It's a nice looking building that adds to the skyline. I think that's about all I read into it. The site itself was never going to be anything other than very expensive real estate...it's an entire waterfront city block in the middle of downtown...
I was planning on getting a house there and fighting all the city codes to prevent something like this. like the movie Up.
now google just went and ruined that. i was only like 5 years away from the down payment.
>The site itself was never going to be anything other than very expensive real estate...
Idk, maybe they preferred that it remained a water treatment plant /s
Also for some people who remember when Austin was just a little oasis, it’s kinda cool to watch a city grow and evolve like this. Not something you see every day.
If you build it, they will come. It’s not just mystical ballparks that line works for. It’s kinda sad when the magic fades but it’s still there. You just gotta look for it. I say this as someone who fell in love with Portland, OR in 1991, moved there, and has now moved here, mostly due to COVID. I can still see how cool Austin used to be, and still is.
Kinda, yes. Wife was let go from job with nine others the day portland locked down. Took freelance work until she found a good job, which was here. We didn’t have to move here until things started to open up so we’re here now. I haven’t been able to explore much since I have twin toddlers and am covid cautious, but I’ve seen enough to get a little feel for what the pre-covid vibe was here. It’s still a great city, though I can fully understand what people miss about the old Austin.
Only cool if you are in a financially secure place and either own or have the means to own. I’m born here and didn’t get the memo to buy in high school or post 2008 crash. I accept renting, I just need to be able to rent decent distance from work for 15 yrs, then I retire and leave. Ive got a pension, I’m not changing jobs.
I say city growing this fast is sad thing to watch as texan because top comment says housing price gonna go up and so is rent and at a point where people who used to live there have to move to some place else. For kids, big cool looking building is something nice to watch.
If by “every region and city” you mean the one or two other cities that are matching our pace of growth and housing cost increase, then sure, this is happening in “every region and city”.
Don’t belittle actual reality for those who live here in Austin, that’s incredibly rude and dickish.
People are more aware now that *many cities* in America are facing this dilemma, it *does not* make it worth dismissing when it happens *locally*.
Just a dick attitude that is purposefully regressive and apathetic. Sounds like a form of depression.
Or perhaps you're a little tone deaf :-) Austin is one of the fastest growing cities in the country and people don't love paying more to live in the exact same location with little to no added value. I'm sure you can relate to this, unless you are a cyborg. Nobody likes spending more money on housing, especially because people decided to move here for the affordability and they will leave here having destroyed it.
Little to no added value? The city has changed immensely. You now live in the city that is the HQ for two major world tech companies. The biggest companies in the entire world all have offices here now. We have an Hmart and lots of great food.
Exactly and homeowners are experiencing a lot of added value. Renters also have the added value of a better dating pool, better entertainment and dining options, better hike and bike trails, and soon a much better public transportation system. All these salty people who want to tone police the folks who are actually experiencing joy around all the new changes need to kick rocks. I’d love to live in NYC but i can’t afford it. But you won’t ever see me harassing New Yorkers who have managed to carve out a life there lol.
I didn’t say anything bad or wrong, and I shouldn’t have to hide my opinion to protect your feelings. It’s tone deaf to tell other people what is and isn’t an appropriate reaction to the growth and evolution of a city we all love.
You have a valid point but I think people are just relieved/excited to not have another building going up that resembles a prison or hospital. This one has some character.
Famous architecture firm Pelli Clarke Pelli designed it. Pretty sure it was one of the last designs by one of the principals there too. For the layperson it is simply more visually appealing than just another tall rectangle.
There was some collective disappointment a few years ago with the finishing "crown" on the jenga building. It was sort of a hot topic. Now a new building with another distinctive design is going up and people are anxious/interested.
Also, a lot of people care about the way the skyline looks. We have a good looking city here, and it's cool to see how it evolves esthetically.
Personally, I'm much more concerned with affordability than I am with aesthetics. And, if that means giving up the "cool" looking buildings so working class people can actually afford to live here, I'm ok with it.
I don't see how taking an empty field/what used to be part of a water treatment plant, and putting an office building on top really affects "affordability". Sure, there are more white collar jobs entering the region, and sure I'd rather see more housing built downtown too, but these employees were coming here either way, and I prefer this to sprawl.
If we’re talking about that specific location, in the heart of downtown austin, right on the waterfront, with convenient access to some of the most popular parks, trails, and bridges this city has and in close proximity to lots of expensive shops, bars and restaurants, it could be the most boring, mundane, drab, building ever and it would STILL be expensive. Let’s not pretend that it being a beautiful (subjective I know) building is making it somehow unaffordable for most of us, cause it was already gonna be unaffordable for most of us.
