A draft executive order from the White House outlining a rewrite of national guidelines for federal architecture cites downtown Austin’s U.S. courthouse facility as an example of a government building with “little aesthetic appeal.” Good heavens! The draft order, titled “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again,” would hugely shape the design of future federal structures by demanding adherence to…
Let’s Have a Nice Day at Waterloo Park, (Finally) Set to Open This Fall
We’d be lying if we said the redevelopment of Waterloo Park wasn’t an agonizingly slow process — this downtown Austin park has remained closed to the public since 2011, which means we’re creeping up on nearly a decade without its 11 acres of green space around the banks of Waller Creek between East 12th and East 15th…
Two Towers at the Railyard Could Redefine Austin’s Skyline Twice
After last year’s blockbuster $104 million sale of downtown Austin condo community the Railyard to Los Angeles investment firm Karlin Real Estate, we knew it was only a matter of time before the site’s redevelopment — in part simply because it’s a big piece of land downtown, roughly 1.6 acres of low-rise residential units spanning two half-blocks on both…
East Austin’s Centro Offices Will Transform Nearly Two Full Blocks
Centro, a mixed-use development by local firm Riverside Resources set to bring five floors of office and retail space to the so-called “Saltillo District” of East Austin, is still working its way through the city’s permitting process — meaning the project technically exists mostly on people’s computers at this point. But looking at renderings doesn’t really…
At Third and Brazos, an Apartment Tower Plan Respects Its Elders
A 44-floor downtown apartment tower at the southeast corner of East Third and Brazos Streets by Houston-based multifamily developer the Hanover Company has cleared its first hurdle on the long road from the drawing board to reality. At a meeting earlier this week, Austin’s Historic Landmark Commission approved the certificate of appropriateness for the demolition of…
Downtown Austin’s Block 87 Tower Returns With a Freshened-Up Design
A towering future for the full block at 701 Trinity Street bound by Neches, Trinity, Seventh and Eighth Streets could finally take shape, after years of speculation and modifications to a challenging design in a challenging location. What’s known as Block 87 in the original downtown Austin plan, now home only to a parking lot, was originally…