Austin & Austin Metro Projects Compilation

[The ATX]

The first building in the huge University of Texas/Dell Medical Center project is set to start construction in April. The first part of the construction will be the realignment of the road that is currently on the site.  It was just announced earlier this month.  It's amazing how quickly the state can start building things when the City of Austin isn't involved.

http://www.statesman.com/weblogs/the-blotter/2014/mar/25/red-river-street-close-medical-school-construction/

 

http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l511/ihatethisplacenothingworks/TeachingHospital.png

[The ATX]

Here's another picture of the 1052-room, 47-story Fairmont convention center hotel site.  That's the convention center behind it and the ugly 800 room, 31-story Hilton convention center hotel on the right.  The U/C 1012 room, 34-story JW Marriott convention center hotel is three blocks from here.  This project will have a sky walk connecting directly to the convention center so all the out of towners won't have to sweat it out on the way over during our ridiculously hot summers.   

 

Photo by Priller at SSP:  http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6518845&postcount=512

Edited March 30, 2014 by Texas Hill Country

[The ATX]

The cranes were raised this weekend at the Bowie: 

 

Photo by me

[The ATX]

Here's a screen shot of the proposed 19-story 5th & Colorado office tower taken from a Vimeo video put out by the developer:  

 

http://vimeo.com/89447131

[The ATX]

The developer of the downtown Starwood hotel confirmed that it will be duo branded with the Aloft and Element brands.  It will be 32-stories with 410 rooms and construction is scheduled to start in December.  

The total number of hotel rooms under construction and proposed in just the downtown area alone must be 4-5,000.  I'll add them up for a future post.  

 

http://www.statesman.com/news/business/32-story-tower-with-two-starwood-hotels-planned-fo/nfP6K/

[The ATX]

Here's a street level view of the proposed 5th & Colorado tower from BuildingATX:

 

http://buildingatx.com/2014/04/office-tower-planned-for-5th-colorado-renderings/

 

[The ATX]

Here's a current picture of the the Colorado going up at 3rd & Colorado:  

 

Photo by CovairKeith at SSP:  http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6516957&postcount=256

Edited April 2, 2014 by Texas Hill Country

[The ATX]

Here's a current picture of the JW Marriott:  

 

Photo by Mopacs at SSP:  http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6520898&postcount=531

[The ATX]

Here's a photo of the Pfluger pedestrian bridge taken shortly after it was completed in the early 2000s.  It crosses the Colorado river in the SW corner of Downtown which was an undeveloped wasteland at the time.  

 

Photo provided by Hookem at SSP:  http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6520921&postcount=678

 

Here's the same location today:

 

Photo by Mopacs at SSP:  http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6520905&postcount=677 

Edited April 2, 2014 by Texas Hill Country

[The ATX]

I should mention that Whole Foods' headquarters and flagship grocery store were built behind these buildings around the same time the pedestrian bridge was built.  Whole Foods was arguably the catalyst for the growth in this area.  Their flagship store is absolutely incredible.  I cannot imagine how a grocery store could be any more impressive.  And oddly enough Trader Joe's is opening a store just outside of this picture on the right in the Seaholm project.  For those keeping up, just to the right of the Seaholm project is Trammell Crow's massive Green Water project.  The residential development in this area is only just beginning.

[The ATX]

This is the Millennium residential project I was complaining about in a previous post because 2 or 3 ~50-story towers were originally proposed for the site.  Instead we end up with this development on a site that has no height limitations.  It takes up about 2 1/2 acres of prime downtown real estate.  Site prep is under way for this beast that would be more appropriately located on South Lamar or out in Round Rock.  The renderings even pretend to show a suburban a setting:     

 

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6520946&postcount=399

[The ATX]

There is random infill construction going on all over Austin.  Projects like these are popping up all over town with virtually no press or fanfare.  All booms come to an end (or at least take a breather), but what's happening in Austin is amazing.  I'm not a homer just trying to boost my city.  I'm originally from Grand Rapids and ended up in Austin on a whim, but I stayed because this place has so much going for it.

 

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6517682&postcount=378

 

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6517682&postcount=378

 

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6453576&postcount=252

 

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6453578&postcount=253

[The ATX]

Here's an update about the Aspen Heights residential tower.  Construction is scheduled to start this summer:  

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/blog/real-estate/2014/04/another-austin-luxuryhigh-rise-apartment-project.html 

 

 

[The ATX]

Here's what the Millennium site looks like today:  

 

http://i.imgur.com/9rAenDh.jpg

[The ATX]

Here's an example of Austin's sprawl.  This is in the Hill Country which starts on the west side of Austin.  Groundbreaking for the hotel (on the left) is next week.  The office building might be under construction already, but I don't know for sure.  At least much of Austin's sprawl is within the city limits, so the tax base can be captured.   

