May 10, 2007
Another Piece of Austin to Make Way for Pretty Condos
Tuesday night, the Planning Commission recommended approval of a zoning change near South Lamar and Manchaca - property which includes Habibi’s Hutch, a particularly awesome South Austin day care run by Andrew Urbanus (shown right), to allow construction of a project including 45 townhomes, 360 apartments, 20 live-and-work units, and 18,000 square feet of retail. The change would allow Cypress Realty to take advantage of VMU development incentives, which include relaxed requirements on setbacks, building coverage limits, and maximum density. The Planning Commission also recommended that the developers play nice with the businesses currently occupying the land, and try to help them find new locations.
Critics are concerned about the relocation of Habibi’s Hutch, inadequate bike lanes and increased traffic on an already traffic-laden road. City Council Member Brewster McCracken has helped put all those fears to rest buy declaring that affordable housing is more important than day care, at least on this site. Traffic is a problem all along South Lamar, where the blocks are too long and there aren’t enough perpendicular streets. It may be possible to address that problem on this site by adding additional entrances (the current plans show only one) or by creating a new street around the edge of the project. Overall, this sounds like a good project and we love VMU, but it would certainly hurt to lose another central Austin preschool. It would be great to see Cypress include Habibi's Hutch in the new project - an established preschool on site would be an excellent marketing point for the new development.
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Inadequate bike lanes? How do you get more inadequate than non-existent?
I was going to say something nice, but then I read this:
"Habibi's can't be just anywhere," Urbanus said. "It's a Central Austin kind of school. People who live here tend to be more liberal and progressive."
Go out of business then you snob. It's not as though you're in Central Austin so why would it matter if you're a Central Austin kind of school? If you're progressive customers won't drive their subarus another 5 minutes down Manchaca then they obviously don't really value you that much, do they?
What he means is - it is difficult to find another place and neighborhood to allow the kind of environment you find at Habibi's. Another 5 min. down Manchaca is still Central Austin, but the space is not available! That is what he is saying. They are looking for spaces and neighborhoods that will allow Habibi's Hutch, that will be safe and open to having a large outdoors for children to play in and run around in, generally sparsely clothed, to garden in, etc. I don't know what they were currently paying for the land they were leasing from the Church there, but when last I checked Central Austin real estate's pretty damned pricey.
And if you read their testimonials on their websites, they have parents who were with them from their first location - and commute down MoPac to get to their current location they love Habibi's so much!
Habbibi's is currently in a horrible location for a day care. A kid who jumps the fence can be in the middle of a horrible blind curve/turn/hill in under 10 seconds. And everyone who passes by can see the naked kids in the back yard. Plus, it's not an institution at that location. Personally I much more torn up about the machine shop being replaced. That's been on that corner forever. And I still miss hearing "Lighthouse for the Blind" when cresting the hill on the number 3.
How many new condos does austin really need? are we expecting a mass exodus from L.A. for real? This is ridiculous. Everyone in L.A. Stay in L.A. We're losing Austin and everything that is cool about it to these greedy developers. Enough already.
"Another 5 min. down Manchaca is still Central Austin"
No, it isn't. You missed Tim's point. Manchaca and Lamar is NOT Central Austin; and 5 minutes further out isn't either.
There's plenty of daycares IN Central Austin. Many of them thought ahead and actually OWN their land and their building.
Habibi's Hutch has only been at that location for 4 years or so. RIP Gingerbread Schoolhouse.
Honestly I don't know if Austin needs more condos/ mixed-used crap. But it will be nice in a few years when no one is moving into these high-priced condos and then they'll be forced to lease them out at pennies on the dollar.
I've put my house up for sale in a Zilker neghborhood. While I could have gotten $450K or more for my little 1500 sq. ft. pad, I decided to sell it to developers. While only big enough for two units, they were desperate to get in on the condo boom and offered me $10M for my little slice of Austin heaven. They told me they were assured to sell these two units for roughly $10M each and with each unit being 400 sq. ft. that's quite a bargain. They're thinking of putting in some retail on the bottom level. They said they will be carrying 4 pairs of jeans (priced at $600 each), 3 "vintage" Little Miss Sunshine t-shirts (for about $120) and gallons of milk for $10 and bananas for $12.50 each.
Why would anyone think this condo thing is getting out of control? Is my above scenario that absurd?
Yes, Anon. Your scenario is beyond absurd. Nice try though.
And Stew, once again, you can keep saying it but it won't make it come true.
Hundreds of people, some of whom have lived in the neighborhood for 20 years, will be displaced from the apartment complexes on Lakeshore Boulevard to make room for a series of high-rise luxury condos. There was an article in the Chronicle about it some months ago. People are already being forced out. Austinist should give this issue some coverage...
"forced out."
So a landlord doesn't have any rights to sell to a new developer? Neat!
How about you save that term for cases where it really DOES apply, like eminent domain?
