Texas Capitol Complex & North Austin Complex Projects Update Thread

[ToTheSky]

Originally Posted by The ATX

I was wondering that too. The crane was assembled on Friday and left fully erect Friday night; then disassembled and trucked off on Saturday. The crane pieces were moved out of view to the right of the webcam. So the pieces may be for 1836 San Jacinto like Jon said.

That's exactly what they were for. I could see the crane being erected yesterday evening around 6:30 as I was driving home. That's really odd that they erected one of the 1801 Congress cranes, then dismantled it. It's kind of cool that it could be that there are so many cranes coming to this part of town that it's confusing where they're supposed to set up and when! If you think about the two or three square miles around 1801 Congress, there are a lot of cranes that will dotting the landscape. Will look like a midrise version of downtown Miami circa 2005/2006.

[ToTheSky]

Got a pic of the crane going up while on my lunch break.

20190822_111914 by Richard Anderson, on Flickr

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by ToTheSky

It's kind of cool that it could be that there are so many cranes coming to this part of town that it's confusing where they're supposed to set up and when! If you think about the two or three square miles around 1801 Congress, there are a lot of cranes that will dotting the landscape. Will look like a midrise version of downtown Miami circa 2005/2006.

It looks like we might have 12 cranes up at one time in this area.

3 - South Campus (including DKR)
1- 1836 San Jacinto
1 - Alexan
2 - Huston (going up in September)
2 - 1801 Congress (going up any day)
1 - 1601 Congress (possibly going up in September)
2 - Block 164 (may be going up before any of the others come down)

[Sigaven]

Originally Posted by The ATX

It looks like we might have 12 cranes up at one time in this area.

3 - South Campus (including DKR)
1- 1836 San Jacinto
1 - Alexan
2 - Huston (going up in September)
2 - 1801 Congress (going up any day)
1 - 1601 Congress (possibly going up in September)
2 - Block 164 (may be going up before any of the others come down)

Dang! Nice to see the north side of Downtown seeing some love!

[MichaelB]

Originally Posted by Sigaven

Dang! Nice to see the north side of Downtown seeing some love!

Add to that...
County courthouse on Guadalupe
condos at 17th and Guadalupe
Hotel at 17th and Lavaca

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

Add to that...
County courthouse on Guadalupe
condos at 17th and Guadalupe
Hotel at 17th and Lavaca

Right. And I was only counting the NE corner. But when the NW corner is included we may have at least 16 up at once. And that doesn't include west Campus. But I think some of them will be coming down before the one for the 17 & G residential building goes up.

3 - South Campus (including DKR)
1 - 1836 San Jacinto
1 - Alexan
2 - Huston (going up in September)
2 - 1801 Congress (going up any day)
1 - 1601 Congress (possibly going up in September)
2 - Block 164 (may be going up before any of the others come down)
1- Hilton Garden Inn (17th & Lavaca)
2 - Courthouse
1 - 701 Rio Grande
__
16

[The ATX]

The crane(s) are finally going up at 1801.


https://public.workzonecam.com/proje...archiveId=Home

[Mopacs]

Interesting.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...expansion.html

Mike Novak holds the keys to the state of Texas’ major office project, the expansion of the Capitol Complex. Brokers, landlords and anyone interested in downtown real estate needs to hear his plan.

If anyone has access to the full article, I'd like to know more.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by Mopacs

Interesting.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...expansion.html



If anyone has access to the full article, I'd like to know more.

Control+U let's you read the article in the page source code. It was a long article but did not have much info that we didn't know already.

Some tidbits:

The state is also the biggest employer in the Austin area with about 63,000 workers, according to the Austin Chamber of Commerce.

The Texas Lottery Commission's plan to vacate its large lease at Grant Plaza at 601 E. Sixth Street, just west of I-35, will create an opportunity for property owner Empire Square Group LLC.

Novak said the 19 agencies and 1,379 full-time employees that fill the Hobby Building in downtown will be moved to the Capitol Complex in 2022. However, if any of those agencies receive federal funding, they could lease elsewhere and subsidize the cost."

The new owners won’t take possession of the Hobby Building, though, until the first phase of buildings open at the Capitol in 2022.

