AUSTIN | Seaholm Residences | 341 FEET | 30 FLOORS | Complete

[KevinFromTexas]

Now that this is underway, I thought it should have its own thread for updates.

[H2O]

Cool, but it is well beyond site prep. There are actual foundations in the ground, and the power plant building is well underway.

[OtherKevin]

They are starting to make progress on the underground parking garage.

[JoninATX]

I can't for this thing to be above ground, as well as the new Library. It really is going go feel alot different once complete.

[smith_atx]

Wow, not messing around. It's gotten further than I realized.

[audiomuse]

Wow, this along with the GreenWater development is literally going to open up a new segment of downtown. Downtown is pretty small in area so any expansion is much welcomed.

I'm looking forward to more retail/restaurants being announced for the Seaholm Project. Looks like there's going to be a nice pedestrian shopping plaza.. I hope they can snag a clothing retail tenant.
The already announced Trader Joe's is going to bring more grocery options to downtown.. fantastic! This is the type of stuff we need to make the area feel like a real, living breathing urban area instead of just an office and nightlife district.

[lzppjb]

I bet we will see an HEB downtown sooner than later. They won't allow Trader Joe's to get a foothold without a fight.

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

I bet we will see an HEB downtown sooner than later. They won't allow Trader Joe's to get a foothold without a fight.

we don't need HEB, we have 7-11 on every significant street corner

[Syndic]

That power station is still holding the area back, I think; keeping it in its industrial past. Hopefully, the city of Austin finds a way to decommission it and move it somewhere else. Putting a fancy wall around it isn't a solution.

Also, personally, I'd love to see H-E-B set up a small urban store. It's our area's main grocer. Let people who come here experience it without having to leave downtown and go the suburbs.

[lzppjb]

I liked the downtown Loblaw's in Ottawa. You can enter at street level and go into the store, or you can park below ground and take the escalator up to street level inside the store. HEB could build a 2 or 3 story store on a smaller lot with some parking below ground in a similar fashion.

I know many would prefer no parking and more of a reliance on pedestrians in an urban setting, but I don't know if HEB would invest in an option without parking. It wouldn't make good business sense. Underground parking is better than a surface lot.

[Syndic]

For me to like it, the H-E-B would need to be the ground floor retail of a much larger building (a high-rise). A standalone H-E-B has no business being in downtown Austin (though maybe in West Campus it would work?). I also fear that an H-E-B with parking would create a logistical nightmare for downtown as everyone tried to get their groceries after work (in rush hour) and then exit/enter the parking garage at the same time. It would pretty much shut down the flow of traffic on whatever street it was on.

Whole Foods works because it has a big parking lot (and now a brand new parking garage next to it), but it's kind of outside of the main downtown area and I don't think we want any more parking lots in downtown.

[lzppjb]

Yep. Traffic would be an issue they'd have to consider.

[MightyYoda]

Would a HEB just east of 35 work? I mean an urban design and not standard model. Also possibly in the eventual redevelopment of AAS property. Especially if urban rail is built to eventually go through there like I have seen in renders.

[Global]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

I liked the downtown Loblaw's in Ottawa. You can enter at street level and go into the store, or you can park below ground and take the escalator up to street level inside the store. HEB could build a 2 or 3 story store on a smaller lot with some parking below ground in a similar fashion.

I know many would prefer no parking and more of a reliance on pedestrians in an urban setting, but I don't know if HEB would invest in an option without parking. It wouldn't make good business sense. Underground parking is better than a surface lot.

I used to shop at the Loblaws in Ottawa. The reason it works as a 3 story building with semi-underground parking is that the surrounding buildings are mostly low-rise with a few mid-rise….it doesn't feel out of place.

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by Global

I used to shop at the Loblaws in Ottawa. The reason it works as a 3 story building with semi-underground parking is that the surrounding buildings are mostly low-rise with a few mid-rise….it doesn't feel out of place.

That's true. There's not really any tall buildings around that Rideau area.

I was kind of imagining an HEB like Loblaws, but at the base of a highrise. I think it's doable.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by Syndic

...I also fear that an H-E-B with parking would create a logistical nightmare for downtown as everyone tried to get their groceries after work (in rush hour) and then exit/enter the parking garage at the same time. It would pretty much shut down the flow of traffic on whatever street it was on.

Whole Foods works because it has a big parking lot (and now a brand new parking garage next to it), but it's kind of outside of the main downtown area and I don't think we want any more parking lots in downtown.

Traffic would not be a "huge" concern with an urban H-E-B in CBD Austin. The City knows that if such a proposal came forth, they would have to treat it equally to how they did Whole Foods (or find themselves inthralled in a massive lawsuit).

Additionally, customers of Whole Food's who arrive in vehicles, have plenty of parking onsite (a little surface level and three block-sized levels of subterranean parking). I have yet to run into anyone who parks across or down the street. I work downtown and live near Lake Travis...Over the past 5+ years of commuting, I have rarely run into problems finding onsite parking at the downtown WF's; even in the evenings on the way home.

[Jdawgboy]

Of course this is all speculation but do we know if H-E-B is even planning a store for Downtown? In the past I remember seeing an article with a small blurb from an H-E-B official saying that they are interested in such a store but being interested isn't the same as actually planning it.

I would think at least in the short term that it's unlikely because H-E-B is probably focused on building their corporate Headquarters in DT SA. Plus a Trader Joes will be the next large grocery store and it won't be far from Whole Foods. It's probably going to shift the focus for a grocery store east of Congress Ave.

[corvairkeith]

The retail portion is coming along.



Looks like they are up to the 4th level of the parking garage.

[Jdawgboy]

You know I really wish the retail segment would be more than 2 floors. It is Downtown after all. Even if it was 5 or 6 floors, would be better than 2.

[KevinFromTexas]

There is a capitol view corridor that runs through there. If it had been any taller it would have blocked the view of the Capitol. In fact...and I've been meaning to show you guys this, but last month I took this photo from the Pfluger pedestrian bridge. The dome is already partially blocked by the retail building.