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02/16/2012

magazine ranks austin a top shopping city

02/16/2012

Austin is among the 25 best cities for shopping, according to Lucky magazine. Ranked No. 12, Austin came in ahead of Dallas and Houston at No. 16 and No. 15 respectively. Lucky magazine editors cited convenience as one factor contributing to Austin's ranking. "With most of the shopping centered around either downtown or South Congress Avenue, it's easy to walk around and shop and grab a cupcake or taco from one of the food stands on the way," the editors wrote. Read more...

campo explores austin to houston rail

02/14/2012

With other passenger rail systems still in the planning stages, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization explores a new passenger rail service proposal that would connect Austin with Houston, and several cities in between. "We were able to find some money to do some of the planning," said Jennifer Moczygemba with the Texas Department of Transportation's Rail Division. "We thought there was some good potential along this route." TxDOT's Rail Division gave a presentation on the proposal to CAMPO's Policy Board Meeting on Monday night. The cost of the project would exceed $1 billion for startup and build-out. There are four connection options, with most connecting to Elgin and Giddings, and some extending as far north as College Station. Read more...

work starts on apartment project, as boom looms for south lamar

02/14/2012

Austin-based Ardent Residential has broken ground on Gibson Flats, a 202-unit upscale apartment complex that will be part of an emerging apartment boom along South Lamar Boulevard. Slated for vacant land at South Lamar and Gibson Street, the first apartments in the five-story building are expected to be ready for tenants by mid-2013, with the project scheduled for completion in late 2013. The location "is at the center of a burgeoning entertainment district that appeals to the young professionals who gravitate toward urban living," said Brett Denton, a principal in Ardent with Art Carpenter. Denton cited popular establishments such as the Alamo Drafthouse, the Highball bowling alley and lounge, Maudie's and Uchi restaurants, and other nearby entertainment options. Read more...

should building taller be much, much easier?

02/13/2012

In early December, the city council of Austin, Texas, adopted an exhaustive downtown plan that will guide every element of the neighborhood's transformation over the next 25 years, from its historic preservation policies to investments in workforce housing to parking and transit infrastructure. Amid all of those potentially touchy topics, though, the loudest row grew out of one program sketched on just five pages of the full 183-page document. It is the city's new Bonus Density Program. With it, downtown Austin could become both a residential and economic epicenter of the city, a dense and diverse 21st century neighborhood with renewed parks, new businesses and more affordable housing - all if the community will just let developers there build taller buildings. Read more...

alley flat initiative fits small, green homes into unexpected places

02/10/2012

You probably don't spend much time in Austin's alleys - those unpaved no-man's-lands that bisect city blocks. You might store your garbage bins in the one behind your house. You might take an occasional shortcut through one. But if you're a law-abiding citizen, you probably don't see Austin's alleys as full of opportunity. But that's exactly what the Alley Flat Initiative does; they view alleys as a solution to Austin's lack of affordable housing. When you think of affordable housing, you might envision overcrowded apartment complexes or new tract homes on the outskirts of town. Instead, the Alley Flat Initiative tucks small, single-family homes behind the existing main house on large lots in central East Austin. The second house, accessed via the alley, is highly sustainable and earmarked for residents who earn 80 percent or less of the median family income. Read more...