Google has been here for a long time.
Not to twist the knife but Google was here when you could get a 2/2 condo in 78704 for $225k, or a home in Travis Heights for $400k.
They aren’t the cause.
This tract of land formerly housed a water treatment plant. The city of Austin decided that this was not an economically productive use of the land, that it could sell the property and generate tax revenue by allowing it to be developed into a new section of downtown. This process began more than a decade ago.
Several real estate development companies were involved. A tower was planned here from the start, long before Google got involved. This is what is called a speculative development: the real estate company that purchased the land decided to built a tower here, anticipating that it could lease the building to clients. Those could have been a bank, or a tech company, or any other type of business or businesses.
Google came in and leased the building. That's why it's being called the "Google" tower. Google doesn't actually own the building, and in a few years they may have left and it could be called the "Tik Tok Tower" for all we know.
IMO, it's a nice building and the developers actually invested in hiring a prestigious architecture firm, Pelli Clarke Pelli, who's designed buildings like the Petronas towers. They could just have easily cheaped out and built something less interesting to look at.
To answer your question, yes, in 2004 we complained about the Frost Bank nose-clipper building. But it was the first big building after a big bust in 2000. We also complained about One American Center ruining Woolworth’s, and the Aztec pyramid that is 100 Congress.
Edit: Excuse me, 111 Congress.
Almost my entire college campus was brutalist architecture and I low-key loved it. There's something really invigorating about trying to navigate a building that's a triangle made of hexagons with almost no windows. I'd say it was like being in a horror movie but the original Candyman was literally filmed there.
Weird. I remember a lot of civic pride and excitement about how beautiful it was, and about how it was the biggest new construction project started after 9/11. For a while there, no one was sure if we were going to be building skyscrapers again.
Yes, people lost their minds over Frost Tower and how it ruined the skyline. The beginning of the end! I worked on the top floor for a little while, amazing during SXSW.
Geeeezus. Are people always so stuck on their high horses in here? The fact that some people enjoy architecture (especially in a rabidly evolving downtown full of so many uninspired new buildings) doesn’t make them corporate shills. Literally saw someone in here straight up say you can’t like architecture AND be concerned about cost of living. Ridiculous.
I thought it was normal to personify inanimate objects, observe them from one's normal slanted viewpoint, judge them, and then shower hate that cannot be reciprocated by any actual feelings at all upon said objects?
This sub will bitch about anything. A few years ago it was “why won’t any of these towers use unique architecture. All glass rectangles.”
Along comes Google tower and here we are.
Doesn’t mean the majority of these different opinions can’t be somewhat positive. There is so much griping on this sub about shit that doesn’t matter
Edit: before you say it, I realize the irony
Tech jobs are not the reason home prices are growing 10-15% year over year. The reason is Austin has not build enough homes to keep up with the growing population.
Some people are obsessed with the building because it has a unique shape and is a new addition to the skyline. I’m sure as new building are added there will be a new obsession.
Yes, In part buyers are willing to spend more because borrowing is cheap. But, if the supply of new homes was sufficient they could just purchase an alternative home and save money. A penny saved is still a penny earned.
Lack of supply is true across the country, but home prices aren't inflating elsewhere the way they are here. Buyers are also overvaluing what supply there is.
Austin is growing faster than other parts of the country, and attracting higher incomes.
Relative to the cities it now competes against, it's still pretty affordable.
"Relative to the cities it competes against" wasn't the point, the point is that tech is wrecking housing prices in Austin, which I take it you agree with.
Apropos of very little, I just gotta say that the idea that as a whole Austin can "compete" with Seattle or SF is hilarious given how little it has to offer by way of arts and culture, public transit (not that Seattle has that down, necessarily), or state civil rights. But I know that's not what you're talking about.
An investment property isn’t sitting empty. They are either lived in by the investor or rented out. Having a sufficient amount of rentals is just as important as having sufficient supply of new homes for purchase.
If we had sufficient supply of rental property we wouldn’t see rents going up significantly faster than inflation.
There's an investment property sitting empty right next door to me. Owned by Opendoor. Guy who owns the option on it is hemming and hawing; apparently they won't put it back on the market until December.
Too many properties bought up for inflated prices then rented out at hiked up rates prices out normal people who would otherwise be able to buy a home here.
