Downtown Life
360 Retail, Lance Armstrong Bike Store to Open
June 02, 2008 01:26 Filed in: Development
Watch
According to the Statesman, four new businesses will
move into retail spaces on the ground floor of the
nearly complete 360 project on 4th and Nueces:
* Blue Café Bar Lounge will open in an 1,100-square-foot space in June. The European-influenced shop will feature coffee drinks, lunch items, desserts and wine among other items.
* Lora Reynolds Gallery will move from its current space on West Avenue to an 1,800-square-foot space at 360 in the fall. The gallery, which opened in 2004, features nationally and internationally recognized artists. It organizes six to eight shows annually, and has promoted gallery artists through a number of platforms including published catalogs and placement in public and private collections.
* Mulberry is the brainchild of local entrepreneur Michael Polombo and designer Michael Hsu. The shop slated to open in July will feature a variety of light cuisine in a neighborhood restaurant and wine bar format.
* Royal Blue Grocery will open its second location at 360. The compact urban market's first location is in Austin's Second Street District. The 1,900-square-foot store -- a hybrid of sorts between a convenience store and gourmet grocery -- will welcome its first customers in August.
With these tenants, 7,909 square feet remain unrented, the highlight of which is a 3,300-square-foot restaurant space overlooking Shoal Creek.
Just a block away - on Nueces between 4th and 5th-- Lance Armstrong's new bike store / coffee house / commuter hub is also opening. The store, named Mellow Johnny's, is certain to be a major downtown destination. According to Austin 360:
Lance Armstong's Mellow Johnny's Store is one block north of 360
* Blue Café Bar Lounge will open in an 1,100-square-foot space in June. The European-influenced shop will feature coffee drinks, lunch items, desserts and wine among other items.
* Lora Reynolds Gallery will move from its current space on West Avenue to an 1,800-square-foot space at 360 in the fall. The gallery, which opened in 2004, features nationally and internationally recognized artists. It organizes six to eight shows annually, and has promoted gallery artists through a number of platforms including published catalogs and placement in public and private collections.
* Mulberry is the brainchild of local entrepreneur Michael Polombo and designer Michael Hsu. The shop slated to open in July will feature a variety of light cuisine in a neighborhood restaurant and wine bar format.
* Royal Blue Grocery will open its second location at 360. The compact urban market's first location is in Austin's Second Street District. The 1,900-square-foot store -- a hybrid of sorts between a convenience store and gourmet grocery -- will welcome its first customers in August.
With these tenants, 7,909 square feet remain unrented, the highlight of which is a 3,300-square-foot restaurant space overlooking Shoal Creek.
Just a block away - on Nueces between 4th and 5th-- Lance Armstrong's new bike store / coffee house / commuter hub is also opening. The store, named Mellow Johnny's, is certain to be a major downtown destination. According to Austin 360:
Besides road bikes, Mellow Johnny's will sell commuter bikes, mountain bikes, triathlon bikes, fixed-gear bikes, low-riders, cruiser-style bikes and even hand-made "art bikes" that look as good hanging on a wall as they do rolling down the street. Stock will also include gear by Giro, Nike and Oakley.Showers and a locker room will allow commuters who don't have facilities at their offices to ride downtown, store their bikes at the shop, bathe and catch a ride on a pedicab or walk the rest of the way to work.The building covers 18,000 square feet on a main floor and basement level and will have garage doors that roll open at one end. The site has served as a distribution center for Pearl beer, a paint company, a steel manufacturing facility and a resource center for the homeless. Demolition work began in June, and construction inside the shop started two weeks ago. Armstrong and his partners are leasing the property from an undisclosed owner.
Lance Armstong's Mellow Johnny's Store is one block north of 360
The Next Big Downtown Change: 5 Proposals for Green Water Treatment Site Revealed
May 11, 2008 23:21 Filed in: News
This week, five proposals were released for the
redevelopment of the sweeping Green Water Treatment
Plant site between Seaholm and the Second Street
District.