As one of the trouble makers discussed, or should I say dissed, in the Austin American Statesman's "Windsor park neighbor form new group to contest city plan" (B3,Mon. May 7 2007)folks, unless you are a millionaire like Rick Krivoniak (look up his assets at traviscad.org ) you are disposable untermensch whose lives, to say nothing of interests are obstacles to be eliminated in the mind of Brewster McCracken and his supporters. Money talks, and unless your interest from accounts exceeds $50, 000 a year, he and the rest of the powers that be can’t wait for you to die, or move, or become indentured servants to the inhabitants of the condos.
Bottom line here...is there are too many condo/lofts in what is slowly becoming Houston or Dallas. The people who are moving into Austin (driving up demand) are ruining the very thing that brought them here. Austin has always embraced "weirdness" i.e. Habibi's Hutch and the like. Development isn't always a bad thing, but in this case it's absurd. By the way the debate over what is central Austin is pretty funny. Carry on.
Central Austin = 78704. We are the center of everything Austin. See, debate over.
As for the condos, yes absurd. This isn't some progression towards that way of life, it's a total sell out, make as much money as possible, walk away from the unfinished projects and let somone else deal with them approach to urbanization. Anyone who remotely believes this approach is going to be successful is insane. I really hope we get to a point where regular people can live and work in downtown and we can walk, take mass transit and ride a bus system that actually provides what we need, but I feel that we are a long, long way from ever getting there and all of this development is going to leave a similarly bad taste in our mouths just like the Intel building.
Hey Conan, what's wrong with the neighborhood plan? Seems fine to me, but all of a sudden a bunch of folks decide to oppose it. More intense use of 51st, Cameron, and parts of Berkman and one other street which are already heavily used, nothing else really changes.
It's time for another episode of Logical Contradiction Theatre.
Episode #1: "They're building too many condos! There's no way there's that many people who want them! The market will collapse because supply exceeds demand!"
After the commercial break,
Episode #2: "Waaah! Nobody can afford to live downtown because demand exceeds supply!"
Some condo developers have done the right thing and worked to build around existing local businesses or incorporate them into the development. Examples:
Gables/Mean-Eyed Cat
Bridges/Paggi House
7th & Rio Grande/Ranch 616
BartonPlace/Austin Java & Uncle Billy's
This doesn't have to be an either-or proposition...
"Some condo developers have done the right thing and worked to build around existing local businesses or incorporate them into the development."
Who says that building around existing businesses is the "right thing" to do? In many cases this can increase construction costs exponentially.
People move to certain 'hip' areas b/c of the local businesses (ie culture) there. To oust such businesses = shooting themselves in the foot.
But question = where to draw the line or how to define which businesses have the right 'cultural cache'? Taco Xpress did - and Walgreens did the right thing. Las Manitas did...but Hilton (?) did not make the right decision here. However if we're losing a auto lot or a pawn shop - I doubt there'd be love lost. At least in terms of the kind of 'culture' that the future tenants are attracted to.
But, perhaps Habibi's is not part of that 'culture', this new urban Austin culture - b/c the future tenants more often than not will Not have children. Just like people staying at the Hilton probably care not for legendary hole-in-the-wall homestyle Mexican food. And it's their (and our) loss.
Gables/Mean-Eyed Cat
What about Pokey-Joe's, The Austin Duck, and the Furniture Consignment. What about those Guys. Hell Pokey's gave us a discount.
Furniture consignment is opening 2 new stores and sucktours have been on 6th st for a while already...
Don't call the duck tours "suck tours"! Those people are funny with their tourists quacking and gawking off of those huge old boattrucks. Everytime I have out of town guests and I take them downtown, if a duck tour rolls by they want to know how we go on it.
it's easy, just drive down 6th street any afternoon--they are usually stopped in the middle of the road anyway.
we need some baghdad tactics to thwart rampant construction. honestly, who in austin wants this sstuff to go down. i can't think of a single person who thinks these developments are a good idea. none of the developers live in austin and none of the folks currently living in the city will occupy them. this stuff attracts out of town dildos, keeping austin homogeneous.
zoning jihad!
Look like everyone's forgotten the real-estate bust of the 1980s.
I haven't. I've been kicking myself for 15 years because I didn't buy up as much cheap, foreclosed property as I could get my hands on. (For example, my brother bought a repo in 1988 for $28K, which he sold in 2002 for $255K. Pretty good return.)
Now with all this building going on, it's starting to look like I'll have another chance at cashing in on a bust.
C'mon, rebust!
How exactly do we pull off this zoning jihad?
Manchaca and Lamar is definitely Central Austin. Central expands a bit every year, but the definition of Central has long-been Ben White to 183...expanded a bit from Oltorf and Koenig, expanded a bit from....and so on.
As for snobbery....so be it. I'll take that insult just to enjoy the benefits of central austin living. Not to mention the tremendous all-wheel-drive on my subaru.
The Duck Tours Rock. And i had the best ole tour guide. He was awesome. Very entertaining. No comment about construction. Hmm. I love Austin.