Block 185

Block 185 is an under construction office skyscraper located at 601 W. 2nd St. in Downtown Austin, Texas.[1] The tower topped out in July 2021, and final completion is expected for Q2 2022. The tower is the fourth tallest in Austin at 594 feet, and the tallest office tower in Texas outside of Houston or Dallas. Block 185 is bound to the west by Shoal Creek, to the east by Nueces Street, to the north by Second Street and to the south by Cesar Chavez Street. The tower is located on the final parcel of the former Green Water Treatment Plant and in Austin's Second Street District.[2]

Block 185
Block 185 viewed from Lady Bird Lake
Alternative names601 W. 2nd St.
General information
TypeOffice
Address601 W. 2nd St.
Town or cityAustin
GroundbreakingJanuary 16th, 2019
Estimated completionQ2 2022
Height594 ft. (181m)
Technical details
Floor count35
Floor area719,470 sq. ft.
Design and construction
ArchitectPelli Clarke Pelli Architects
Architecture firmSTG Design
DeveloperTrammell Crow

History

The 1.26 acre plot of land that would become Block 185 was purchased by a partnership between Trammel Crow and MSD Capital[3] in 2012 for $10,277,470.[4][5] After many years of planning and many design changes, both increasing and decreasing in height,[6] Block 185 started construction on January 16, 2019. Even after the groundbreaking, the tenants of the tower had not yet been announced and no renderings had been made public.[2] On January 31, 2019, Brandywine announced that Google would lease the entire building,[7] and the Austin-American Statesman released the first renderings the same day.[8]

Architecture

The building's unique design is due, in part, to setback requirements owing to its proximity to Shoal Creek and Lady Bird Lake. On the south side fronting Lady Bird Lake, this setback manifests itself as a series of receding terraces. On the west side, facing Shoal Creek, the tower's curtain-wall glass façade curves away from the creek. The tower has been called "the single most impressive skyscraper design we’ve seen in the city since the debut of the Frost Bank Tower".[9]

References
  1. "At Last, Here's Our First Look at the Block 185 Office Tower". TOWERS. 2018-08-08. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  2. "Block 185: Is it Google, Salesforce or the shadow?". ATX Real Estate News. 2019-01-18. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  3. "Trammell Crow Company and MSD Capital Top Out 35-Story Class a Office Tower in Downtown Austin".
  4. https://austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Redevelopment/Redevelopment_Projects/GWTP_MDA_-_Executed_optomized.pdf#page=14
  5. "New Google building will a rare starchitect-designed tower". 2 April 2019.
  6. "Good and Bad News on Block 185". TOWERS. 2017-06-26. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  7. Transcripts, S. A. (2019-01-31). "Brandywine Realty Trust 2018 Q4 - Results - Earnings Call Slides". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  8. Novak, Shonda. "Source: Google to occupy 35-story office tower in downtown Austin". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  9. "Google's New Home at Block 185 is Downtown Austin's Next Signature Tower". 26 March 2019.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.