This.
THIS. This building finally gets Austin. It wants to inform a better future. First of all, I love the design... It's trendy, extremely thin and something you could totally see getting built in SoHo in NYC. The Trump Tower in SoHo is about just as thin and stands out like this one will.
With The Avenue, the windows are cut into different sizes, which gives it variation. The white gives it a clean look. The small footprint means that apartments will be small by default (470-960 square feet). My studio in the Bowie is 448 SF and I love it. This building is selling a concept, and that is to live a more simplistic life in a smaller domain with less distraction. If you live in this building, your focus is right there in that general area.
Then throw in the fact that they're putting in a music venue. A big thing for me recently has been a desire to see new development incorporate a mixed-use "draw", which is an area Third + Shoal miserably fails. If you're going to subtract from the music fiber of Austin, it's necessary to replenish it. Thankfully the avenue covered Cielo.
And finally a building that is going to force people to conform to life without a car. I don't have a car and I live by the Metro Rapid 801 and 803. Add in some sort of light rail (I even think an elevated "L" system like Chicago has could work) and the city will be in even better shape. Ideally we'll have rail that will connect UT, the The Capitol, SoCo, and go out as far as the domain.
This building gets an
A+ 