More tall buildings! Now!

Lots of office and residential buildings going up in downtown Austin. I hope that they can fill them.

 

Visual aid

A political statement on a Hyde Park balcony.

More apartments! More apartments!

Just a couple of months ago, these apartments on the south shore of Lady Bird Lake were halfway up, it seemed. Now they are ready for move-in. Austin is still one of the fastest-growing cities in the USA. Time marches on!

Monolith? No, just more apartments

The stats say that 150 people move here every day. They need places to live, so here are some more apartments going up along the lake.

My little home long ago

Yes, 45 years ago, I lived in the lower unit shown here - I thought I was so lucky to have that extra window on the side of my "dining room." (A cheap little table on linoleum.) I wonder if that furniture is still in there. We walk by this place all the time and seeing it never fails to take me back to those carefree days when rent was $115 a month. About a year and a half after this, I bought my first house on Shoal Creek Blvd.

Big plans

This huge apartment complex is being built along the railroad tracks in east Austin. At the rate people are moving to town, I guess they'll get filled pretty fast.

Northshore

Jackie shot this from the trail. The building almost looks finished (except you will notice a construction elevator on the right edge). It is an apartment building going up on the site of the former Green Water Treatment Plant and it is called Northshore because, of course, it's on the north shore of Lady Bird Lake! When we moved downtown the lot that this building partially occupies was filled with the holding tanks and a water tower for the treatment plant. It was decommissioned in a very interesting demolition activity. Rendered into a sandbox and then a holding pond that was meticulously kept green by the city until this construction began. We had a pretty good view of this construction from our building's vantage point on the other side, but the building is gradually disappearing to us because of the office building being constructed on the same lot (you can just see a crane in the area to the right of the building in this picture). It is fascinating to be a witness to the evolution of our neighborhood.

Gables Views

This Gables Apartment building is where our friend Jackie takes some stunning views. They have one of the apartments with the sweeping windows facing the Pfluger Bridge and more windows on the west side with a balcony.

Going up!

This apartment building near us is going up in record time. We need more units like this since over 100 people arrive in Austin every day.

More Apartments Rising

The Rio Apartments rise on Rio Grande. I took this from Nueces Street by the Rattle Inn. Unusual angles in this one.

New apartments looking good

I snapped a shot of the new apartments going up in our neighborhood.  It took a while to get the skin on this building, but it is looking good now!

Urban Garden

This apartment dweller at the Gables Park Plaza is really making use of his balcony for gardening.

View From Castle Hill

From Castle Hill you can see lots of places to live...The Nokonah is in the foreground, The Monarch Apartments are on the right and the 360 pokes up behind N0konah. Also visible are the Austin City Lofts, the high rise AMLI apartments, the Ashton apartments and the rising Austonian condos. There will be lots of people living downtown when all are finished and occupied. Some folks in Old West Austin will have a view of it all.

A New Art Work/Memorial

It's important to walk the same paths you've been down before with your camera...in case the light is different or they tear something down or build something new. This work of art or memorial is going up near the Hike and Bike Trail and the Mexican American Cultural Center near Rainey Street. The name 'Perez' is on the arch above. In the background you can see the Milago condominiums and the Legacy apartments. The latter appear ready to take renters, if they haven't already.