Austin & Austin Metro Projects Compilation

[The ATX]

Heading north on I-35 earlier today.  This southeastern corner of Downtown is generally referred to as the Rainey St. area.  The crane action in this area is going to be pretty sweet in the coming few months as several of the big Rainey St. area projects (Waller Towers A, B & C, 99 Trinity and the Fairmont) get underway.

 

   

Photo by KevinFromTexas:  http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6777616&postcount=144

[The ATX]

The first of eight cranes has gone up for Phase I construction of the University of Texas Dell Medical Center site.  This just a little further down I-35 from the previous photo in post #317. 

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/blog/real-estate/2014/10/construction-moves-ahead-on-new-seton-teaching.html?s=image_gallery

[The ATX]

Demolition has been completed at the Hotel ZaZa and Residences site (Foreground) as construction gets started on the 5th & Colorado office tower (background):  

 

Photo  by SkyPie:  http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6779160&postcount=178

Here's a video from the Austin Business Journal of the demo of the second building on the site  

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/video/h3OG85cTqtgkqoasm6rt_syoNYeusBlV?autoplay=1

[The ATX]

Yesterday the Austin City Council decided to continue with the ongoing expansion of ABIA by approving the construction of seven more gates.  Here's the Statesman's article about the expansion before the City Council approved it:  

 

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/local/austin-airport-to-add-seven-airline-gates-on-easte/nhp3b/#675fef34.3590933.735529  

[The ATX]

The Fairmont Hotel is set to break ground in less than two weeks.  It has been delayed for almost two years because of trouble securing financing.  But financing is now in place, and it's a go! I just drove by the site and there are trucks onsite with some activity taking place.  The room count increased to 1,066 from 1,037.  But even thought the room count increased the height was shortened by about 10-stories and 100'.  It is now 37-stories and 595'.  It's in a prominent location, so it will still stand out quite nicely.  The developers widened the tower to increase the floor count while chopping off some floors.  The design is very similar to to the still U/C JW Marriott a few blocks away.  Here's the rendering:  

 

 

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6780937&postcount=846

 

 

 

Here's the Statesmam article:  

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/business/financing-in-hand-370-million-austin-fairmont-proj/nhqxH/?ecmp=statesman_social_facebook_2014_sfp#5bbb0361.257263.735529

Edited October 24, 2014 by The ATX

[The ATX]

The final Green Water office tower site plan was just released. This will be breaking ground around the same time as the Fairmont.  The height is still around the 400' mark (398' and 31 floors counting the mechanical floors) as it was in the early proposals.  There are elevations in the site plan, but no pretty renderings.  So I didn't post them.  Downtown construction activity is really starting to pick up, and there is a lot to look forward to in 2015.  

 

The site plan:  

ftp://ftp.ci.austin.tx.us/ATD_AULCC/141106/PLANS/AULCC_SP-Green%20WTP%20Blk23%20Great%20Street%20LA_PLANS.pdf

Edited October 25, 2014 by The ATX

[The ATX]

After looking at the elevations in the just released site plan for the Green Water office tower, I don't think the tower will be significantly different than the renderings released in ~2012.  I've posted this one before, but since this project is about to break ground, here it is again:  

 

                                                                                                 http://www.gensler.com/projects/greenwater-mixed-use-redevelopment

Edited October 24, 2014 by The ATX

[The ATX]

Here's the new rendering of the Fairmont from street level.  The rendering and info about the project can be found at the San Diego Union-Tribune website (The developer is based in San Diego):

 

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/oct/24/manchester-austin-fairmont-hotel-financing/

 

[The ATX]

Here's a shot of the Green Water and Seaholm construction sites taken from the U/C 24-story Seven apartment tower.  The 39-story 5th & West condo tower that will be breaking ground within a week or so will be right-center in this photo:

 

Photo by 427mm:  http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6782423&postcount=1084

Edited October 25, 2014 by The ATX

[The ATX]

Here's my latest list of active Austin projects that are at least 10-stories and/or 100'.  I have documentation for 47 such projects now.  There are more, but I can't nail down the documentation.   Of the four status types (Proposed, Demo, Site Prep and U/C) it is not always clear what "Demo" and "Site Prep" mean.  "Demo" can mean the site is being cleared for the start of construction or simply that the lot was cleared for a project that won't be built any time soon.  "Site Prep" can mean anything from the site being fenced off for future construction or a big hole has already been dug for the underground parking levels prior to the immediate start of construction.  So what I did was highlight in yellow all of the projects that are U/C or have been publicly announced as breaking ground with all of the financing in place and with construction immediately following the demolition and/or site prep.  For all practical purposes everything in yellow is under construction.  I posted this list in both  the U/C and Proposed threads.

 

 

Edited October 28, 2014 by The ATX

[The ATX]

Here's my latest list of active Austin projects that are at least 10-stories and/or 100'.  I have documentation for 47 such projects now.  There are more, but I can't nail down the documentation.   Of the four status types (Proposed, Demo, Site Prep and U/C) it is not always clear what "Demo" and "Site Prep" mean.  "Demo" can mean the site is being cleared for the start of construction or simply that the lot was cleared for a project that won't be built any time soon.  "Site Prep" can mean anything from the site being fenced off for future construction or a big hole has already been dug for the underground parking levels prior to the immediate start of construction.  So what I did was highlight in yellow all of the projects that are U/C or have been publicly announced as breaking ground with all of the financing in place and with construction immediately following the demolition and/or site prep.  For all practical purposes everything in yellow is under construction.  I posted this list in both the U/C and Proposed threads.

