• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

TOWERS

Austin city life since 2007

  • News
    • Condo Projects
    • Neighborhoods
  • Listings
    • Austin Condo Guide
  • Newsletter
  • Realty
Search
You are here: Home / Blog / New Travis County Courthouse Proposal: Wrong Place, Wrong Time
Search suggestions: condos for sale • rainey street

New Travis County Courthouse Proposal: Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Jude Galligan February 12, 2015 Comment

Travis County is proposing a Courthouse to be built facing into Downtown Austin’s most central and celebrated park, Republic Square Park.  And, residents and visitors alike should not be thrilled with the current proposal.

Some background, per consultants hired for the project:

Currently Civil and Family Court proceedings for Travis County are occurring at the Heman Mariott Sweatt Courthouse, a building erected in 1931.

heman-marion-sweatt-downtown-austin

taken from Google Maps streetview

This current courthouse is lacking space needed, infrastructure, and general design and layout / circulation for those with dealings in the Court (particularly to ensure safety of those filing claims against their aggressors).  More people, more problems, so to speak, and Austin needs adequate court space to properly ensure justice is being done in as timely of a manner as possible.

We get it.

What we don’t get is why Travis County feels the need to use some of the most prime real estate in Austin to build a silo of a structure that in no way relates to the neighborhood it will inhabit – a neighborhood with the SPECIFIC goal of being pedestrian-friendly and engaging.  The current site selection sits just south of Republic Square Park.

Apparently, there will be two phases of construction. The first phase will be the actual Courthouse (the structure that will face into the park), and the second phase will have some other use, like County offices (with some space potentially being leased to private entities, etc).  In the interim, the County hopes to make the unused portion of the lot “green space.”

travis-county-courhouse-current-site-downtown-austin

 

downtown-austin-interim-space-lot-travis-county-courhouse

We can think of a few reasons NOT to build the Travis County Courthouse in this location.  Here are a couple:

  1. There are better locations for the site.  The population center of Austin is north of the University of Texas, near Burnet and North Loop.  One proposed alternative by those in the know is the Travis County owned site at 290 at I35 next to the Highland Mall ACC Campus location.
  2. After 5pm, this proposed 14 story box becomes an urban void.  A full city block – one of the best in the entire city – sitting idle for 12+ hours a day.
  3. There are much better and higher uses for the current site sitting just south of Republic Square park.  Pretty much any use that can remain open, active, and engaging after 5pm is better.

There is only one real reason we’ve heard to place the Courthouse at 4th & Guadalupe: to reduce the need to transport those in custody to another location (we have requested exact numbers on that, but until told otherwise, cannot believe the impact would be THAT significant).

Location qualms aside, the $300 million 14-story beige box proposed ignores the opportunity cost of placing a silo in the middle of downtown.

Apparently, retail was considered for part of the ground floor, but then somehow decided against, because of “security concerns” and lack of compelling evidence that retail was a sustainable use for the space.

OK, let’s say that the security concerns were real and retail was not a sustainable use for ground floor space in the Courthouse – so put the building elsewhere that street level retail use hasn’t been planned for years!

The security concerns described (simply ensuring no dangerous objects or material are able to enter the Courthouse through the retail space by shipping or customers coming from the exterior) seems easy to overcome.   With the new Hotel Zaza and thousands of dwelling nearby, notably Plaza Lofts, W Hotel, 360 Condos, AMLI on 2nd, Gables, and more, it only improves the chances that a retail use will be highly successful in that location.  Currently, the County intends to use a portion of the ground floor as “event space.”  Huh?!

I’m ready to be convinced otherwise, but on its face, the concept that retail couldn’t survive in this location is bunk. It might not fit the mold of a courthouse, and that’s why this location has higher and better uses than a courthouse.

We don’t have renderings yet, but a massing was provided, with some general info on the structure:

downtown-austin-travis-county-courthouse-massing

Bottom line is the new Travis County Courthouse as proposed ignores more than two decades of effort by myriad people working to improve the experience of living, working, visiting, shopping, dining, and generally desiring to be in downtown Austin.

Luckily, this particular project can’t be funded without passing the bond election in November.  Unless the location is changed, or the proposal for the current site is drastically altered to integrate into the fabric of the City, we’re voting “NO” in November.

-Jude

Related

Filed Under: Blog

About Jude Galligan

Publisher of TOWERS.net. Real estate broker. Advocate for compact and connected city planning. Email: jude@towers.net

Austin Homes with Seller Financing available

Seller Financing in Austin
Previous Post: « Something is finally happening at 220 S Congress
Next Post: Downtown Austin Tid-Bits »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  •  Schedule a showing

FEATURED Listings

2804 Lafayette Avenue #2
Austin, TX
Photo of 2804  Lafayette Avenue #2, Austin, TX 78722 (MLS # 6466792)
$679,988
30
  • Lot Size
    2,178 sqft

  • Home Size
    953 sqft

  • Beds
    2 Beds

  • Baths
    2 Baths

210 Lavaca Street #2711
Austin, TX
Photo of 210  Lavaca Street #2711, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 9784437)
$1,475,000
26
  • Lot Size
    109 sqft

  • Home Size
    1,423 sqft

  • Beds
    2 Beds

  • Baths
    3 Baths

View Virtual Tour
301 West Avenue #5103
Austin, TX
Photo of 301  West Avenue #5103, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 5945580)
$1,894,900
33
  • Lot Size

  • Home Size
    1,474 sqft

  • Beds
    2 Beds

  • Baths
    2 Baths

360 Nueces Street #907
Austin, TX
Photo of 360  Nueces Street #907, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 3584447)
$648,500
40
  • Lot Size
    131 sqft

  • Home Size
    852 sqft

  • Beds
    1 Bed

  • Baths
    1 Bath

View Virtual Tour
501 West Avenue #3701
Austin, TX
Photo of 501  West Avenue #3701, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 9503524)
$3,299,000
40
  • Lot Size
    157 sqft

  • Home Size
    2,517 sqft

  • Beds
    3 Beds

  • Baths
    3 Baths

austin condo report

Featured Buildings

  • The Independent
  • Fifth & West
  • 360
  • Austin City Lofts
  • W Residences
  • The Shore
  • 70 Rainey

Footer

LEGAL NOTICE

TREC Information About Brokerage Services (pdf)

Texas Real Estate Commission Consumer Protection Notice


TOWERS realty

Austin Condos For Sale

Agents

Downtown Buildings

Luxury Towers

  • Four Seasons Residences
  • W Hotel & Residences
  • The Austonian
  • 5 Fifty Five at Hilton

Most Popular

  • The Shore
  • 360 Condos
  • Seaholm Condos
  • Spring Condos
  • Milago Condos

New Construction

  • The Independent
  • 70 Rainey
  • Austin Proper
  • Fifth & West

Loft Style

  • Austin City Lofts
  • Brazos Place
  • The Sabine
  • Plaza Lofts
  • Brown Building

Resources

  • Austin Condo Guide
  • Condos For Sale
  • Condo Buyer FAQ
  • Property Search

Featured

Archives

Newsletter · About · Contact Us · DMCA · Privacy Policy · SLAPP · Copyright © 2007-2022 TOWERS.net · All Rights Reserved
 

Loading Comments...