Spotlight: Towering Towers II Condo Project To Replace State “Capital”
(Note: this was a satirical article reprinted by the Austin Statesman that points. Read comments for further discussion.)
Today’s Spotlight focuses on the proposed condominium project, Towering Towers II, which is being developed by Baulsy Bros Builders LLC, based in Miami. The proposed 100-story towers will become the tallest in the state and include 2,361 units.
Towering Towers II, will include a number of ‘Green’ features, including no-flush” toilets that will pipe residents’ waste products directly into a holding tank below the building which can then be recycled and used as fertilizer by the Austin Parks Department. Each unit will have solar-powered coffee makers and reusable canvas grocery shopping bags inscribed with “Keep Austin Weird.”
As innovative and environmentally friendly as these buildings will be, two concerns arise.
The first is the demolition of our historic State Capital and the second is whether downtown Austin need yet another condominium project.
Developer research shows the project will work
The feasibility study done by the developer reports downtown Austin has a healthy condo market with strong demand and no signs of a slow down. Our question is whether this demand is created by investors who will turn units into rental property or by buyers looking for a place to live in down. Historically, condominiums with a high percentage of rental units don’t maintian their property values as well as owner-occupied complexes.
Read The satirical Statesman article concerning the Towering Towers II project .
[Comment Added by Publisher]
One would think destroying a 120-year old historic buildings would cause outrage in the future, but you may remember that there used to be ban against any building in Downtown Austin being taller than the Capitol. This is no longer the case because demand exceeded the need to keep our skyline shorter than the state building.
I’m thankful that our current residents are highly involved and value historical significance. Hopefully, this will carry forward to future generations.
Popularity: 15% [?]
Tags: austin, condominium, condos, towering tower II
April 26th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
This is dumb. Ha ha ha…so funny. Yeah, you really got me. I really thought they were going to tear down the capitol. Does that really seem unlikely? Not in this day and age, no sir.
Glad to know that Austin Real Estate Today doesn’t mind treating its readers like chumps. Thanks, I’ll be coming back real soon.
By the way…it’s capitOl, not capitAl. You only misspelled it four times. Maybe that’s part of your funny joke.
[Reply]
April 26th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
First, thank you for commenting!
I actually don’t think the writers meant to “fool” any readers, just like the Austin Statesman didn’t when they republished the original from a writer’s April 1st article. I think they wondered if something like this can come true in the future since we’re so bent on development as a city at times.
I debated on publishing the article, but liked the humor, which included the purposeful switch of “capitol” to “capital”, pointing to how many developers are perceived to value money above historical significance. It may not have come across to you, but our new staff probably wanted to raise the theoretical question as to whether our city may indeed find green condos more profitable than our own state capitol building.
[Reply]
May 7th, 2008 at 10:16 am
I missed this April fool’s spoof, but like you, am afraid that it just might not be so far fetched after all. I liked our skyline when everything was lower than our State Capitol. I have to admit that I also like the new skyline as well. Austin is one of the fastest growing cities in the country. It’s a great place to live and I’m afraid that we’ve been ‘discovered.’ Our new residents need a home, and many of them like living downtown.
[Reply]
May 7th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Great article from a great site. Downtown Austin is hot! http://www.austintxre.com/
[Reply]
May 7th, 2008 at 10:35 am
I am all for the old ban…”no building taller than the State Capitol”.
I think development is good but I don’t like the fact that all these developers, from all over the country that have already over built in cities and are now struggling, are here trying to over build Austin. I know that this business is cyclical…but how about some responsible growth…rather than fast paced over building. Then maybe we won’t have a repeat of the high Highs and low Lows of the 1980’s. The Texas economy is better than most of the other states in the US…and Austin is holding it’s own for now…lets try to keep it that way.
[Reply]