Nestled between Whole Foods, Ladybird Lake, Seaholm, Austin Music Hall, and the 2nd Street District is the City's oldest sewage treatment plant - the Thomas C. Green Water Treatment Plant - which began purifying water from Ladybird lake in 1925. The plant covers 6 acres across 4 city blocks. In addition to using a key tract of land to process water using 1920's technology, the plant also serves to disrupt the natural grid of the city -- it stops second street at its west end and blocks Nueces and Rio Grande from reaching Cesar Chavez.
The Green site offers an incredible development opportunity. With four downtown blocks, it is a huge chunk of land. The location is perfect -- it is on the lake and adjacent to both the hot second street district and the future Seaholm multi-use development. The site is free of Capital View Corridor restrictions, although portions of the site close to the lake are limited to 45 feet in height.
The plant, which is located between Cesar Chavez and Third streets between Seaholm and San Antonio is about to be decommissioned to make way for a new development. This week, the city released basic details on five proposals for redevelopment of the site. Once complete, the new development will likely add retail, housing, and office space while filling in the missing streets on the city grid.
Here are sample renderings from each of the proposals. It's an amazing set, they provide a vision of an important new urban district near the center of downtown Austin:
Larry Speck/PIRATE DESIGN
MITHUN
CATELLUS DEVELOPMENT GRO
BOSSE AND TURNER ARCHITECTS
COTERA AND REED ARCHITECTS
No matter who wins, here are some of the changes that are likely in store for the site when construction begins in 2010 or 2011:
- About 1,000 new apartments and condominiums including many affordably-priced units. While there are many condo and apartment projects currently under construction - and a few that have been cancelled -- demand remains very strong for central, affordable units. All proposals would include more than 100 units priced to be affordable for a family earning approximately $57,000.
- Multiple high-rise towers with downtown retail and restaurant space which will expand the thriving 2nd Street District.
- Lots of office space -- an important part of the downtown mix that has been largely ignored by the current building boom.
- The various proposals include many interesting elements such as a large downtown H-E-B., a movie theater, a major bookstore, a senior assisted-living center, a waterfront park, large hotels
Here is a summary of the individual proposals from the Statesman:
The proposals made by Catellus Development, Forest City, Simmons Vedder Partners, Stratus Properties, Trammell Crow and their respective partners have some things in common. But each also has elements unique to its plan. "Each one of the five has something that is different from the others, that's distinct to that proposal," Council Member Brewster McCracken said. "It's really amazing."
Trammell Crow and partners Constructive Ventures and USAA Real Estate Co. propose the biggest and tallest buildings with the most parking. Their plan also includes the most diverse uses, with space for a 350,000-square-foot hotel and a 250-unit senior assisted living facility in addition to condos, apartments, offices and retail businesses. Five public gathering spaces could accommodate as many as 2,700 people.
Stratus Properties' proposal includes a two-story H-E-B grocery store, with H.E. Butt Grocery Co. serving as a limited partner in the project.
"We think H-E-B being a full-service grocery store is something everybody can afford, it helps every one of those retailers in the area and it makes residential more viable," said the team's attorney, Steve Drenner.
A movie theater and bookstore would also help drive more traffic to the Second Street retail district.
Stratus and partner AMLI Residential are proposing the largest number of rental units, which they say would let them offer housing in a greater range of prices, and they plan to offer medical office space not found downtown. Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, a partnership of Canyon Capital Realty Advisors and Magic Johnson Enterprises, is also a part of this team.
Simmons Vedder proposes a waterfront art park and four bridges over Shoal Creek, including two for pedestrians only.
This team, which includes Cotera + Reed Architects and Bury + Partners Engineering Solutions, also proposes to essentially turn the buildings into power plants by installing solar panels in the skins of its towers. It plans to use water collected from the condensation of air conditioners to flush the toilets.
Catellus Development has proposed a primarily residential project with 500,000 square feet of office space and nearly 200,000 square feet of retail. But the company is also offering to collaborate with city leaders and the community to develop a final master plan for the property that could differ significantly from its initial proposal.
"We're going to present something we think is really neat, dynamic, progressive and all of that, but with that said, if we are selected we're going to say, 'Let's go out and spend time and hear from the city what they really want and hear from stakeholders what they really want,' " Catellus President Greg Weaver said.
