A ground-level view of the Paseo tower project’s frontage on Rainey Street. Photo by James Rambin
Paseo, the 557-unit downtown Austin apartment tower now rising on Rainey Street that just happened to receive its name from yours truly, has officially reached its maximum height. The building’s development team, including its general contractors at JE Dunn Construction and developers LV Collective, celebrated this “topping out” milestone last Friday, sending a flag up the tower crane and signing the building’s topmost beam while recognizing more than a year of labor by several hundred construction professionals since the 48-story tower’s groundbreaking in early 2023.
The view from the top floor at Paseo. Image: JE Dunn Construction
The project, containing residences ranging from studios to three-bedroom units, will also include 28 income-restricted apartments under the Rainey Street District’s on-site affordable housing requirements. The building is expected to open in late 2025.
A rendering of the Paseo tower now topped out on Rainey Street. Image: LV Collective / Pappageorge Haymes Partners / TBG Partners
Paseo’s design by Chicago-based architects Pappageorge Haymes Partners includes a number of interesting details that we think sets it apart from other new buildings downtown, starting with the project’s preservation of the two original bungalows on its site at 80 Rainey Street. These homes dating back to the early 1900s were painstakingly moved to the south end of the property to provide room for the new tower, but will both remain on site as restaurant and bar spaces maintaining the Rainey neighborhood’s original low-rise charm, connecting directly with the project’s signature outdoor paseo space and designed to connect with the district’s walkable street-level environment by local landscape architects TBG Partners.
Image: LV Collective / Pappageorge Haymes Partners / TBG Partners
Designed by PappaGeorge Haymes Partners, Paseo aims to add to Rainey Street without detracting from the bungalow, local bar, and pedestrian-friendly charm that’s made the area so popular with locals and visitors alike.
The development’s intentionally designed spaces and amenities include a best-in-class pool, spa, and fitness center with yoga studios and an on-call property concierge. Residents also will enjoy a private rooftop pool and sky lounge on floor 48, and amenity decks and coworking spaces with private work pods and collaborative conference rooms stretching from floors 12-14.
“It’s so rewarding to see Paseo come to life,” said David Kanne, LV Collective CEO. “We’re grateful to be working alongside first-class partners and excited for residents to experience all that Paseo has to offer.”
In addition to the bungalows that have been preserved on site, the tower’s ground and second-floor retail space will include several food and beverage concepts, including Fleet Coffee, which will serve coffee during the day and cocktails at night. The retail space facing Rainey Street will feature a special elevator lobby to take the public up to the 12th floor pool deck and bar. This will be Rainey Street’s first publicly accessible foray into the sky.
— Paseo Press Release, JE Dunn Construction
But the most fascinating possibility of the Paseo tower doesn’t show up in the press release, understandably so since many of its details remain a little fuzzy at this stage. The project includes a large underground space beneath its ground floor lobby, and the current plan is to outfit this basement area into a music venue, the first of its kind on Rainey Street and potentially a major new landmark for the neighborhood.
A view of the large basement space at Paseo, which its developers are eyeing as a music venue. Photo by James Rambin
LV Collective CEO David Kanne describes his dream for the Paseo basement as inspired by iconic local venues like Antone’s and the Continental Club, providing a very different experience from the live music you’ll typically find in the backyards of some Rainey bars — and the subterranean nature of the space would insulate the venue from the usual noise concerns. We’re not expecting our name ideas to strike twice at the same building, but “Rainey Street Underground” has a nice ring to it.
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