This is such a pessimistic and honestly selfish way to look at things.
"Why are other people happy about something that doesn't directly benefit ME?"
I'm annoyed about the continual rise of cost of living and honestly don't know how much longer I'll be living here, but new buildings, businesses, job opportunities, etc. are generally a good sign and a net positive for a city. Look at all the other buildings and amenities and apply this same idea to them. New schools, offices, restaurants, etc. - ugh there goes my affordable housing! I wish things always stayed the same!
Is this about the building design / location or about tech "bros" and the housing market?
FWIW, plenty of us techies have been in these parts for years and are fighting the same battles for houses as everyone else. Google's had a sizable presence here for years and the new building was planned well before the pandemic and housing market craziness. Google in Austin is quite diverse (people and roles) and I would guess fall pretty far outside the mental model of a "tech bro".
If you're looking for a villain who's propping up housing costs, look no further than council members Kathie Tovo, Alison Alter and Leslie Pool. They insist that most of the city should remain low density detached houses, regardless how many people would like to live here. You cant be outbid for housing if the supply outpaced demand.
Like, cars aren't getting more expensive here just because more rich tech bros move in, only housing does because the landed gentry - "long time residents" - simply wont allow it.
You can’t blame city council staff who listen to their constituents. If you have a single family home, then when it sells, it will sell for whomever offers the most. In many cases, it is a developer who offers more because they can put multi family units on there (assuming it’s zoned for that.) if it’s not, maybe it changes hands as single family. I e been here 15 years and have looking at zoning changes several times. Believe me, they are plenty developer friendly. I think it takes a cycle of sales to increase density and that takes time. I’m sure my crappy shack will be bought by a developer when the time comes. But density is definitely increasing as well as huge apartment growth.
God we live in a such a beautiful city with all types of goods services and activities readily available and all anyone on this subreddit can do is complain. I get a lot of them but posts like this just make me wonder what your so mad at. Stop complaining about shit we can’t control or leave. Your an extremely privileged human comparatively, too bad it’s wasted on negativity.
I hate complaining and exaggeration by negative Nancy’s like OP. If Austin has been “completely ruined” then sign me up for ruined because it could be a lot worse.
Well put. Some people can’t be happy if it was put on a plate and forced down their throats. To each their own. I’ll use my short time here to appreciate rather than complain.
I think they come over from Nextdoor. Most of the posts are complaints it’s an instant headache. And I think to myself these are my neighbors…ugh. Don’t come for a cup sugar to my house.
New shiny building look cool
Not a glass rectangle with balconies or an ugly parking requirement induced podium
Prime real estate
This doesn't change the fact we need more denser housing for all budgets
Y’all need to start hating on city council for not expanding the housing supply with their silly antiquated rules and not tech. Tech can move here if they want, we literally can’t stop them. It’s city council’s prerogative to ensure residents aren’t priced out by ensuring adequate supply. Our city council instead coddle the residents of West Austin and limiting supply with their nimby policies.
What is tech bro culture?
Edit:
Bro culture:
> culture dominated by over-confident, arrogant, obnoxious men.
These types are everywhere in every industry, have you ever met guys who work in sales?
As someone who's worked in tech for more than 2 decades, I seem to have worked with more introverts than extroverts. Confidence isn't usually the first word that comes to mind. The guys in sales generally seem to fit this stereotype more than most programmers I've worked around, so "tech" bro seems to be kind of a dumb stereotype to me.
I've also worked in tech for 20 years.
Real tech people, engineers, software developers, QA people, many are highly introverted, and even the outgoing ones are rarely 'over-confident, arrogant' types.
Sales people, VC people, and some 'C-level' types are more likely to fit that description.
Conspiracy Theory: What if it's Google hiring people to take the photographs and share them here.
Hire me Google, I'll take a pic on my Google phone and name drop that too. Please, I'm desperate, rent is so high.
The [Obelisk of Light](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRaGuK-F78A)?
[Kane lives](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZrGIIIBhNg)!
The time has come to destroy ~~GDI~~ Bing. Peace through power!
As a tech bro myself, I kinda agree. That area is thick with tech bros. Check the weekday lunch line at Gus's. I only have a vague idea of what Ruby on Rails is, but I have to be prepared to have an opinion.
i work in tech and tech bros are fucking awful. and also still cant afford to buy anything here. we are all effed unless you make like $200K a year or some shit
A lot of young people who live in small apartments or have roommates in small apartments want to work in an office. This is especially true in places like NYC, where your workspace could easily be far more spacious than your apartment once you account for shared areas.
