AUSTIN Metro Update Thread

[drummer]

Originally Posted by The ATX

It's always been that way. I generally stay out of there. The same goes for the city discussion threads. Those threads often end up with forumers from the coasts and Rust Belt trolling or bashing Houston.

It's a shame too. Generally discussions on transportation alternatives/possibilities/pipe-dreams really interest me...and they're definitely necessary discussions for the future of our city. However, if those who make decisions have discussion like those (on that thread), it's no wonder nothing ever gets accomplished.

[Urbannizer]

Construction begins on Parmer Lane mixed-use project

Presidio, a mixed-use development east of Parmer Lane, will bring new office buildings, shops, restaurants, a hotel and an apartment complex to Cedar Park.

The project’s first phase includes development of about 26 acres located south of Ranch Trails Court. In early January construction began on one of two planned office buildings that will open by fall. Work will begin by spring on about 22,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Developers plan a 100-room hotel and a 320-unit luxury apartment complex. A timetable of construction dates is not yet available, Austin-based developer Riverside Resources associate Win Smith said.

[Urbannizer]

The Guad St. Lofts

The Guadalupe Street Lofts Mixed-Use Development will be one of the premiere developments in the city of San Marcos, Texas. The project will consist of 72 multi-family units totaling 112 bedrooms and 12,000 SF of commercial space available for lease.

[drummer]

YETI bound for Southwest Austin’s Lantana Ridge

Corporate headquarters may include jogging trail, rooftop deck, archery range

YETI Coolers LLC, an Austin-based cooler and drinkware company, plans to open its new headquarters in early 2017 in the to-be-built Lantana Ridge commercial development under construction at 7601 Southwest Parkway, Austin...

The new headquarters will encompass 175,000 square feet in two buildings with a 177-space underground parking garage, Johnston said.

http://communityimpact.com/austin/co...lantana-ridge/

[drummer]

Buda named fastest-growing Texas city of at least 10,000

The city of Buda grew 77.9 percent between 2010 and 2015, according to the Texas State Data Center, making it Texas’ fastest-growing city with a population of at least 10,000. As of Jan. 1, 2015, the city had a population of 12,979.

“Over the next few years, I anticipate the southern portion of the Austin metro to continue to grow substantially as there are still large undeveloped tracts of land in this portion of the I-35 corridor.”

http://communityimpact.com/austin/ci...y-least-10000/

[KevinFromTexas]

I work in Buda at a dog boarding kennel, and it definitely has grown over the last 5 years. And yeah, there's almost no disconnect now between South Austin and Buda. We take South First down to 1626, and then Old San Antonio Road down to Main Street in Buda. Business has picked up a lot at the kennel - up 200% since last year. I started out volunteering there, and ended up being offered a full time job. The City owns land on Main Street near the kennel, and they have plans to build a new city hall. We're anticipating it getting busier. They just finished a new huge apartment complex on Main Street, and there's more retail planned for the rest of the land.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

I work in Buda at a dog boarding kennel, and it definitely has grown over the last 5 years. And yeah, there's almost no disconnect now between South Austin and Buda. We take South First down to 1626, and then Old San Antonio Road down to Main Street in Buda. Business has picked up a lot at the kennel - up 200% since last year. I started out volunteering there, and ended up being offered a full time job. The City owns land on Main Street near the kennel, and they have plans to build a new city hall. We're anticipating it getting busier. They just finished a new huge apartment complex on Main Street, and there's more retail planned for the rest of the land.

A reverse commute - city to the suburbs. That's one way to lessen the rush hour mess.

[KevinFromTexas]

Yeah, and the drive is nice, especially now. On cool/cold mornings, steam rises off of Onion Creek as you cross it. The sun is always low enough that it just skims across the water lighting the steam. And the wildflowers right now are pretty awesome. It takes us about 25 minutes to get there and less on the weekend. The school zones are what drive up the drive time more than anything.

