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I’ve always been curious about what will replace the Statesman’s old HQ. Does anyone have any insight? I’m surprised such high value land has sat vacant for so long.
Appreciate the insight, I heard about the project but wasn’t sure where things were in regards of the legal issues and if they cancelled said plan due to this.
Is this a my hero academia reference?!
Only if it's cause we're getting burned by them 🔥
I wish. It would make the hero Endeavor slightly less abusive by comparison.
Same Endeavor that Ari Emmanuel runs?
I think that’s endeavor group holdings vs endeavor real estate
Thanks for info
Sounds like never ending back and forth. I don’t get how so much building even occurs
That’s cause you’re only comparing Austin against other American cities with bigger and richer NIMBYers like NY and SF.
Cities with no NIMBYers in Asia have way more construction.
I don’t know what a NIMBUYERA. I also wasn’t comparing to other cities. My point was I don’t get how Austin gets anything approved.
The South Central Waterfront project has been widely reported on for many years now.
Can someone give me a TLDR on that I can’t penetrate the mumbo jumbo
Sure. “Domain on the River.”
best answer
NIMBYs keeping empty building on Austin's most valuable development opportunity.
It will no doubt come as a great shock to you that there are options besides "keeping empty building" and "constructing a second downtown."
I don't know that anyone is advocating for doing nothing with the land, but it's certainly a useful straw man that those without integrity can trot out.
Yeah, I mean what a terrible idea to build a second downtown in downtown! It should be 2 or 3 McMansions instead! Only single family homes or keeping the “historic” surface parking lots should be allowed.
Are those the only options your tiny imagination can come up with?
If only it was imagination! ~98% of all housing built is single family homes. So that’s a reality that leads to sprawl. In what world is this area not a least part of downtown? If you can’t build density here then where the fuck else?
Right. The lake really should be enjoyed by the wealthy, after all.
If you had alternatives to propose, one would think you would mention them.
You answered my question, thanks.
You didn't ask me any question. I asked you a question.
You answered my question, though. You have no alternatives at all. You want to keep it empty.
"Second downtown" located right next to already existing downtown is some Grade A Austin-NIMBY cope.
Turning the Austin waterfront into a wall-to-wall commercial enterprise is some grade-A California transplant cope. Or is it Dallas?
Lol. Dallas?!! Have you seen the Trinity River "waterfront" before?? There's no development on it. Not even a boat ramp. You're talking out your back-end. What we call "cope". At least pick a city comparison that makes sense. Like Portland or Nashville.
Honest question. Over the past 20 years of development downtown, do you think downtown's waterfront has improved or degraded?
I think the whole city has degraded, tbh. But we clearly value opposite things. Enjoy your mall.
Maybe do a bit better research. If leaving prime waterfront undeveloped is your jam, then you'd LOVE Dallas. So, give them a bit more credit.
But, more seriously. In spite of all your protestations, it's obvious that you're a vanilla NIMBY. If that's your thing, great. But, it's just weird that you won't stand up for your own beliefs. Like, over a quarter of the city agrees with you. What are you so afraid of?
Agreed on your first paragraph! Still, while the current developer proposes increased housing, retail / neighborhood activation, and trail optimization... others are against it and proposing no viable alternatives. To me, that's the same as advocating for doing nothing, literally. Perhaps people want a new CircleC there instead?
Or, perhaps we could manufacture a fake "springs" there that SOS can focus 100% of their energy into the future... and get out of the way for development in other areas of Austin. That might align integrity to SOS's mission!!
If "proposing viable alternatives" is the same thing to you as "advocating for doing nothing," then you evidently don't know what words mean.
Sorry you can't come up with something better to defend your position. When you can actually name someone who is proposing that the building be left empty and unused, get back to me.
CASINO on the River…
OP can't google
You can almost guarantee they know and they Googled.
Maybe they Binged it or Asked Jeeves?
Used Alta Vista on Netscape browser
America Offline
Almost forgot how kind people on Reddit can be, whew…thank you both!
Right? I do my DD, but internet journalism doesn't give insight into a direct, first hand account of what is actually going on with xyz.
So I like to do the same, and reach out to reddit for a deeper dive without going into detail of everything I already believe to be true/accurate in the topic. Yet Everytime it's "oMG OP CaNt gOGLeZ*
Leads me to believe, bot farms have taken over Reddit long before we ever knew what they were.
