North Loop VMU threatened by neighborhood folks

[M1EK]

What appears to me to be a very worthy VMU project for Koenig Lane (old Howard Nursery) is being threatened by some single-family-uber-alles types in Northfield and environs. Here's some other links:

The NNDL (northloop discussion list outside yahoo) archives - neighborhood immediately affected.

Skyview yahoo group (you may have to join) - neighborhood to the north.

The austin_urbanists yahoo group (I encourage everybody here to join).

[arbeiter]

I wrote a few responses on the blog...

[KevinFromTexas]

What project is this? How tall?

[arbeiter]

Oh god, it's probably less than 100 feet. it's 4 stories tall! it's insignificant.

[KevinFromTexas]

lol

Where is this exactly? Koenig and what?

[texastarkus]

This project is on Koenig Lane about 300 yards west of the railroad tracks. Howard Nursery is on the southwest corner of Koenig Lane and Ave F. What is interesting about this site is at one time this was the location of "Doc Hale's Airport." The metal building at the back of the Howard Nursery location is an old pre-WWII hanger. There might be some historical value to this property. For more info go to this site and scroll down to the Doc Hale airport article.
http://www.airfields-freeman.com/TX/...X_Austin_W.htm

[KevinFromTexas]

Geez. So they're ok with the ugly parking lot and warehouses, but not a 4-5 story ~70 foot building. Besides, half a mile away around Highland Mall are several lowrises around that same height. In fact, the tallest - the Radisson Hotel is 110 feet tall with 9 floors.

[arbeiter]

I'm so ticked off!

They deleted all of my responses. They were informed, not mean spirited and provided several alternate viewpoints. They simply whitewashed the whole thing. As someone who lived in that neighborhood, I'm totally offended. You guys gotta stick up for this and push the envelope!

[M1EK]

Originally Posted by arbeiter

I'm so ticked off!

They deleted all of my responses. They were informed, not mean spirited and provided several alternate viewpoints. They simply whitewashed the whole thing. As someone who lived in that neighborhood, I'm totally offended. You guys gotta stick up for this and push the envelope!

The ILoveNorthLoop guy deleted mine too - he said he only wanted stakeholder comment, although does not publicize that anywhere (so I would not be surprised if he left up non-'stakeholder' comments supporting him).

The NA supposedly voted down the variance last night. The developer had supposedly previously said they would not pursue without that variance support, so the project is likely dead.

[KevinFromTexas]

Actually, I doubt it would even be 70 feet tall. Probably more like 60. There are plenty of 60+ foot buildings all over North Austin. Even the Chase Bank "Tower" on Burnet Road by Northcross Mall is about 60 feet tall.

I think part of it is that a lot of these people have no idea what a 60 foot building looks like. They hear "60 feet tall" and think "Oh, god, it'll be huge!" This is why I'm such a height hound. Gathering building heights and listing them, not just new buildings, but ones that are even decades old will hopefully inform people about what is already there and what to expect when a new building comes along. This is why I wish the city had an open database of building information regarding heights so the public could get a feel for these heights and not freak out when a new one is proposed that is perfectly appropriate for the neighborhood, even in their eyes.

[M1EK]

Today's update: Endeavor has officially withdrawn from the contract for the property. The NNDL feed appears to have shut down (maybe they noticed non-residents were reading); Clay from ILoveNorthLoop is apparently deleting everything they don't like now (even from self-identified residents) and is still clueless about the lack of power of the NA to prevent a project from going forward which meets current zoning (like a set of restaurant pads).