blog
The downtown Austin “Red Line” train station is about to undergo a significant makeover, that will add room for two more trains at the station. The capacity upgrade is expected to double the people (from >400 to 800) to commute to downtown from north Austin during rush hour.
However, the final design seems to be departure from any of the proposed concepts.
[Read more…] about New downtown Austin train station making room for pedestrian plaza
Friends, it took a minute, but we’re finally just months away from the start of a momentous project that promises to further ratchet up the quality of life here in Downtown Austin.
After nearly two decades of fitful effort and planning, work is set to start this June on tremendous upgrades to Republic Square Park.
Situated on Guadalupe Street between 4th and 5th streets, you probably know it now as the place where all the buses stop, or the joint with the grass and the trees where you wait in long lines for the shuttle to ACL Fest, or the site with the weekly farmers’ market. By virtue of its central location, the park sees a ton of traffic each day, but its lack of amenities means that it doesn’t get a ton of use. Right now, Republic Square Park is essentially a verdant plaza of the largely lifeless Federal Courthouse directly to its west, and eye candy for Plaza Lofts to the east.
The casual suburban view of Downtown Austin real estate is likely limited to the newsworthy towers – hotels, offices, condos. The tall glassy stuff that has been radically reordering our skyline with a seasonal regularity. But there’s far more to downtown than just towers.
78701 is arguably Austin’s only truly self-sustaining urban ZIP code, and has a rainbow of housing options to please a variety of tastes. Yes, there are shiny condo towers, but take a closer look, especially in the northwest quadrant of downtown (aka. Original Austin), and you’ll find a rich mix of mid-rises, duplexes, garage apartments, townhomes, victorian homes, a Governor’s Mansion, and more.
One conspicuous absence, however, is that increasingly popular urban diadem known as the micro-unit development. [Read more…] about Where Is All The Micro Housing?
Adding new street grid, a mix of uses, and an attractive new “butterfly” bridge over Shoal Creek, downtown Austin’s Green Water Treatment Plant (GWTP) redevelopment is one of the most significant projects underway.
There are several pieces to the GWTP puzzle, and even us inveterate downtowners will benefit from a refresher. The site is visibly made more complex with concurrent redevelopment of Seaholm and the new Austin Central Library to the west, and Third+Shoal to the north.
The Green Water Treatment Plant four-block redevelopment, for many years, was a concept of “what could one day be” and for years was not.
Built in 1925 and decommissioned in 2008, the Green Water Treatment Plant was Austin’s first water treatment facility. In 2008 the City of Austin sought developers for public-private partnership to redevelop the site, as part of broader 2nd Street District, and selected Trammel Crow because they proposed the most dense and ambitious plan for the site.
Some environmental issues stalled the redevelopment for a while, but now remarkably there are three distinct projects underway, plus one more wildcard to-be-determined.
Northshore (Block 1)
Construction on the first phase of redevelopment is the Northshore, a three-tiered mixed-use tower that bills itself as “the ultimate luxury living experience” with approximately 440 luxury apartments, along with 50 affordable units and more than 40,000 square feet of office and retail space. Construction is wrapping up, and the project is expected to open soon.
http://www.northshoreaustin.com
500 W. 2nd Street (Block 23)
One block up from Northshore is the the 500 W. 2nd Street office tower. Construction started December of 2014 on this 29-story, 500,000 square foot office tower that will have two ground-level restaurants. The lobby of 500 W. 2nd Street promises to be a striking experience from both the inside and out, by way of 26-foot tall frameless glass wall. Google made headlines by becoming the first tenant to sign on at the project and will occupy almost half the building by its completion in 2017.
http://500west2nd.com
Austin Proper Hotel & Residences (Block 188)
This 32-story Austin Proper hotel and condo tower (now taking reservations) is the most recent to make the news, having just been announced this summer. The project will include 243 hotel rooms, plus another 94 condo units ranging in size from 850 square feet to 6,000-square-feet penthouses. Construction is scheduled to start in November.
To-Be-Determined (Block 185)
The last phase of Green Water is still up in the air, and please tip your editor if you know. Trammell Crow is being tight lipped. The master plan calls for another residential tower, hosting 295 units, and a little more retail. It’s unknown if the residential units will go up for sale, or for rent, but I’m hopeful that the market will support a condo development.
Honorable mention: Third + Shoal
It’s worth noting that the four-block development butts up to one other major development to the north, which is not part of the Green Water redevelopment: Third+Shoal (slideshare), at 208 Nueces. Construction of the 349,000-square-foot, 28-story office building is scheduled to be completed in early 2017, following the demolition of the underwhelming Austin Music Hall.
-Jude
Bowie Street underpass finally on drawing board
The Bowie Street underpass project, to connect the Market District to the Pfluger Bridge under the Union Pacific railroad tracks, has been in the public domain for almost six years, but stagnant without any real progress.
Now it appears engineering plans are finally here! This is especially welcome news for residents of Gables West and Spring Condos.
Records show a site plan by city infrastructure contractor HDR (although watermarked as “preliminary”) was officially signed off by engineers and submitted to city permitters in mid-August. Past reports anticipated the underpass to wrap construction in 2016, and this is a good sign the ball is moving.
So Long, Cozzoli’s
Cozzoli’s Pizza, a frequent late-night haunt of downtowners at 7th & Congress since 1981, closed its doors for good last month. Owner Moosa Meschin, who worked behind the counter until the end, posted a farewell well note as he enters retirement.
Hatbox, a haberdashery once located on South Congress, has opened up shop in the space and is a welcome addition to promote an activated N. Congress corridor.
I’ll miss Cozzoli’s comfort food. This is a loss for everyone in downtown Austin who appreciates the unpretentious.
416 Congress Boutique Hotel back from grave?
It was way back in 2011 that City Council blessed the 416 Congress “sliver hotel” only for the project to stagnate and never get off the ground.
However, the project has just been resubmitted, keeping it in play, and it remains unchanged from the 2011 vision. That plan call for a 26-story, 130-room hotel and restaurant behind a small 120-year-old Congress Avenue building (the entire structure, other than the front façade, will be demolished).
Proposed Kimber Modern Rainey loses the Kimber
The Kimber Modern Rainey hotel, slated to be a 30-room boutique hotel, in the Rainey Street District is at risk after mastermind Kimber Cavendish told local media she is out.
Located near the corner of River St @ East Ave, and with CBD zoning in place it’s an attractive development site. There’s an indication in the report about the project’s moving forward with a different brand and vision. Stay tuned.
![Rendering of new Kimber Modern coming to Rainey Street district [source: Burton Baldridge]](https://e2718.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Kimber_Modern_Austin_Rainey_Street-600x410.jpg)
SXSW guru’s company picks up downtown parcel unhindered by Capitol View Corridor
SXSW executive Roland Swenson’s development company — CZ Properties — picked up an acre parcel next to the State Capitol at 1400 Lavaca Street, according to new reports.
The property, which is just under an acre and currently includes a two-story building occupied by the Texas Restaurant Association, could be developed into something much more.
SXSW has remained tight-lipped other than to say it will be overflow office space. But I’d lay a small bet that an announcement will coincide in some way with the SXSW 30th anniversary (next year) if Swenson is planning to develop the spot.
