A new wave of construction projects are rolling towards groundbreaking in the heart of downtown Austin, including a new development on W. Sixth so far kept secret, and a project targeting Chinese investors.
Town Lake Lofts (neé North Shore Lofts)
Back in 2013, I wrote about a small project in the southeast tip of the Rainey Street District, then called the North Shore Lofts. The next iteration of the project, which just also just filed site plans, is called the Town Lake Lofts, a 13-story building (of which half will be devoted to parking). According to some Chinese-targeted marketing material, the project could stretch up to 24 stories, and will house about 124 apartment units.
It is rare to see a downtown Austin development pitch deck targeted at Chinese investors. The slides from the link above has me wondering if foreign investors are diversifying away from NYC and the Pacific northwest, and now looking at Austin as a safe place to store foreign wealth.
Brandywine plans shrine to the single occupant driver
Brandywines’ previously-announced development at 405 Colorado office building began pre-leasing in May, and just filed site plans at City Hall. Rather than attempt to camouflage the fact that most downtown buildings are 25% to 50% parking garage, the architects at Duda|Paine opted to just put it out there. However, they’ve got an interesting take on it, and a key part of the building’s marketing pitch will be the “sky lobby” on the 14th floor that caps the parking garage under it. They get an “A” for effort with the sky lobby hype on the website but I can’t help but grin inside the superfluous attempt to put lipstick on parking-pig.
Residential heading to West Sixth
A brand new project, of which we know little about yet, is a redevelopment across the street from Key Bar on West 6th. Breckenridge Multifamily South Austin Texas, LP has filed site plans at 612 West Sixth for a multi-family commercial building. The site was formerly home to the entertainment/eatery 219 West, and later became the restaurant Slate.
The existing structures will be demolished to make way for a new building with two levels of underground parking, ground floor retail and parking, and five levels of multi-family housing on floors 2 through 6. Will include typical Great Streets improvements to the sidewalk on West 6th Street.
(If anyone has a lead on renderings or project specs, tip your editor! We can keep it between us, unless you want credit for being in-the-know.)
West 6th Street
Micro-Housing planned at Ecology Action site.
You may have noticed Earth movers are out in force at the former Ecology Action site at 703 E. Ninth to demo the site. About a month ago DAB postulated that that micro-housing could be in store at the site. Well, I guess I should play the Lotto, because that’s what’s coming there. Sackman Enterprises, which is also developing 70 Rainey, plans a restaurant, retail, micro unit apartments, and below grade parking garage on approximately 0.75 acres located at 701-703 East Ninth. Sackman recently filed utility relocation plans with City Hall, so the project is definitely a go. The property is currently being used as a construction staging area for the Waller Creek Tunnel project on the west half, so the project timeline is probably uncertain. I’ve not seen any building blueprints or renderings yet, but I can confirm that the project will bring Great Street improvements. I’m excited and hopeful this is a very successful project that is harbinger of more micro-housing to come.
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