Downtown Austin Blog

Right now, I am of the belief that the TXDOT wheels have been greased by my neighbor.

Sheryl Cole - Place 6 incumbent Chris Riley - Place 1 candidate These days its pretty much unacceptable to not have a website if you are running a campaign. You should be able to do a Google search for “candidate’s name + city council” and your campaign page should be #1 or #2 on the search resu...

Now that the AMOA museum tower and the bazillion room Marriott are on indefinite hold, an unexpected opportunity has opened up for Downtown Austin’s proposed 21c museum/hotel/residences to consider pushing forward.  21c is making the mass-media rounds as of late.  Last week 21c was featured on N...

by jude galligan 21c museum residences Austin’s 21c museum residences and hotel may be on hold for now, but this morning NPR gave a glowing review of the original concept in Louisville, Kentucky. The NPR story incorrectly states that the Austin 21c is under construction; however, Marriott’s deci...

How Buildings Learn by Stewart Brand Last year I purged my book shelves by giving away hundreds of books I’ve collected over the years.  I kept a dozen, or so, that were too significant to give up.   Since it’s been a slow news week for Downtown Austin, I thought I would use this time to recomme...

Site of Downtown Austin's new Central Libary Lake Flato has been awarded the design contract for Downtown Austin’s new Central Library.  They’ve got $90MM to work with to build 250,000 square feet by 2013. Below is an estimated timeline for the new Central Library project: May 2009 ~ Citizen/Sta...

Site of Downtown Austin's new Central Libary Lake Flato has been awarded the design contract for Downtown Austin’s new Central Library.  They’ve got $90MM to work with to build 250,000 square feet by 2013. Below is an estimated timeline for the new Central Library project: May 2009 ~ Citizen/Sta...

This past Sunday I caught an impromptu glance at the Commuter Rail Train parked at the downtown station.  Up close, the trains are beautiful.  Compared to a subway trains, or if you’ve ever seen the NJ-transit trains, Austin’s commuter rail looks like a Mercedes.  When I arrived, there were about...

Part 1 of the chronology of City of Austin v. Harry Whittington 17k square feet of retail at 5th & Sabine held hostage by legal battles 17,000 square feet of empty retail space rests at the base of the Convention Center’s parking garage. This retail space has the potential to add vibrancy and day...

While West 6th became restaurant row, the building located at 609 w 6th, 78701 has been siting idle for the past few years.  Recently activity has been buzzing. wine and beer only We’ve seen a construction crew slowly converting this old building into something new.  I’ve heard that the building...