Austin | The Republic | 710 Feet | 47 Floors | U/C

[NYC2ATX]

If they have the opportunity to develop something taller on the back lot that would be great but personally I don't see this as a disaster. They could build some townhomes on the remaining land and if they were nice I'd be happy. That area has a great burgeoning streetscape, especially with the ongoing reconstruction of 3rd street.

Lest we forget, there's still a prime opportunity to go tall on the post office lot north of Republic Square, and then that would give a great rising effect from the Silicon Labs to Amli to this to that.

Also, I wouldn't worry about a flat, monochromatic skyline here. The buildings we already have are mostly very unique and, well, it's Texas. BIG always wins out in the end..

[GoldenBoot]

This is the government about which we are talking. The "design" of this structure will not be appealing to most posters on this board. Remember, they were afraid of a PPP and are doing everything they can to cut costs on this building so it would pass a bond election. How can one realistically believe this building will be beautiful. Heck, the floor plates are HUGE (over 37,000 SF).

As a citizen of Travis county I plan on voting this bond down in the hope that it will force the county to look at other financing options...including re-examining the possibility of a PPP (in which countless examples exist).

Just by comparison...would you like a 14-story, 520,000 SF squatty building or this (a 44-story, 660', mixed use tower with 528,000 SF of office and a 184-room luxury hotel)?

There are a myriad of other examples...

I hope others will vote the bond down. Watch...I would not be surprised if the county attaches something else to the bond to entice voters to vote "yes!"

[Tech House]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

As a citizen of Travis county I plan on voting this bond down in the hope that it will force the county to look at other financing options...including re-examining the possibility of a PPP (in which countless examples exist).

Pardon my ignorance, but I voted already and don't recall any bond issue besides the rail/road proposal and the state funds amendment. Did I miss something or is this coming in a future election?

Also, I agree with you about the problem of government entities constructing dreary, bulky, foreboding monoliths, and entire zones like our own Capitol district appear inimical to human life. I call it "Stalinist architecture" only because some of it reminds me of pictures I've seen of Soviet-era planned cities in Siberia. Oh, the humanity! But what I wonder is, how likely is it that a PPP would result in something superior, and do you know of any current efforts to create such a partnership for purposes of utilizing that block? Where do I sign up? Where do I send my letters?

Edit: 2 minutes later, it all came back to me. The ACC bonds and so forth... mixed in there was something about a courthouse, IIRC, and I voted yes on those because I had not investigated the courthouse issue sufficiently. In the immortal words of Rick Perry, "Oops."

[lzppjb]

The title of the article says it'll be on the May ballot.

[KevinFromTexas]

I like Goldenboot's idea of voting against it to encourage them to go the public private partnership route, but my worry (fear) is they'll sell the block back or hold on to it and purchase some other older building with enough space to satisfy their needs or to tie them over for a while.

I really want the best development we can, too. My vision for it would be a ~300 foot courthouse and a 700 to 800 foot private development with either residential, hotel or office space. Both buildings should be wrapped with retail.

[AusTxDevelopment]

Originally Posted by Tech House

But what I wonder is, how likely is it that a PPP would result in something superior, and do you know of any current efforts to create such a partnership for purposes of utilizing that block? Where do I sign up? Where do I send my letters?

As for how likely a PPP would result in something superior - who knows. But they sure did whet our appetites with that 2011 Travis County Central Campus Study that had various options for the PPP. Below is my favorite because the private tower is the tallest of the 4 options. This was just a concept created for the study to sell the commissioners on the idea. It would have been nice tho.

[KevinFromTexas]

As I remember that one was 72 floors I believe. That option is probably close to 1,000 feet actually. The W Hotel is 472 to the mechanical penthouse and 467 feet to the main roof, and that tower appears more than twice as tall as the W is. The building scale heights of the other buildings look good to me, too, so that's probably accurate.

[ATXboom]

Originally Posted by Syndic

The truth is, it's a waste of money to have the courthouse in downtown. Maybe people will realize that and vote against it?

I don't agree. Law is an ecosystem. Police, lawyers etc all need to be near courts. Take courts out of downtown and you lose 30% of office leases. We want courts downtown so that the people that work there and are served there walk downtown and are part of our urban fabric.

[KevinFromTexas]

Yeah, that's a good point, ATXboom.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by ATXboom

I don't agree. Law is an ecosystem. Police, lawyers etc all need to be near courts. Take courts out of downtown and you lose 30% of office leases. We want courts downtown so that the people that work there and are served there walk downtown and are part of our urban fabric.

30%? That's a bit of an exaggeration. We're discussing local entities (city, county, etc). I do not think the local courts and all of its ancillary office space account for more than 3 million SF of downtown Austin's available space. Maybe if you include state and federal space you may approach (or surpass) the 3 million mark.

Just thought that was off...I may be incorrect, however.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

...my worry (fear) is they'll sell the block back or hold on to it and purchase some other older building with enough space to satisfy their needs or to tie them over for a while.

I think we would want them to sell it! I don't think the county is in a financial position to hold the property and buy or build something somewhere else. They've already thrown over $22 million at this site.

The fear might be having all these courts in the same area hurting the value of the surrounding properties. A possible PPP for the other parcel on the proposed site may disappear should the value of the land decrease (i.e., the developer's margin would be too small). However, one might bite. And they would not be one interested in constructing a "tall" tower.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

30%? That's a bit of an exaggeration. We're discussing local entities (city, county, etc). I do not think the local courts and all of its ancillary office space account for more than 3 million SF of downtown Austin's available space. Maybe if you include state and federal space you may approach (or surpass) the 3 million mark.

Just thought that was off...I may be incorrect, however.

I think he's including private law firms that have downtown offices that are no doubt related to the subject of the courts. That's why I agreed with him. There are several large office buildings downtown that mainly cater to law firms. Law firms like downtown high rise space. I remember visiting one on the 65th floor of Dallas' Bank of America Plaza for instance.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

I think he's including private law firms that have downtown offices that are no doubt related to the subject of the courts. That's why I agreed with him. There are several large office buildings downtown that mainly cater to law firms. Law firms like downtown high rise space. I remember visiting one on the 65th floor of Dallas' Bank of America Plaza for instance.

I obviously didn't explain my comment very well.

Furthermore, this is all a mute point. Travis county is NOT going to build it's court building in Pflugerville (or the like). It may be out of the core; but, it will still be central.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.myfoxaustin.com/story/274...house-revealed

Plan for new courthouse revealed

Posted: Nov 18, 2014 11:52 AM CST
Updated: Nov 18, 2014 1:10 PM CST

Nearly $300 million. That's how much money it will take to build a new courthouse in downtown Austin. This morning, Travis County Commissioners laid out how they plan to pay for the project.

The new building is to handle the growing number of civil and family cases.

It's being designed as a 14 story structure with 28 new courtrooms.

The goal is to open the new courthouse in 2018.

[AusTxDevelopment]

Bond amount set for the TCCC building:

Austin Business Journal
Travis County Courthouse bond size set
http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/ne...-size-set.html

[_Matt]

The project team is presenting to DANA tomorrow. The general feeling is that DANA would not support the plan without guaranteed retail at street level.

[Jdawgboy]

I'm glad DANA is pushing for retail and street interaction. I too will vote no if the county doesn't compromise On the issue.

[ChrisBBradford]

AustinTowers. http://austintowers.net/new-travis-c...n-underwhelms/

Not encouraging.

[JoninATX]

I would vote no after seeing this. It does nothing but add a "dead zone" to the area.

[The ATX]

I don't think retail has any chance of happening in today's security first world. My only excitement about this project has/had been the private tower proposal.