It's just narcissists' way of making themselves feel smart. Nothing as complex as bot farms.
On the nail 👏
For real. I one time was buying fish and asked the middle aged dude at the fish counter which fish they had would be good for frying and he said condescendingly “idk, you could… google it.”
Clearly they weren't worried about retaining your business 😂 my question to you; Did you return?
Grings my gears to hear that honestly. I used to love my retail job working as a meat and seafood clerk. When a customer would ask a question I didn't know an answer to id reply, "idk LETS google it and see!"
That personal engagement has better odds of a customer returning, and not just for the product, I learned. But the suits don't care about customer service anymore 😅 just quota.
not OP but when I get an answer like that I will never return. or I will return to fight lol
It's a thing of this sub, I would have been surprised if the reaction was different.
Unfortunately, at this point it’s fast and less condescending to ask ChatGPT. Which ironically is trained on Reddit data
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There’s a legal dispute and I wasn’t sure where that stood. It’s been in limbo for years, a lot of people on this subreddit have ties and connections within the city so I was hoping to get more insight, which I’ve received. The post was worth it for that and also shining light on this property for others who may have been curious.
F the haters.
By haters do you mean SOS or Sierra Club?
shoulda posted that king/queen - you gave no context
Or people don’t have to rush to judgment over a simple post
judgement? MF'ing OP wanted to start a conversation and withheld context that OP KNEW about... its not judgement, its the totality of the circumstances...
Babe, it’s Reddit, it’s not that deep lol.
I would LOVE to buy a lake view condo there. That’s the dream
Only thing stopping you is a couple million dollars and common sense!
How exactly are they planning to connect the proposed light rail station there?
I believe the blue line is proposed to be running through that area? maybe orange as well iirc but I don’t feel like digging that hard into it rn https://www.projectconnect.com/projects/light-rail
There's going to be an orange line station nearby
Ugh, Save Our Springs is a plague on this city and has been for many years at this point.
I was about to comment the same thing. It would be so nice to have a mixed use facility where we can enjoy the waterfront. We have a whole of river running through the town, and while the trail is lovely, it would be nice to be able to enjoy it in other ways. So much of the waterfront is occupied by mansions. Some mixed use water adjacent development would be great.
Yeah it would be nice if they built such a place to environmental standards and didn’t remove public land.
Public land? This is a series of parking lots and underutilized buildings. The new version will have more greenery and people living and working in the central part of the city, which means less driving, less energy usage, and more support for transit. The project is also projected to provide around 500 units of affordable housing under completion. Save our springs comes from an old school NIMBY mindset where all development is bad -- and that's how we ended up with our sprawling cities in the USA
They are just the worst!
Because they want new builds up to environmental standards?
No because SOS prefers parking lots, air pollution, and tearing down the hill country nature for houses as opposed to allowing density in central Austin
They most certainly do not. It’s like you haven’t read anything about the lawsuit.
Can you provide a link that describes the environmental aspects of the lawsuit? Everything I have seen states that the lawsuit is based on zoning and procedural issues. Basically SOS does not want density south of the river. Also, everything I have seen in he plans, shows the trail alignment through the site will remain almost as it is today and parkland will be increased.
This is the quote I’ve seen a lot, describing the lawsuit.
“Environmental nonprofit Save Our Springs Alliance sued the City of Austin, claiming the city’s creation of a planned unit development, or PUD, violated open meetings rules and the city’s charter, the Austin Business Journal reported.
This lawsuit comes after another one that blocked the use of Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone financing to pay for infrastructure needed for the 118-acre development. Neighborhood activists won their lawsuit last month, when a judge ruled against the city’s use of a $354 million TIRZ.”
Agreed! Take your own advice Motus! Also, please point me to the "Springs" that need to be "Saved" near the Statesman site. SOS is code for NIMBY!
That SOS group is the reason why Austin will continue to be like a Portland.
Portland has functioning, expansive light rail. Austin is nothing like Portland.
Oooo no scary environmental responsibility!
A high-end craft brewery owned by actors living here and local "entrepreneurs" that will shutter overnight in two years.
actors "living here"
That’s the funny thing to me too. I’ve lived here 9 years and most celebrities I spot outside of the comedy stuff I’m performing on have been during sxsw.
Craft-brewery/climbing gym
Whoa whoa, this guy Austins.
