Ten Projects That will Change Austin's Skyline (San Antonio, Canyon: real estate, 2015)

[MedicalPartisan]

Hey all, found this info online and I thought it'd be a great topic for discussion. Though I'm not a resident (yet) I'm excited for the future and growth of Austin.

Also, as construction begins and progresses, feel free to submit any pictures!

Austin is in the midst of a construction boom that will reshape the city over the next decade. The city of Austin's list of ongoing projects now spans more than five pages of development in the planning stages and under construction. We've gone through the list and are highlighting in this slideshow 10 of what we found as the most interesting projects. You can find an in-depth guide to the changes taking place around Republic Square in this week's print edition. Last year, Editor Colin Pope weighed in on 47 projects that will change downtown Austin, and many are now taking shape.





Georgia-based Cousins Properties Inc. is expected to break ground on Colorado & Third this year. The 30-story office building includes 390,000 square feet of office space, 6,000 square feet of ground level retail space and 900 parking spaces. San Antonio-based Hixon and Silver Ventures will partner with Cousins on the tower. An estimated cost was not disclosed.





This project, one of dozens chronicled in the city's latest list of downtown construction projects, could have a 90,000-square-foot hotel rise above Austin's historic James H. Robertson building. The new construction would preserve the historic facade and include 130 rooms as well as a dining area. The project was designed by Dick Clark architecture, and a groundbreaking date has not been determined.




The $350 million Fairmont Austin is scheduled to begin construction in October with a delivery date of June 2016. The 50-story, 1,000 room hotel at Red River and Cesar Chavez streets will be the second-highest building in the city behind The Austonian condominiums. The project is being headed by Manchester Texas Financial Group LLC.





Austin-based Forestar Group Inc. and Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds have already broken ground on a 257-unit apartment complex downtown near East 11th Street and I-35. Construction is estimated to be completed in July. The four-story project, called Eleven, will be built above a two-story parking garage. The cost was not disclosed.





City Council approved an agreement with Trammell Crow Co. on May 25, 2012, for a massive redevelopment of the Thomas Green Water Treatment Plant. The new site, shown in the center of this rendering, will have several buildings and 1.75 million square feet of development including 826 apartments, 456,000 square feet of office space, a 200-room hotel and 82,000 square feet of retail, according to city documents.





The JW Marriott, one of the most prominent construction projects in Austin, is scheduled to be completed in 2015. The 1,012-room hotel going up on Congress Avenue and Second Street will feature 110,500 square feet of meeting space. The $300 million project will be the largest Marriott in the U.S. when completed by Indiana-based White Lodging Services Corp.





Seaholm Power LLC and Southwest Strategies Group have been selected to turn the Seaholm Power Plant and nearby property into mixed-use, pedestrian friendly development. The plan has been changed recently, but could feature a large park and a 28-story tower with 294 apartments.





The 23-story, $67 million SkyHouse Austin will be built at 51 Rainey St. and is scheduled to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2013. Atlanta-based Novare Group is part of a team that secured construction financing for the 320-unit building from Bank of the Ozarks.





Developer Gables Residential recently received the go-ahead for a 24-story building at 401 Guadalupe St. from City Council. The building will include 226 apartments and a 160-room Hotel Zaza.





IBC Bank Plaza, at 500 W. Fifth St., will rise near Republic Square and the downtown post office. The new building would have about 195,000 square feet of office space and a bank and restaurant on the bottom floor. The project is headed by Endeavor Real Estate Group and is slated to begin in 2013.

[MedicalPartisan]

Trying to see if we can enable all images for the post, sorry for the messy layout guys.

[ImOnFiya]

Originally Posted by WDaleHerring

Trying to see if we can enable all images for the post, sorry for the messy layout guys.

No problem, you're doing fine! Thank you for the information and welcome to the Austin forum!

[UTHORNS96]

Very nice looking. But along with the skyscrapers I'd like to see improvement in street level amenities options as well as mass transit in the downtown area and the areas around it.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by UTHORNS96

Very nice looking. But along with the skyscrapers I'd like to see improvement in street level amenities options as well as mass transit in the downtown area and the areas around it.

I wouldn't mind if they paved some of the streets . I've been riding bikes out of Mellow Johnny's for 5 years and the same holes, cracks and voids on San Antonio have been swallowing bike wheels the whole time.

[JoninATX]

7 of the 10 projects that WDaleHerring listed are U/C. The only ones that have not are The Fairmont which will break ground in October, 416 Congress is "dead" for the time being, and The Green Water Treatment Plant will begin on it's first phase early next year.

[scm53]

Anyone know what's going on the SE corner of 7th and Rio Grande? We were at the Rattle Inn the other night and looking down on all of the foundation work, it looks like it will be pretty substantial.

[TexasHorseLady]

Oh, lovely, just what we need, MORE oversized buildings downtown to make us even MORE like Anywhere, USA and LESS like Austin, Texas and to make downtown even LESS a place that anyone who doesn't love the effort to turn Austin into NYC would want to go.

Ah, well, I avoid downtown like the plague (after decades of going there and owning a house five minutes away from it), anyway.

.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by UTHORNS96

... as well as mass transit in the downtown area and the areas around it.

With limited resources, this is about fifth on the list of transportation priorities. Our number one challenge is to reduce congestion. Not saying this won't help, and doesn't make sense at some point. But we need things with higher ROI first, like express lanes on 183, Mopac S, as well as N and S 35, and park and rides with express buses into downtown. It is congestion on those roads that is negatively impacting quality of life.

Great Statesman article today with Gary Farmer, chair of Opportunity Austin 3.0:

From my perspective, the biggest and most immediate challenges to continued economic growth and prosperity are complacency and mobility issues.

Our mobility needs grow every day. We need to approach mobility with a seriousness not seen in a long time. We must demand that we have a regional approach to transportation and that every project—whether road, rail or bus—pass muster when considering additional capacity and congestion mitigation. Unfortunately, we have limited financial resources, so every expenditure should be measured carefully to ensure it will have the needed impact to justify the project. And we need to be quick about it, as it is time for action on all fronts. While transportation/mobility is a business issue, it is incredibly more important as quality of life and safety issues for everyone in Central Texas.

Spot on. If it doesn't add capacity, or mitigate congestion, fuhgeddaboutit.

[JoninATX]

Originally Posted by scm53

Anyone know what's going on the SE corner of 7th and Rio Grande? We were at the Rattle Inn the other night and looking down on all of the foundation work, it looks like it will be pretty substantial.

That would be a new 24 story apartment tower.