Less than a year ago, the Austin Museum of Art announced a new project which would combine an 40,000 square foot museum facility with an adjacent 425,000 feet of commercial office space in a new 465,000 square foot project on the AMOA-owned site adjacent to Republic Square Park in the center of downtown Austin. Yesterday,…
New Year’s Eve: 100,000 People Expected Downtown
Austin’s First Night New Year’s Eve celebration is expected to draw 100,000 people downtown for a full day and evening of activities celebrating the arts in Austin. Starting at 3 pm and stretching until fireworks ring in the new year, First Night is Austin’s biggest party of the year. For Austin residents who long for…
Las Manitas Quickly Demolished
No downtown Austin project is more controversial than the mammoth Marriott complex between 2nd and 3rd between Congress and Brazos. The massive and thoroughly unispiring project has many enemies across the city for many reasons. First, the project is large and architecturally mediocre. Second, the project lacks a plan to extend the retail streetscape on…
Uh Oh. Austin Homes Sales Fall 39% in November, Prices Down 3%
Last month, at the peak of the national economic crisis (so far), Austin home sales dropped 39% from last November, dropping from 1,805 units in 2007 to 1,086 today. During the same one year period, the median sales price fell 2.9% from $185,200 to $179,900. In looking at this data, it’s the sales volume that…
Downtown Water Treatment Plant Decommissioned, New Neighborhood to Emerge
For those who feel that the heart of downtown Austin is the aging Green water treatment plant, today is a sad day. After 83 years, the Green plant has been decommissioned as a first step to redevelopment of the prime site just north of Ladybird lake. With the removal of the plant, the City begins…
Higher & Higher: Austonian Keeps Going Up
Each week, 55 truckloads of concrete and 50 tons of structural steel are added to the structure of the Austonian , growing what will be the tallest building in Austin by one more floor. This week, the Austonian hit the half-way point — the 28th floor was poured ad the project continues on its march to…