 

Edited October 28, 2014 by The ATX

[The ATX]

Here are some very recent shots of the Hotel ZaZa and Residences site:  

 

Both photos by jonathaninatx:  http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=118589498&postcount=1836

Edited October 28, 2014 by The ATX

[The ATX]

There might be some much needed relief in store for Austin renters.  Rents have been soaring over the past few years, but now developers are finally keeping up with and maybe even surpassing demand.  There are  currently ~18,000 apartments under construction and another ~8,000 ready to start construction (with many more in the planning stages).  

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/blog/real-estate/2014/10/austin-apartment-market-stillon-fire-could-mean.html

[richyb83]

Is there a faster growing skyline in the U.S. (per the amount of existing buildings) than Austin TX?? What a building boom...All of the tower cranes are impressive! Has the economy rebounded that much since the recession/cra$h? At one time I had heard the Austonian had plenty of vacancies...guessing this has changed & it's nearly sold out?

 

My city is fortunate to get a 12-story place built...that would get swallowed up in Austin's new skyline!

[The ATX]

Is there a faster growing skyline in the U.S. (per the amount of existing buildings) than Austin TX?? What a building boom...All of the tower cranes are impressive! Has the economy rebounded that much since the recession/cra$h? At one time I had heard the Austonian had plenty of vacancies...guessing this has changed & it's nearly sold out?

 

My city is fortunate to get a 12-story place built...that would get swallowed up in Austin's new skyline!

It's hard to quantify, but I would say when comparing the size of the skyline to the amount of new towers there is no comparison to Austin right now.  But in recent decades pre-recession Miami and 1980s Houston had really impressive tower construction booms relative to their skylines.

 

Austin (and the rest of the big Texas cities for that matter) never had a recession on the same level as the rest of the U.S.  People continued moving to Austin at the same high rate during the recession.  The current building boom started in 2006 and took a pause from 2009 to 2012 only because financing was impossible to get for any big projects.  There was a growing pent up demand for downtown residential towers during the recession, and when financing started flowing again the projects moved forward.

 

Earlier this year I read that the Austonian was about 85% sold.  That place is pretty high end, and I think it was hurt by the lending crisis because it opened in 2009 when the brown stuff hit the fan.

 

For the past couple years all of the big residential towers have been rentals.  But now there is a shortage of condos downtown, so the next wave of residential towers looks to be mostly condo.

Edited November 4, 2014 by The ATX

[The ATX]

Here's a new rendering of the 5th & West condo tower going up near the Seaholm site:  

 

 

http://www.austinboom.com/blog/fifthandwest/5th-and-west/

Edited November 3, 2014 by The ATX

[The ATX]

There has been no official ground breaking announcement  for the 400' Green Water office tower.  But it looks like site prep is taking place, and November was previously announced as the construction start date.  There is a lot of construction activity in this area, so it's difficult to know for sure if the activity taking place on the site is directly related to this project.  But the the site plan was released this week and a permit request was filed for two tower cranes in the already crane crowded Green Water and Seaholm area.  The latest elevations look to be similar to this older rendering minus the weird outcrop thingy that is taller than the main roof.

 

http://www.okctalk.com/other-communities/35752-austin-continues-attract-high-tech-5.html#post819350

Edited November 3, 2014 by The ATX

[The ATX]

Here's a shot of the bridge construction that is part of the 2nd St. extension that connects the Green Water and Seaholm project sites:  

 

http://library.austintexas.gov/new-central-construction

Edited November 4, 2014 by The ATX

[The ATX]

The official ground breaking for the Fairmont was held on Monday.  Let the digging begin.

 

Photo by jonathaninATX:  http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=118788008&postcount=1855

 

 

Here's a pic of the VIPs at the groundbreaking.  Can anyone spot our hapless governor? I swear, the Texas economy keeps chugging along despite our last two governors.  One thing that I will give Perry credit for (besides not seeking another term) is the Texas Enterprise Fund for economic development.  Anyway, here are the suits (and skirt):  

 

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6793175&postcount=971

 

[The ATX]

The big parking lot next to Whole Foods HQ and across the street from the still U/C Bowie (the middle tower in the photos) was closed off to parking during the past few days.  This is the site of the Shoal Creek Walk project that I last posted about in the Proposed Projects thread (post #124).  I moved the discussion to this thread since it appears a groundbreaking or site prep may be happening in the near future.  The latest  information we have about this project is from recent building permit filings.  This is a mixed use development with both office and residential and ground floor retail.  This could be a big one.

 

Photos by corvairkeith:  http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6792274&postcount=37

[The ATX]

The 1,012 room JW has installed their signage:  

 

Photo by tie_guy:  http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6793933&postcount=622

[The ATX]

Two of the eight cranes are up for Phase I of the University of Texas dell Medical center.  A third one on the back end of the site is also going up as well.  This was taken last Friday, so the third crane should be up now.

 

https://www.facebook.com/DellMedicalSchool/photos/a.142477872599909.1073741828.104896546358042/342327775948250/?type=1&theater

Edited November 4, 2014 by The ATX

[The ATX]

The 5th & West condo tower (post #331) is going up just to the left of this picture which shows the parking lot where the Shoal Creek Walk tower is going up.  The cranes in the background are for Green Water/Seaholm projects.  This area is going to be a pretty dense cluster of residential high rises.

 

Photos by corvairkeith:  http://forum.skyscra...74&postcount=37

Edited November 4, 2014 by The ATX

[The ATX]

From this week.  The 19-story University House:

 

Photo by JoninATX:  http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6794983&postcount=22

[The ATX]

Also from this week.  Demo and drilling at the site of the 39-story 5th & West residential tower.  The 24-story U/C Seven apartment tower is in the background. 

 

Photo by JoninATX:  http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6794835&postcount=99