An aerial view of the 84 East Avenue tower site, which is currently occupied by a cafe and hookah lounge. Image: Bing Maps
As we announced back in February — which feels like a decade ago — the 41-floor downtown Austin condo tower headed for 84 East Avenue will bring a reported 283 “attainably priced” residences to the ever-popular Rainey Street District, courtesy of local developers Pearlstone Partners.
A current view of the tower site on East Avenue.
Though our minds are obviously occupied by a whole lot of other things lately, progress on this tower’s development marches on with updated renderings from its architects at STG Design, giving us a better idea of the building’s appearance:
A grand view of the updated design for 84 East Avenue, looking west from over I-35. Jeez, isn’t that Homewood Suites building next door just a big hot mess? Image: Pearlstone Partners / STG Design
The building is pretty straightforward, and at least superficially similar to Pearlstone’s nearby Natiivo project, which is also designed by STG. Both towers sport two outdoor amenity decks, one on top of the parking structure and the other at the roof, with the latter including a pool — this approach seems to work really well, since it’s also the general design of the Hanover Company’s twin residential towers at Republic Square and Third & Brazos, though all of these different projects are distinguished from one another by their exterior materials and color choices.
Looking southwest at the 84 East Avenue condo tower from East Avenue. Image: Pearlstone Partners / STG Design
If you recall the original illustrations of the building from back in February, described as “preliminary” at the time by the folks at Pearlstone, you’ll notice some major updates — the exterior is now defined by the rust-colored material screening the parking structure and running up the side of the tower. We’re really hoping that’s a weathering steel-style surface similar to the exterior metal panels of the JW Marriott, but it adds a nice contrast to the typical glass exterior of these towers either way.
Looking northwest at the 84 East Avenue condo tower from East Avenue. Image: Pearlstone Partners / STG Design
Here’s a before/after GIF for your nitpicking pleasure — spot the differences, champ:
Before and after views of the evolving design for the 84 East Avenue condo tower. The building hasn’t gotten shorter as far as we know, it’s just a little shift in perspective making it look that way. Images: Pearlstone Partners / STG Design
Though the challenges of the post-pandemic economy have yet to fully reveal themselves, our contacts at Pearlstone inform us that the 84 East Avenue project remains “materially on track” for its scheduled groundbreaking in early spring 2021. More details about the tower’s brand identity should arrive later this year if all goes well, but we just thought the towersheads out there would enjoy the pictures.
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