[drummer]

What will be interesting to me is the growth away from I-35 for Kyle and Buda. Looking on Google Earth, there does seem to be quite a bit of new development not immediately on the freeway. I personally hope that the majority of the growth will continue East instead of West for the sake of protecting the natural setting of the hills, etc. That would also be beneficial as 45S and 130 are there to help with that sort of growth. It seems that Hwy. 21 going out of San Marcos will also become a bigger player (eventually) with the growth in Kyle, in particular.

I do wonder if we'll hear more in the future of little towns like Creedmoor, Mustang Ridge, Niederwald, Uhland, Mendoza, etc., or if some of them will be swallowed up by other growth. I know that the town of Hebron in DFW was swallowed up either by Carrollton or Lewisville (can't remember which) - I think there is a single building that now represents that town. Not sure if it was simply never incorporated or what. Interesting nonetheless.

[lzppjb]

Now you're talking about my neck of the woods.

[JoninATX]

Round Rock starting construction on a 82 unit urban townhomes project.

https://communityimpact.com/austin/r...nhome-project/

[Mikey711MN]

https://communityimpact.com/austin/r...en-round-rock/

The Round Rock location will feature up to 1,000 guest rooms, indoor and outdoor water parks, and a convention center. The development will also include additional entertainment, recreation and other mixed uses on 334 acres on Hwy. 79 across from the Dell Diamond and Old Settlers Park, according to city documents.

For reference, here is a map of the original Kalahari resort in Wisconsin Dells (http://www.kalahariresorts.com/media...sortmap_wi.pdf), a town full of outdoor water parks where they were one of the first to create a year-round destination there.

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by Mikey711MN

https://communityimpact.com/austin/r...en-round-rock/



For reference, here is a map of the original Kalahari resort in Wisconsin Dells (http://www.kalahariresorts.com/media...sortmap_wi.pdf), a town full of outdoor water parks where they were one of the first to create a year-round destination there.

Interesting. 1000 rooms/100,00 sq ft of convention space is no joke. That's the size of the JW or Fairmont, plunked down in the center of Round Rock.

[the Genral]

Originally Posted by We vs us

Interesting. 1000 rooms/100,00 sq ft of convention space is no joke. That's the size of the JW or Fairmont, plunked down in the center of Round Rock.

Well, in the center of RR spawl perhaps. Dell Diamond is kind in between the sprawl. There's nothing but new subdivisions and fields where this would be going. There's nowhere for guests to walk to without crossing 79, and not much when they get there. A Salt Lick, Chicken restaurant, gas station, and seasonal Dell Diamond. Its a huge piece of land and the old Veteran who used to threaten the RR Express with a lawsuit because the Friday night home game fireworks gave him flashbacks, must be gone, but this would be a shitty destination spot, even if they build a spectacular water park. After a few days, I'd get the itch to explore but there would be nowhere to go, except Austin, which already has two 1000 room hotels with convention space and a convention center. I live just a few miles from this spot and I think built out, this would look odd and out of place. Its 10 to 15 minutes east of 35 depending if the traffic lights along the way are merciful. I wouldn't expect anything tall, perhaps 10 to 15 floors, and expect the nimby's to rear their ugly head.
You know they have no other place to put it, and RR has always had Austin envy, hence the over rated self proclaimed "Sports (adlib) center of the universe", so you know they are salavating to get this built, but then RR will have to live up to their own hype and I fear they might fail. I've lived here since '96 and I can tell you, visitors to this place will explore RR and find it has little to no town center and little to no charm. It does has a shit ton of shopping centers and sprawl, oh and Round Rock Donuts, and a bridge loaded with bats but no viewing area.
Better make this a 'Hotel California' or they may never come back...

