The Downtown Austin Condo Rumor Mill
February 04, 2009 22:06 Filed in: Development Watch
Over the last year, there has been an amazing flow of rumors about the major downtown Austin condo projects. Most of these rumors have been false. In particular, both the Austonian and W have been plagued with gossip that the projects were facing cancellation. Even in the last month, when construction patterns changed during the normal building process, rumors again started that the project would not be completed.
We've carefully researched these rumors -- including meeting with one of the Austonian developers --and are very comfortable that they are not true. The source of the rumors, for the most part, have been innocent assumptions by people who have been made hyper sensitive by the current crisis. With the housing market struggling, observers take any change as a sign of impending disaster.
The problem has become so acute that the Austonian today announced plans to move an office trailer and remove a crane -- both part of normal operations. The announcement was made to avoid another round of false rumors.
Here is a summary from the Austin Business Journal:
Developers of The Austonian are again warding off rumors of changes to the luxury condo’s plans as the construction team prepares to remove its trailers and a crane.
Bob Albanese, construction manager for The Austonian, confirmed that the project’s luffing crane, which transports items within a confined space, will be removed on Feb. 5 because it’s no longer needed. The tower crane, which reaches higher floors, will remain.
Albanse also said the construction trailers at the base of the project will be removed on Feb. 13 as Balfour Beatty Construction, the project’s contractor, moves its offices into a temporarily finished out space on the 7th floor of the parking garage.
Those changes are a routine part of the condo’s construction, Albanese emphasized, and rumors that the project will stop short of its planned 56 stories are untrue, he said.
This isn’t the first time the high-profile downtown condo project has been speculated as troubled. In August, Austonian developers held a news conference on the building’s 10th floor, unveiling renderings and offering assurances that the 56-story tower will be completed as planned.
We've carefully researched these rumors -- including meeting with one of the Austonian developers --and are very comfortable that they are not true. The source of the rumors, for the most part, have been innocent assumptions by people who have been made hyper sensitive by the current crisis. With the housing market struggling, observers take any change as a sign of impending disaster.
The problem has become so acute that the Austonian today announced plans to move an office trailer and remove a crane -- both part of normal operations. The announcement was made to avoid another round of false rumors.
Here is a summary from the Austin Business Journal:
Developers of The Austonian are again warding off rumors of changes to the luxury condo’s plans as the construction team prepares to remove its trailers and a crane.
Bob Albanese, construction manager for The Austonian, confirmed that the project’s luffing crane, which transports items within a confined space, will be removed on Feb. 5 because it’s no longer needed. The tower crane, which reaches higher floors, will remain.
Albanse also said the construction trailers at the base of the project will be removed on Feb. 13 as Balfour Beatty Construction, the project’s contractor, moves its offices into a temporarily finished out space on the 7th floor of the parking garage.
Those changes are a routine part of the condo’s construction, Albanese emphasized, and rumors that the project will stop short of its planned 56 stories are untrue, he said.
This isn’t the first time the high-profile downtown condo project has been speculated as troubled. In August, Austonian developers held a news conference on the building’s 10th floor, unveiling renderings and offering assurances that the 56-story tower will be completed as planned.