Add in some pickle ball courts and a heavy dose of manufactured exclusivity and you got it. But make sure that brewery has a monosyllabic title and spelled wrong. Something like "Breu"
Bru with an umlaut
I'm in. Where do I send my dues?
send to Bruce Elfant
Semi pro pickleball is only $500.00/mo
It's gonna fail hard, just like the domain.
The domain failed? How so? The north side is way busy. What have I missed in plain sight?
Yeah the Domain seems to be exactly what it set out to be which is an active mixed use development area. Not for everyone, but seems good at what it is.
You forgot the /s
There’s currently a tenant inside that space.
Source: I have clients with cars stored there.
lol my first guess was Revival. Nice
Gross
He said tenant. It’s someone who rents. Most of us here do. Sorry you hate us plebes so much.
I am guessing the gross is because Rivival/Alan Stulberg are pretty shitty to their employees/contractors. Alan tends to not pay folks and is just an all around shitty boss.
Recently it was the home of an immersive Van Gogh exhibit, for whatever that's worth.
It still is. Just went last weekend…gave it the worst possible reviews because as great as the show was, THE AIR CONDITIONING DOESN’T WORK. It was 101 outside and 93 inside. The poor staff are in all black having to survive that. Staff said that neither the building owner nor the show producer are willing to fix it, so this show will run all the way until September with inadequate climate control. For the ticket price, it’s unacceptable and for the staff it’s horribly unsafe.
lol, they were using 2 giant portable AC units. I saw where they were piping the AC in at the far side of the roam. I worked my way over there and it was significantly cooler.
I went a month ago and left early because it was so hot. I enjoyed it so much more when it was at COTA.
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I saw several TV ads advertising the exhibit.
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I think there's a billboard for it on 620, I just saw it the other day. Glad I didn't go since the A/C appears to not be working in there!
I'd bet it'll be a condo high rise before long.
Should be converted to a city park
City park would be a homeless camp
The abandoned gay strip club next door really ties the neighborhood together.
That was an amazing Club called CLUB XS back in the early 90s, lots of great music, dancing, ... Latin Hip Hop and other cool vibes. It closed after I got married, I blame myself for its closing
That was an amazing multi level club
Hahaha. My grandma used to book male strippers there back in the day.
If you mean the old Le Bare, it’s not abandoned. It’s a 70s themed dance club called Superstition now.
Is it any good?
The writing's on the wall
It's my least favorite EDM venue in town.
There's no space to exist there. Unless you pay for a table / bottle service or hide outside with the smokers.
The dance floor is so small and backs right up to the bar so you can't dance and you also have to fight through the crowd to get a drink. Which will definitely be spilled or slapped out of your hand by someone before you make it back to your group.
It is real pretty inside though; the entrance is definitely Instagram ready.
The advice I give to friends is that is can be great when there aren’t headliners or when they do certain theme or genre nights that won’t pack the place. Otherwise you are spot on, any notable act makes it like Vegas and that is not a good thing.
It’s ridiculously good. Go before it’s gone.
Long before LaBare, it was an Urban Cowboy-themed bar called the Sundowner.
Chippendales
This is now Superstition
I asked my four year old son and he said "a poo poo playground"
It’s free real estate
Jim, come get your Damn Land
It’s dead, Jim.
Probably a Schliterbaun
I can FEEL the heat radiating from the parking lot in that first photo, oof.
If only we received a free monthly newspaper of local importance in our residence mailbox. 🙄👍😜
Pinko commie rag!
Replace it with a Razoos on town lake
Gross
Okay. Yes.
Statesman estates coming
I heard from a stranger at Jo’s that Revival was making this building their permanent home after exiting the South Congress Hotel.
How dare that guy not actually having a fucking clue what he was talking about!
I thought Revival are building something in an old Lockhart warehouse space. But I don’t know if that came through.
What's revival
Revival cycles has the space to store luxury cars currently. Think of it as an alternative to "petrol lounge"
A portion of it is where the new Revival Cycles is located.
That’s also where they have the Handbuilt Motorcycle Show every April.
Damn it's been so long since I've been to one that last one was on the east side.
Bill Bunch wants to "save" this.
No he wants it built with good environmental regulation, which the current plan lacks. He even said he likes the idea, just that it is not up to current standards.
Whatever happens there I’m sure they’ll’ “keep it weird” right??
Yeah..... They've got to exploit it
Sad
The city could have bought this property for $25 million and turned it into a park like Vic Mathias Auditorium Shores.