Forest City, which is partnering with Novare Group and Andrews Urban, emphasizes public spaces with a grand plaza at Second and Nueces streets complete with a fountain and transplanted moon tower. A grand staircase inspired by the Spanish Steps in Rome would connect the plaza to the trail along Shoal Creek, which would run from the Austin Energy site north of Third Street to Lady Bird Lake.
Nestled between Whole Foods, Ladybird Lake, Seaholm, Austin Music Hall, and the 2nd Street District is the City's oldest sewage treatment plant - the Thomas C. Green Water Treatment Plant - which began purifying water from Ladybird lake in 1925. The plant covers 6 acres across 4 city blocks. In addition to using a key tract of land to process water using 1920's technology, the plant also serves to disrupt the natural grid of the city -- it stops second street at its west end and blocks Nueces and Rio Grande from reaching Cesar Chavez.
The Green site offers an incredible development opportunity. With four downtown blocks, it is a huge chunk of land. The location is perfect -- it is on the lake and adjacent to both the hot second street district and the future Seaholm multi-use development. The site is free of Capital View Corridor restrictions, although portions of the site close to the lake are limited to 45 feet in height.
The plant, which is located between Cesar Chavez and Third streets between Seaholm and San Antonio is about to be decommissioned to make way for a new development. This week, the city released basic details on five proposals for redevelopment of the site. Once complete, the new development will likely add retail, housing, and office space while filling in the missing streets on the city grid.
Here are sample renderings from each of the proposals. It's an amazing set, they provide a vision of an important new urban district near the center of downtown Austin:
Larry Speck/PIRATE DESIGN
MITHUN
CATELLUS DEVELOPMENT GRO
BOSSE AND TURNER ARCHITECTS
COTERA AND REED ARCHITECTS
No matter who wins, here are some of the changes that are likely in store for the site when construction begins in 2010 or 2011:
- About 1,000 new apartments and condominiums including many affordably-priced units. While there are many condo and apartment projects currently under construction - and a few that have been cancelled -- demand remains very strong for central, affordable units. All proposals would include more than 100 units priced to be affordable for a family earning approximately $57,000.
- Multiple high-rise towers with downtown retail and restaurant space which will expand the thriving 2nd Street District.
- Lots of office space -- an important part of the downtown mix that has been largely ignored by the current building boom.
- The various proposals include many interesting elements such as a large downtown H-E-B., a movie theater, a major bookstore, a senior assisted-living center, a waterfront park, large hotels
Here is a summary of the individual proposals from the Statesman:
The proposals made by Catellus Development, Forest City, Simmons Vedder Partners, Stratus Properties, Trammell Crow and their respective partners have some things in common. But each also has elements unique to its plan. "Each one of the five has something that is different from the others, that's distinct to that proposal," Council Member Brewster McCracken said. "It's really amazing."
Trammell Crow and partners Constructive Ventures and USAA Real Estate Co. propose the biggest and tallest buildings with the most parking. Their plan also includes the most diverse uses, with space for a 350,000-square-foot hotel and a 250-unit senior assisted living facility in addition to condos, apartments, offices and retail businesses. Five public gathering spaces could accommodate as many as 2,700 people.
Stratus Properties' proposal includes a two-story H-E-B grocery store, with H.E. Butt Grocery Co. serving as a limited partner in the project.
"We think H-E-B being a full-service grocery store is something everybody can afford, it helps every one of those retailers in the area and it makes residential more viable," said the team's attorney, Steve Drenner.
A movie theater and bookstore would also help drive more traffic to the Second Street retail district.
Stratus and partner AMLI Residential are proposing the largest number of rental units, which they say would let them offer housing in a greater range of prices, and they plan to offer medical office space not found downtown. Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, a partnership of Canyon Capital Realty Advisors and Magic Johnson Enterprises, is also a part of this team.
Simmons Vedder proposes a waterfront art park and four bridges over Shoal Creek, including two for pedestrians only.
