IBC Bank Tower (Block 51) Set For March Groundbreaking After Delay

In June 2012, Endeavor gave us the first look at the IBC Bank building planned on Block 51 across the street north from the new federal courthouse, which is slated for 13 stories and 195,000 square feet of office (and a little restaurant) space.

When they did, the Statesman reported developers planned to break ground possibly by Christmas last year, which has come and went without fanfare at the site and as development has rolled steadily along in other sites around downtown.

While it’s probably safe to say the project is certifiably delayed, it is like a smoking volcano and certainly not dormant. Last month, the smoke started rising when the developer filed an application to occupy the right-of-way and remove existing power poles along 500 block of San Antonio Street and the alley; and bury telecommunication lines. That application indicates we should see some activity starting in March, and construction lasting through June 2014. (This crane placement diagram was also submitted)

Other clues hint that up to last month the developer and the city were still working on an approved traffic control plan and an erosion plan for site construction. However, just a week ago, a site plan correction presumably resolving these issues with the City was approved.

In one of the documents filed with the City, an engineer writes simply: “The saga continues.”

We’re glad to see this saga is having a happy ending.

Austin Towers, for one, couldn’t be more excited for this project to get off the ground, and at the least for this dangerous building on the corner to be demolished.

This rendering of the new of the building from the southeast, compared to what is there now, is simply gorgeous and Endeavor gets a hat tip for exceeding what it means to provide realistic renderings of a project that gets the community excited. For anyone who pines for the “old days” before downtown’s redevelopment, we submit this as Exhibit A for why development makes downtown Austin a better place.

Point of view from the Plaza Lofts

It’s also great to see a project making the maximum use of the height limit available to it in the Capitol View Corridor, which translates into maximum property tax revenue to subsidize the suburbs pay into the general fund for parks and police. Look at these elevation drawings and not how the building literally butts up to the height cap.