A potential third phase of the Capitol Complex expansion could add at least two more buildings, if it receives funding from the Texas Legislature.

[atxsnail]

Originally Posted by Mopacs

Interesting.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...expansion.html



If anyone has access to the full article, I'd like to know more.

In a related article, https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...-building.html we get some (disappointing) info on the future of a state garage and chiller downtown.

The Hobby Building could hit the market by 2021 after the state’s General Land Office receives an appraisal on the building and determines the best way to maximize the value of the property, said Mike Novak, executive director of the Texas Facilities Commission, which manages the building.

The new owners won’t be able to take possession of the property until state employees can move into new offices at the Capitol Complex in 2022.

A chilling system on the block won’t be sold, according to TFC. The state also won’t sell a parking garage at 300 San Antonio St.

Also, anyone with an Austin Public Library account should have access to Bizjournals.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by atxsnail

Also, anyone with an Austin Public Library account should have access to Bizjournals.

Sweet. Thanks for that tip. I re-logged into my account with that linked info. It worked. It only works for Austin articles though.

[The ATX]

Five cranes clustered in this view. A sixth one is just out of view to the left.


https://public.workzonecam.com/proje...archiveId=Home

[Austin1971]

[

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by Austin1971

On the 1601 camera you can zoom in on the Brack demo....

Nice catch. It is well underway.

[KevinFromTexas]

FAA permit for the 1601 Congress tower crane - 297 feet.

Work Schedule: 12/01/2019 to 08/31/2021

https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external...17308616&row=6

[MichaelB]

Originally Posted by Austin1971

On the 1601 camera you can zoom in on the Brack demo....

plus note in the background.... I always love the reminder that the Blanton looks like a cool modern building
with a drab faux-med slipcover..... note sky lights.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

FAA permit for the 1601 Congress tower crane - 297 feet.

Work Schedule: 12/01/2019 to 08/31/2021

https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external...17308616&row=6

Tower crane plan for 1601 Congress.

ftp://ftp.ci.austin.tx.us/ATD_AULCC/...er%20Crane.pdf

[ToTheSky]

Originally Posted by The ATX

I suspect one of them is for 1601 Congress since filings for both buildings were made around around the same time as the cranes.

The 1801 pit has been completed and empty for weeks, yet there is no vertical construction.

We can see on the construction webcam that the third crane base is in at the the Southwest corner of the foundation for 1801 Congress. This one will probably be the 422 footer listed on the FAA listing as the current tallest there doesn't appear to be 400 feet imho. I thought that this buildings footprint was going to be too large to construct with only two cranes. It will be interesting to see if 1601 really only uses one crane.

Just the area between MLK and 15th from IH35 going west over to San Antonio St may have 10 to 11 cranes up soon. 1 at MLK and San Jacinto, 3 at 1801 Congress, 1 or 2 at 1601 Congress, 1 at the Hilton 17th St Hotel, 1 at the 17th and Guadalupe residential building if that one happens, and up to 3 at the Travis County Courthouse site, if they start the office tower portion before the Courthouse is topped out.

This does NOT include just north of MLK which would cover the DKR and UT construction, all the cranes in West Campus, nor anything immediately south/southeast of 15th which covers the Dorsey, Brackenridge, Symphony Square, Alexan Capitol and 14th and Guad.

This is a crazy amount of crane potential for such a relatively narrow section of Austin.

[KevinFromTexas]

Yep. And that's without considering the lower part of downtown that will be adding some more next year with 6 X Guadalupe, 44 East, Naiitvo, Hanover Republic Square, Avenue Hotel/Hyatt Centric, 5th & Brazos, Block 164, and at least one of the Travis Towers. That's probably another 12 cranes at least on top of what is already in the lower part of downtown located at Block 185, 300 Colorado, 305 Colorado, Indeed Tower, The Quincy, Alexan Capitol, which is 8 I believe. Plus, RiverSouth will have 2 just across the river from downtown.

It's possible we could end up seeing 30 cranes or more on the skyline over the next year. I'm not even counting the ones that haven't begun demo/construction yet.

[The ATX]

Six cranes up in this view with a seventh just out of view to the left.


https://public.workzonecam.com/proje...archiveId=Home