The history of the shopping center at the northeast corner of Ed Bluestein Boulevard and FM 969 — also known as 183 and East MLK Jr. Boulevard — ends before it begins. Known at various points of its non-development as East Pointe, Palm Square, and Journey Plaza, the effort to build a strip mall in…
city life
An Unsung Green Space Plans a Better Skyline View at West Austin Park
West Austin Park, located at 1317 West 10th Street just a few blocks west of downtown, isn’t one of Austin’s better-known outdoor destinations compared with the more cosmopolitan reputation of the nearby Pease Park — but despite looking a little rough around the edges, this three-acre neighborhood park dating back to 1930 has its own pleasant appeal…
Zephyr Condos, Not Montage, Build a Zilker Homage on South Lamar
This week, we’ve learned that the 182-unit condo project by local developers Pearlstone Partners currently under construction atop the site of a former used car lot at 2323 South Lamar Boulevard would not be called Montage after all — which is kinda funny, because I have an insulated tumbler sitting in my kitchen cabinet with that name on…
On Downtown’s Doorstep, Demolitions Discreetly Denote Development
We don’t mean to brag or nuthin’, but we’re usually pretty good at knowing what’s going on around downtown, development-wise. It’s our job, more or less. So it’s a fun little change of pace when something big is going down and we have no idea why — finally, the thrill of the unknown! That’s the…
Gaining 50 Floors and Saving a Dive Bar on South Congress Avenue
Although we were aware back in 2023 that New York-based megadeveloper the Related Companies was looking to redevelop a roughly six-acre collection of uninspiring properties at the corner of South Congress Avenue and West Riverside Drive, you never really know what that means until the renderings drop — and drop they did, in a late-breaking story last Friday…
Demolition Expected for Fifth and Lavaca Corner in Downtown Austin
The news this week that downtown ping pong bar Smash ATX had permanently closed at the southeast corner of West Fifth and Lavaca Streets didn’t come as a huge surprise to us considering the longstanding plans for a dual-branded Embassy Suites and Tempo by Hilton hotel with a combined 480 rooms in a 30-story tower at this site, but if…