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6534591&postcount=1

[The ATX]

Here's a photo taken from Riverside Dr. which runs along the south side of the Colorado River.  That's the Catherine residential tower U/C on the left and the  U/C Bowie residential tower on the right:  

 

Photo by KeveinFromTexas at SSP:  http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6533131&postcount=84

Edited April 12, 2014 by Texas Hill Country

[The ATX]

Here's a recent photo of the U/C Colorado tower which is mostly leased and scheduled to open an at the end of the year.  The opening seems somewhat aggressive as they got a ways to go yet.  That's the JW Marriott on the left.  The tower cranes have been taken down.  Front and center is the Warehouse district.  (AKA 6th St. for grownups.)  

 

There have been two recent construction accidents involving the Colorado tower during the past couple weeks.  A construction worker was seriously hurt in an elevator accident this week, but is still alive.  A diner at the rooftop restaurant at the base of the tower had wet cement dropped on him from the top floor as he ate lunch.  He suffered a head injury, but will be OK.   

 

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6527375&postcount=289

[The ATX]

Here's a shot of the U/C JW Marriott, Colorado Tower and 7 Rio:  

 

Photo by Corvairkieth at SSP:  http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6539694&postcount=564

[The ATX]

The U/C Bowie and Seaholm residential towers:  

 

 

Photo by KevinFromTexas @ SSP:  http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6533120&postcount=309

[The ATX]

Trammell Crow is moving forward on two more towers.  A permit request for contaminated soil remediation was recently filed with the city for the sites of two of the proposed towers at the four tower Trammell Crow Green Water site.    

 

ftp://ftp.ci.austin.tx.us/ATD_AULCC/140424/PLANS/04%20SITE%20040314_PLANS.pdf

 

The first tower is the 38-story residential tower that is under construction.  (The tower crane for this one went up yesterday.)  The towers at the sites identified in the permit request filing are for the hotel and office tower.  The hotel would be on Block 188 and the office tower on Block 23.  The U/C residential tower is Block 1, and another residential tower is proposed for Block 185.

 

Downtown Austin Blog:  http://i2.wp.com/downtownaustinblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/greenwaterorientation.png

 

This used to be the location of the Thomas Green Water Treatment plant which is where the Green Water name comes from.  The water treatment plant was demolished pre-recession.  The site sat empty until financing for big projects started flowing again as the recession eased up.  

Austin never had a recession on the scale of the rest of the country.  People continued moving here at the same high rate, and part of the current residential construction boom can be attributed to the pent up demand from the couple years that big projects couldn't get financing.

Edited April 17, 2014 by Texas Hill Country

[The ATX]

Here's another view of the proposed Starwood Aloft and Element hotel that shows how it would fit with the Congress Ave. streetscape.  The Planning Commission recommended to the City Council that the variances needed for this project be approved.

 

 

Downtown austin Blog:  http://downtownaustinblog.org/

 

 

 

[The ATX]

Here's what the site of the Aloft and Element hotel looks like from Google Streetview.  The site is the small parking lot and the building to the right of the lot.  The building was apparently largely reconstructed after a fire or something and is not eligible for any historical status.  So there won't be any road blocks for its demolition. 

 

[The ATX]

I have been mostly limiting my posts to mostly high rise projects, but this is a rather significant development.

 

Austin's mass transit provider - Capitol Metro - is selling 11 acres around its Red Line commuter rail line just east of downtown and has been seeking development proposals.  Four proposals have been made public, and they all include a significant amount of residential development.  Here's a rendering of one of the proposals.  More photos and the story can be found at this link from the Austin Business Journal:  

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2014/04/17/the-future-of-austins-plaza-saltillo-heres-four.html 

 

Dense development like this is starting to spill over in the areas south and east of downtown.  This area just east of downtown is becoming another entertainment hot spot (bars and restaurants).  The music video I posted in the Austin Whatever Anything thread was filmed largely in the immediate area of this proposal.

 

Edited April 17, 2014 by Texas Hill Country

[The ATX]

Here's a video of the first building being built as part of the huge Dell Medical Center on the UT campus.  Site prep is underway.  This will be a big economic boost for Austin as it gets built in phases over the next 15 years.  (The skyline rendering in the video is 10 years old for some reason.)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=T_riRTlh8QU

Edited April 17, 2014 by Texas Hill Country

[richyb83]

No doubt!! Austin looks to be booming as much as any other place in the country!

 

Wow to the injuries to the construction workers...glad they are ok!