This team, which includes Cotera + Reed Architects and Bury + Partners Engineering Solutions, also proposes to essentially turn the buildings into power plants by installing solar panels in the skins of its towers. It plans to use water collected from the condensation of air conditioners to flush the toilets.
Catellus Development has proposed a primarily residential project with 500,000 square feet of office space and nearly 200,000 square feet of retail. But the company is also offering to collaborate with city leaders and the community to develop a final master plan for the property that could differ significantly from its initial proposal.
"We're going to present something we think is really neat, dynamic, progressive and all of that, but with that said, if we are selected we're going to say, 'Let's go out and spend time and hear from the city what they really want and hear from stakeholders what they really want,' " Catellus President Greg Weaver said.
Forest City, which is partnering with Novare Group and Andrews Urban, emphasizes public spaces with a grand plaza at Second and Nueces streets complete with a fountain and transplanted moon tower. A grand staircase inspired by the Spanish Steps in Rome would connect the plaza to the trail along Shoal Creek, which would run from the Austin Energy site north of Third Street to Lady Bird Lake.
Arthouse Announces Striking Downtown Expansion Plan
March 19, 2008 23:34 Filed in: Development
Watch
Arthouse, a downtown contemporary art museum located
on Congress and 7th, today announced plans to remodel
and expand their downtown galleries and educational
facilities. According to Arthouse, "The plans --
developed by Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis, New York-based
architects, the Board’s Building Committee and Staff
-- will triple total space from 7,000 sq. ft. to
20,830 sq.ft."
Arthouse (formerly the Texas Fine Arts Association) was founded in 1911, and for more than ninety years it has advocated for the support of contemporary art in Texas, organizing exhibitions and presenting them in Austin and statewide. From its home, the Jones Center in downtown Austin, Arthouse pursues its mission: to promote the growth and appreciation of contemporary art and artists in Texas. The museum is well respected for its innovative exhibits and programs.
With the $6.6 million renovation and expansion, the project will “recycle” the current building which in the 1920’s was the Queen Theater, a key part of the Queen/Paramount/State theater “block,” and in the 1950’s became a Lerner Shops department store. Three new galleries, two artists’ studios, a 90-seat community/screening room, and a 5,500 sq. ft. rooftop space with a 33 foot x 17 foot movie screen will be added.
The highlight of the Arthouse project is the innovative architecture of the renovated structure. The striking building features randomly placed green translucent bricks, a modern awning reminiscent of the building's department store past, large glass windows including live projections on the upper floor, and a dramatic rooftop deck with an open air movie theater. The main space on the second floor also doubles as a large screening room.
The Arthouse project follows Austin Museum of Arts recent announcement of a new free-standing 40,000 square foot museum and a separate 425,000 square foot 30-story office tower on the current lot at West Fourth & Guadalupe. Together, these projects mark an exciting expansion of downtown arts options. With regular events, gallery openings, and now rooftop movies, these venues will continue to thrive as cornerstones of the emerging downtown cultural scene.
Arthouse (formerly the Texas Fine Arts Association) was founded in 1911, and for more than ninety years it has advocated for the support of contemporary art in Texas, organizing exhibitions and presenting them in Austin and statewide. From its home, the Jones Center in downtown Austin, Arthouse pursues its mission: to promote the growth and appreciation of contemporary art and artists in Texas. The museum is well respected for its innovative exhibits and programs.
With the $6.6 million renovation and expansion, the project will “recycle” the current building which in the 1920’s was the Queen Theater, a key part of the Queen/Paramount/State theater “block,” and in the 1950’s became a Lerner Shops department store. Three new galleries, two artists’ studios, a 90-seat community/screening room, and a 5,500 sq. ft. rooftop space with a 33 foot x 17 foot movie screen will be added.
The highlight of the Arthouse project is the innovative architecture of the renovated structure. The striking building features randomly placed green translucent bricks, a modern awning reminiscent of the building's department store past, large glass windows including live projections on the upper floor, and a dramatic rooftop deck with an open air movie theater. The main space on the second floor also doubles as a large screening room.