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by the Genral

Well, in the center of RR spawl perhaps. Dell Diamond is kind in between the sprawl. There's nothing but new subdivisions and fields where this would be going. There's nowhere for guests to walk to without crossing 79, and not much when they get there. A Salt Lick, Chicken restaurant, gas station, and seasonal Dell Diamond. Its a huge piece of land and the old Veteran who used to threaten the RR Express with a lawsuit because the Friday night home game fireworks gave him flashbacks, must be gone, but this would be a shitty destination spot, even if they build a spectacular water park. After a few days, I'd get the itch to explore but there would be nowhere to go, except Austin, which already has two 1000 room hotels with convention space and a convention center. I live just a few miles from this spot and I think built out, this would look odd and out of place. Its 10 to 15 minutes east of 35 depending if the traffic lights along the way are merciful. I wouldn't expect anything tall, perhaps 10 to 15 floors, and expect the nimby's to rear their ugly head.
You know they have no other place to put it, and RR has always had Austin envy, hence the over rated self proclaimed "Sports (adlib) center of the universe", so you know they are salavating to get this built, but then RR will have to live up to their own hype and I fear they might fail. I've lived here since '96 and I can tell you, visitors to this place will explore RR and find it has little to no town center and little to no charm. It does has a shit ton of shopping centers and sprawl, oh and Round Rock Donuts, and a bridge loaded with bats but no viewing area.
Better make this a 'Hotel California' or they may never come back...

Will be very interesting to see how this shakes out. When you look at other Kalahari resorts, they are clustered with other attractions/waterparks (in Sandusky OH and the Wisconsin Dells, a Great Wolf Lodge is just down the road) and with destination shopping (outlet malls and the like). None of that is present in RR -- though there's plenty of room for it to be built between now and 2020 (target opening date for Kalahari).

I'm wondering if the bulk of their visitors are drivers -- 'cause they're seriously far from the aeropuerto.

[PartyLine]

Originally Posted by We vs us

Will be very interesting to see how this shakes out. When you look at other Kalahari resorts, they are clustered with other attractions/waterparks (in Sandusky OH and the Wisconsin Dells, a Great Wolf Lodge is just down the road) and with destination shopping (outlet malls and the like). None of that is present in RR -- though there's plenty of room for it to be built between now and 2020 (target opening date for Kalahari).

I'm wondering if the bulk of their visitors are drivers -- 'cause they're seriously far from the aeropuerto.

Round Rock has an Outlet Mall

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by We vs us

and with destination shopping (outlet malls and the like). None of that is present in RR

?

http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlet/round-rock/stores

Originally Posted by We vs us

I'm wondering if the bulk of their visitors are drivers -- 'cause they're seriously far from the aeropuerto.

Half an hour via 130.

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by Novacek

?

http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlet/round-rock/stores



Half an hour via 130.

No, I know. I misspoke. I meant not near the proposed site.

Because they're locating the Kalahari thingy in a relatively empty area, commercially speaking, it's obvious they're hoping it will drive development.

[drummer]

I think that if this comes in its current state, it will drive a lot of development. The location isn't horrible and there's a lot of empty space to fill in with relevant development.

[Tech House]

They're planning to spend upwards of a quarter BILLION $$ on this thing, so they must have quite an ambitious vision for what will become of that area.

I wonder if they looked into buying out Hawaiian Falls and attaching that to the larger vacant adjacent property. They'd have their outdoor features ready to go and would only need to develop the indoor portions, plus they'd eliminate a competitor. But they might need more land than that. The Hawaiian Falls owners must be weeping all over their well-worn Bibles after hearing about this. Seems to me that if Kalahari is done well and isn't significantly more expensive, it will doom HF, but I guess it's possible that HF could survive as a low-cost alternative, though they'd probably have to drop their prices and change their target demographics and come up with a different marketing strategy. Alternatively, they could get even MORE religious and then start rumors that Kalahari is run by devil worshippers. That's not very far-fetched if you're familiar with HF's "Jesus loves free-market evangelical capitalism" pitch. Put up more Bible quotes on the rides and offer group memberships to area churches. It's Texas, it could work.

The Austin area is going to be the Orlando of Texas, minus the occasional toddler-gobbling alligator and rampaging homophobic Islamic terrorist. We need to hang on to Formula One, it's just ahead of its time but its time will soon be here.