• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

TOWERS

Austin city life since 2007.

  • News
    • Condo Projects
    • Neighborhoods
  • Listings
    • Austin Condo Guide
  • Newsletter
Search
You are here: Home / News / The Republic Tower Rides Again
Search suggestions: condos for sale • rainey street

The Republic Tower Rides Again

James Rambin October 28, 2021 Comment

3D views of the Republic tower plan from its latest city permit filings. Image: Lincoln Property Company / Duda Paine / HKS

Downtown Austin saw a few projects fall through or downscale their ambitions significantly during the pandemic’s freshman and sophomore years, but after months of nail-biting we’re thrilled to report that the 48-floor Republic office tower planned by real estate giants Lincoln Property Company bringing 800,000 square feet of office space and 19,500 square feet of retail to a parking lot at 401 West Fourth Street just south of Republic Square is showing some serious signs of life — as it turns out, this project might actually be closer to moving forward than we thought.

Several downtown insiders have told us in the last few months that the tower plan is steaming ahead, but we’re not just relying on gossip — a large number of development permits related to the project were filed this week, with updates to the tower’s site plan recently approved after city review. While the tower still has a few mysteries up its sleeve, this new level of activity and the info therein is the most solid evidence in years that the Republic plan survived the pandemic intact, without even losing its approximate height of 710 feet as announced back in 2018.

Image: Lincoln Property Company / Duda Paine / HKS

The main question still floating around the Republic we pondered back in January was an update to the tower’s site plan mentioning the addition of what’s described as a museum use alongside its existing office and retail space. Considering the history of this specific site as an ultimately scrapped new location for the Austin Museum of Art (now known as the Contemporary Austin) back in the 1990s, which would have sported a design from iconic architecture duo Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, we’re curious to see if this addition somehow honors that legacy.

Image: Lincoln Property Company / Duda Paine / HKS

Anyway, we’re unabashed fans of this tower’s design from the folks at Duda Paine, a national architecture firm best known around here for the iconic Frost Bank Tower, not to mention more recent projects like the divisive but irrefutably striking 405 Colorado. With local help from Dallas-based architects HKS and landscape design from our friends at TBG Partners, the Republic would still cut an imposing figure on the skyline despite all the other towers announced since it first appeared on the scene in 2018.

Image: Lincoln Property Company / Duda Paine / HKS

Along with its striking faceted design and what appears to be some ace exterior lighting features, there’s a lot of placemaking potential in the tower’s 20,000-square-foot outdoor plaza facing Republic Square — the two spaces could possibly even connect as a contiguous public environment for events worthy of closing the stretch of East Fourth Street running between them, with the street itself bound for some significant pedestrian improvements as an axis of Project Connect. That’s a lot of balls in the air, but a symbiotic relationship between the tower, the gem of downtown public space at Republic Square, and the upcoming transit possibilities in between could really coalesce into a fabulous urban environment if pulled off correctly. 

An older view of Republic Square and the surrounding area — the Republic tower would rise from the large parking lot on the right. That’s the Hotel ZaZa / Gables Republic Square project under construction in the middle, with the Plaza Lofts on the left — Hanover Republic Square is now topped out behind that. Image: Downtown Austin Alliance

That’s looking a little further into the future than we’d prefer for this tower to celebrate its groundbreaking, and with these latest permits on the books it doesn’t sound like we’ll have to wait that long. Honestly, we’re just glad the Republic project’s still breathing — there’s no accounting for taste, but even with its 16-odd floors of parking that we’re destined to complain about until the city gets its act together and tweaks some rules, we think this tower’s looks and public potential could go toe-to-toe with anything currently planned downtown.

Editor's Suggested Posts

Downtown Austin's Republic Office Tower Gets a Surprise Height Increase

Downtown Austin's Republic Office Tower Gets a Surprise Height Increase

Here's The Republic, a 37-Story Office Tower Proposed at 308 Guadalupe

Here's The Republic, a 37-Story Office Tower Proposed at 308 Guadalupe

Atlanta Might See This Austin Tower Before Austin, Somehow

Atlanta Might See This Austin Tower Before Austin, Somehow

Related

Filed Under: News Tagged With: 78701, architecture, design, development, offices, placemaking, retail, streetscapes, towers

About James Rambin

James is an Austin native and fifth-generation Texan, but tries not to brag about it. Email him anything at james@towers.net.

603 Davis Street #604
Austin, TX
Photo of 603  Davis Street #604, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 2434110)
$649,900
10
  • Lot Size
    214 sqft

  • Home Size
    1,136 sqft

  • Beds
    2 Beds

  • Baths
    2 Baths

Previous Post: « Fourth & Brazos Is Downtown Austin’s Most Surprising New Office Tower Plan
Next Post: Take a Trip Through Time to the Austin of 1990 With These Home Videos »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  •  Schedule a showing

FEATURED Listings

603 Davis Street #604
Austin, TX
Photo of 603  Davis Street #604, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 2434110)
$649,900
10
  • Lot Size
    214 sqft

  • Home Size
    1,136 sqft

  • Beds
    2 Beds

  • Baths
    2 Baths

44 EAST Avenue #2310
Austin, TX
Photo of 44  EAST Avenue #2310, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 9418770)
$1,425,000
40
  • Lot Size

  • Home Size
    1,260 sqft

  • Beds
    2 Beds

  • Baths
    2 Baths

View Virtual Tour
44 East Avenue #1607
Austin, TX
Photo of 44  East Avenue #1607, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 3439383)
$1,250,000
36
  • Lot Size

  • Home Size
    1,221 sqft

  • Beds
    2 Beds

  • Baths
    2 Baths

View Virtual Tour
608 Brentwood Street #A
Austin, TX
Photo of 608  Brentwood Street #A, Austin, TX 78752 (MLS # 3202099)
$989,608
33
  • Lot Size
    4,356 sqft

  • Home Size
    1,959 sqft

  • Beds
    3 Beds

  • Baths
    3 Baths

501 West Avenue #2103
Austin, TX
Photo of 501  West Avenue #2103, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 4503529)
$2,895,000
40
  • Lot Size

  • Home Size
    2,822 sqft

  • Beds
    3 Beds

  • Baths
    4 Baths

austin condo report

Featured Buildings

  • 360 Condos
  • Austin City Lofts
  • The Independent
  • The Shore Condos
  • 70 Rainey

Footer

LEGAL NOTICE

TREC Information About Brokerage Services (pdf)

Texas Real Estate Commission Consumer Protection Notice


TOWERS realty

Austin Condos For Sale

Agents

Downtown Buildings

Luxury Towers

  • Four Seasons Residences
  • W Hotel & Residences
  • The Austonian
  • 5 Fifty Five at Hilton

Most Popular

  • The Shore
  • 360 Condos
  • Seaholm Condos
  • Spring Condos
  • Milago Condos

New Construction

  • The Independent
  • 70 Rainey
  • Austin Proper
  • Fifth & West

Loft Style

  • Austin City Lofts
  • Brazos Place
  • The Sabine
  • Plaza Lofts
  • Avenue Lofts
  • Brazos Lofts
  • Brown Building

Resources

  • Austin Condo Guide
  • Condos For Sale
  • Condo Buyer FAQ
  • Property Search

Featured

Archives

Newsletter · About · Contact Us · DMCA · Privacy Policy · SLAPP · Copyright © 2007-2022 TOWERS.net · All Rights Reserved
 

Loading Comments...