The Arthouse project follows Austin Museum of Arts recent announcement of a new free-standing 40,000 square foot museum and a separate 425,000 square foot 30-story office tower on the current lot at West Fourth & Guadalupe. Together, these projects mark an exciting expansion of downtown arts options. With regular events, gallery openings, and now rooftop movies, these venues will continue to thrive as cornerstones of the emerging downtown cultural scene.
New Businesses to Open on 2nd Street
January 28, 2008 21:46 Filed in: News
The 2nd Street district is quickly becoming the heart
of Austin. Even with just one real city-like block,
the 2nd street district is full of life and energy
--- both during the day and during the night.
One of the reasons for the success of the 2nd Street district is the centralized leasing strategy which groups all 44 retail locations in AMLI downtown, the CSC building, the Silicon Labs Building, and in City Hal under the control of a central leasing authority currently managed by AMLl. By centrally managing leasing, the district has been able to limit chain businesses while building a diverse collection of retail stores and restaurants that bring life to the neighborhood. As the district grows in size, it show only become stronger.
With the coming completion of the AMLI on 2nd rental tower between San Antonio & Guadalupe, a number of new businesses are soon to open on 2nd Street and in the surrounding blocks that form the district.
IMAGE: New AMLI on 2nd Tower Extends the 2nd Street District
The completion of the AMLI tower will bring 11 new retail businesses while bringing new life to the 7 businesses in the Silicon Labs building across the street. So far, 7 out of the 11 new retail locations in the AMLI Tower have been leased. They include the following new business which will soon appear on 2nd street. in fact, a couple—such as St. Bernard Sports—have already opened. The new 2nd Street businesses include:
- Z Pizza - An new downtown pizza restaurant
- Málaga - A Tapas restaurant which is moving from 4th street
- Minx
- La Condesa
- Kirk Furniture - A local vintage furniture store
- St. Bernard Sports - A Sporting Goods Store on 3rd street
- Dr Shane Matt -- Appears to be a dentist office
In addition, a few additional businesses are set to open soon throughout the district:
- Taste Select Wines
- Beyond Traditions Jewelry
- Mama Fu's - A local Asian Food Chain
With these additions, 42 of 55 of the retail stores in the 2nd Street District are now occupied. As new buildings such as the expansive Block 21 complex a W Hotel & Residences completed the street, the 2nd Street District will continue to shift Austin's center of gravity in its direction.
One of the reasons for the success of the 2nd Street district is the centralized leasing strategy which groups all 44 retail locations in AMLI downtown, the CSC building, the Silicon Labs Building, and in City Hal under the control of a central leasing authority currently managed by AMLl. By centrally managing leasing, the district has been able to limit chain businesses while building a diverse collection of retail stores and restaurants that bring life to the neighborhood. As the district grows in size, it show only become stronger.
With the coming completion of the AMLI on 2nd rental tower between San Antonio & Guadalupe, a number of new businesses are soon to open on 2nd Street and in the surrounding blocks that form the district.
IMAGE: New AMLI on 2nd Tower Extends the 2nd Street District
The completion of the AMLI tower will bring 11 new retail businesses while bringing new life to the 7 businesses in the Silicon Labs building across the street. So far, 7 out of the 11 new retail locations in the AMLI Tower have been leased. They include the following new business which will soon appear on 2nd street. in fact, a couple—such as St. Bernard Sports—have already opened. The new 2nd Street businesses include:
- Z Pizza - An new downtown pizza restaurant
- Málaga - A Tapas restaurant which is moving from 4th street
- Minx
- La Condesa
- Kirk Furniture - A local vintage furniture store
- St. Bernard Sports - A Sporting Goods Store on 3rd street
- Dr Shane Matt -- Appears to be a dentist office
In addition, a few additional businesses are set to open soon throughout the district:
- Taste Select Wines
- Beyond Traditions Jewelry
- Mama Fu's - A local Asian Food Chain
With these additions, 42 of 55 of the retail stores in the 2nd Street District are now occupied. As new buildings such as the expansive Block 21 complex a W Hotel & Residences completed the street, the 2nd Street District will continue to shift Austin's center of gravity in its direction.