Since it opened in 2009, The Austonian has been an icon within the downtown landscape and the Austin skyline as the tallest building in sight. The Austonian has seen downtown Austin blossom and grow from its vantage point at the corner of Congress and Second Street – and today, residents live in the middle of one of the most active and vibrant parts of the city. Currently, downtown Austin is on the brink of a significant expansion too, with the construction of the Seaholm District, the Green Water Treatment redevelopment, the new Central Library, and the opening of The Boardwalk at Lady Bird Lake. Within a very short while, residents of The Austonian downtown condominiums will have even more restaurants, shopping and entertainment options just a few minutes’ walking distance from home.
According to a recent article in the Austin Business Journal, more than half of the tower cranes in downtown Austin are concentrated in the southwestern section of the city center. Five major projects are in some stage of development in that area just west of The Austonian.
The project furthest along in its development process is the Seaholm District, a renovation of the Art Deco-style Seaholm Power Plant into a multi-building mixed-use project. The five-acre tract is envisioned as a place where people can live, work, play, shop, eat and sleep, with a mix of office space, condominium living, retail shops and restaurant space, as well as an outdoor terrace that overlooks Lady Bird Lake. The current tenants committed to reside within the Seaholm District include Trader Joe’s, Athenahealth, Map My Fitness and Boiler Nine Bar + Grill, a restaurant from the talent who launched the Congress trio at the base of The Austonian. Of these, Trader Joe’s is expected to be open as early as October 2014 and Boiler Nine Bar + Grill is projected to open a little later in the year.
Another exciting project currently underway in downtown Austin is the new Central Library, which opens in spring 2016 as the first “library of the future” in the United States. The six-floor facility will feature flexible and blended spaces designed for a variety of uses including screened reading porches, an indoor reading room overlooking Lady Bird Lake and Shoal Creek, a public gathering atrium and an auditorium. The space includes an energy-efficient design filled with natural light and a space program that supports both physical books and the electronic delivery of information. By design, the new Central Library aims to foster community and connectivity, and will fit seamlessly into the Austin landscape, with outdoor gathering spaces, green features and an emphasis on local art and culture.
The adjacent Green Water Treatment Plant redevelopment will connect the new Central Library to the existing Second Street District, The Austonian and the rest of downtown Austin. This neighboring project will be highly dense and include a hotel, housing, office space and more. All this, along with The boardwalk extension of the Lady Bird Lake hike and bike trail (which opened last month), updates and renovations to Auditorium Shores, and other growth in the area will effectively shift the epicenter of downtown Austin to the west and just a hop, skip and a jump from The Austonian.
This is an exciting time to live in downtown Austin, and The Austonian has space within the building available to move in today. What’s more, The Austonian offers its residents a level of luxury, exclusivity and service that is unavailable elsewhere in the city.
