Block 185, the downtown Austin office tower project best known as the future home of Google, has made significant progress since its groundbreaking back in the downright prehistoric era of 2019 — and though it hasn’t reached its full height of 594 feet just yet, the 35-floor building’s ever-growing prominence on the downtown skyline is becoming increasingly difficult to…
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Parkside Brings Mueller Its First Real-Deal Density-Loving Condo Community
Approximately 17 years into its transformation from an Austin airport to a master-planned neighborhood, you might say Mueller is running out of surprises — most of its sprawling 711 acres are now built out on behalf of its master developers at Catellus. We’re excited to see how an expected future apartment project fits around the iconic former Mueller Airport’s…
Demolition Finally Kicks Off at Symphony Square in Downtown Austin
More than two years after the first appearance of plans for a 31-story mixed-use tower development surrounding the Symphony Square historic site in downtown Austin, demolition has finally arrived at the project’s approximately 1.7-acre land assembly — never mind that we still haven’t actually seen a rendering of the tower from its developer Greystar, it’s still a good sign of progress on will…
When Calcasieu Lumber Ruled Austin’s Wood Game, We Never Ran Low on Logs
Though you’ll find a lot more steel and concrete than wood these days in downtown’s newest towers, you might have heard something lately about the role of lumber prices in Austin’s “extraordinary” housing market, currently commanding the highest sales over asking price for new homes of any major city in the nation — in fact, it’s estimated that rising costs of lumber across the country…
South Congress Could Relax Its Obnoxious Residential Parking Rules
Nobody wants to talk about parking until they specifically can’t find any, and by now you might know our thoughts on the subject. There’s too much of it in the wrong places, it shouldn’t be free, and it’s bad for cities and architecture — not to mention the planet, but we’ll stay local — when our entire built environment prioritizes the movement…
Downtown’s Avenue Lofts Condos Hit the Market, With Redevelopment in Mind
The Avenue Lofts, a 38-unit downtown Austin condo community at 410 East Fifth Street, is being marketed for sale. According to a listing from commercial real estate investors CBRE, the owner’s association of the building has retained the firm as the property’s exclusive marketing agent, with a possible major tower redevelopment of the 0.81-acre property highlighted in marketing materials…