Instead, It's set to become Rainey Street South.
Uh, would … a second Auditorium Shores a quarter mile from the first Auditorium Shores be the best use of limited downtown lakeside property?
Yes, IMHO. There is too little open park spaces as it is for a city the size of Austin. More (not less) will be needed in the future as the city grows. Besides, that property is literally at the "front door" of the city.
There’s Butler Shores and Zilker Park and Auditorium Shores and Waller Beach and the Butler Trail and Guerrero Park and East Riverside Dog Park and Red Bud Isle along the lake today. More parkland is more maintenance dollars and less property tax from some of our most valuable land. I guess I look at a map and see a pretty well-built park system along the lake downtown and to the east and west of downtown, besides that the developer has already pledged to maintain the existing access for viewing bats and walking along the shore at the former statesman and txdot buildings.
Agreed - what we are missing compared to other major cities = more retail / restaurant interaction with the river. It's less than non-existent here unless you want to pay a cover to play video games and drink cider!! I jog through all these parks daily and never see more than 10-15 people enjoying the actual park space (rather than simply running / walking through)... though I'm not counting the homeless people.
Yes.
Yeah, a larger public park space would make the area more appealing as it would give residents an alternative green space during major events such as ACL/SXSW, etc.
It will also pollute way less than the proposed development plans.
That would have been so nice.
Another overpriced luxury high rise.
Baseball stadium!
I was hoping for the austin A’s
Could still happen. We just need a billionaire who likes to ball.
You are our only help Michael Dell!
I wish!
Dejoria or musk could cash on it.
Hell to the no.
I would prefer to move the Spurs, they are looking for a new arena,
That would be amazing.
Very conflicting as a Mavs fan but overall that would be incredible.
Prime +
Sure but how will people get to read the paper/clip coupons without a huge printing press taking up downtown?
I remember one time they did the MTV music awards there, I was a limo driver I drive bunch of famous people between there and four season hotel
Its happen soon, why even rush it. Enjoy the lack of obstructed views while you can, itll be more apartments in no time.
There might be a light rail station there
Like a domain area is planned for the near future
Got to work out of this office for a few days (I'm based in N Texas), it was a bit run down but a great location.
I know there are plans to renovate the area there, but I’ve always thought it would be the perfect spot for a Baseball Stadium, since it would be facing the city and make for some spectacular views
Before the American Statesman, it was a restaurant. Austin has so many abandoned buildings in the middle of town? Keep building high-end condos owned by foreign investors.
Any idea what restaurant it was? I'm curious!
It was seafood and steaks with a deck around the outside. Christie's Seafood and Steak.
I remember when Seismic Dance Event 2.0 was there. That was a good venue.
Bro thinks he's a realtor
Wait, did the Statesman die?
Another high rise
I wish it was an MLB stadium or something similar. Would love to have a professional sports team located on lady bird with downtown views.
Wow, fascinating. I got curious about this are area too while shopping for a rental property to buy. I didn’t look that closely though, mostly been focusing on other parts of Austin. Btw, anyone looking for vetted listings should take a look at Rent To Retirement.
Hopefully they turn it into more high rise apartments!!!
Always thought a baseball stadium would be great there, (with a nod to PNC Park in Pittsburgh.)
Fuuuuuck that
I would not want that there but if done well it could look really good. Especially if they could multi purpose it.
As long as they also have the pierogi races, I’m in.
Well yeah, that developer seems to be as flush as the person pushing the cart out front. Austin is about to fall into recession so nobody is building there for quite a while
looks at rainey st
i wonder, will they even know what hit them?
That’s all in the pipeline already, but nothing else is getting Greenlit by anyone with an ounce of sense. It could be a bloodbath for these developers in the next two years. Austin is completely overbuilt with high end apartment towers and office space. When Facebook backed out of 6th and Guadeloupe and then Google laid people off as well as Indeed, it should have scuttled The Republic and The Waterline, but shockingly they went ahead. We shall see, very relieved I’m not an investor
office space is not doing well, and probably isnt coming back, but mixed use residential on the river set to open in 5+ years is probably not that bad an investment.
That parking lot is atrocious. Absolutely atrocious.
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It's owned by a company called Endeavor. They have a master plan to redevelop that whole area with housing, hospitality, entertainment and open spaces. It's taken 5 years to get the zoning approval to do what they want. As the article mentions below, the city is now being sued for approving Endeavor's plan.