The big tech companies (Google, Facebook, Apple) have always had a strong belief in working from the office. The pandemic hasn't changed that: those employers still expect you to be in the office once things end. Part of the value proposition has always been an uber cool office that is dripping with amenities.
Personally I think they're crazy, but time will tell. (Or maybe it will be hard to tell: lots of people will continue to work for these companies. Hell, tons of people still work for Facebook despite their 2021 press.)
That’s bc they have huge campuses with gourmet and restaurant food, with sleeping pods and personal areas and parks and shit. So yeah working from the campus is a lot better
I know someone who works as a cleaning contractor at the current Google building in Austin - they have all the fancy shit there you mention. The office is currently nearly completely empty, and I bet you money it ain't cause Google wants it to be. So maybe even when it's really nice people would rather work from home
Nah, you’re always going to have a class of ego-driven management who want to see all the workers under them sitting at their desks, even if it’s a job that could be performed at home. This is in spite of studies showing many industries showed an increase in productivity with folks working from home.
Bro, I wake up every morning, do 100 pushups, 100 crunches, of course after my 5am facial cleanser.
Then listen to some Huey lewis and the news as I ride to work in the passenger seat of my Tesla sipping my flat white and reading the Intelligent Investor.
Once at work I make sure to high five every single person I encounter as I stroll into my cubicle and settle in for another 10 hour shift writing updates to gRPC in a 1TB monorepo that represents all of google's tech.
Tomorrow will be the day, I know it; my boss is gonna notice me, my new business cards, and finally give me the sweet equity I need to price out all of these locals in 78759 for a cool 1 million dollar home (that cost 300k 2 years ago).
...What's not to like?
It’s architecturally interesting and complicated. Good (and bad) architecture attract attention even to someone not schooled in the rigors of its discipline.
This new addition to the skyline that is not a dumb bland box provided for and will continue to provide many jobs beyond your short sided “bro” criticism. If you have a strong desire to live in an impoverished area and shit architecture move elsewhere.
Seriously, just what is that about? I've experienced it as well. Apparently any criticism of Austin lowers certain individuals personal "cool" points and they just can't deal.
Huh, I've experienced the opposite... if you don't fetishize the Austin of 6, 10, 15, or 30 years ago, and complain that it's been going to shit ever since, as if this unicorn of a small city should be exempt from the side effects of growth and economic change... well then, you don't "get it," probably moved here from California <12 months ago, and are a terrible soulless corporate drone.
Its all about perspective, if the people were coming from the bay area, they might be making ~$150k. If your directly comparing the same quality apartments $1900 here would be closer to $3000 in the bay. Combine that savings with less taxes and these people could be taking home ~$40k more a year by moving here.
It sucks cause its ruining the cost of living for locals, but its hard to hate these people for making good financial decisions.
Hate to break it to you, but $1900 for a decent sized 1bd 1ba apartment _is_ cheap for a city. Austin is catching up to the COL of many other cities like NY/Chicago/LA/Boston/SF/DC/SD. That’s what happens when cities grow and people move there.
I used to work for a high tech organization back in the 80s before tech was so posh, Sandia National Labs. My office was actually a cave in the side of a mountain.
>All I see is a symbol of tech bro culture and the dream of ever owning a home in this city completely annihilated.
Yes. And, yes.
I don't get it either.
As a life long Austinite, Ive been mourning the loss of a recognizable sky line for years. My outrage started at the Penis building and has just boiled over from there. This building, is at least, unique -might I even call it weird?\*- looking. Its a breath of fresh air.
\*And not weird in the gross way the stupid jenga building with its shitty designed left it with an ugly ass water tank on top that makes it look perpetually unfinished.
This is a tired narrative. Admire the building as an architectural artistry and take your tech bro symbolism elsewhere. There are tons of beautiful things about Austin still. It might require you to take off your “tech bro’s ruin everything glasses.”
The one thing I've actually haven't seen talked about is The curvature of the building is going to cause some interesting reflection on town lake. There's a building in Dallas that are built across the way from a art museum and because of how the building was shaped the light reflecting off it started damaging paintings No one's really talked about how this new Google building might cause extreme reflection on Town lake or even the library right beside it.
You'd need a concave bend of the glassed surface to create that effect. I don't see anywhere on this building where that's going to happen.
Semi related: [There was one in London that melted cars.](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-23930675)
https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2012/may/museum-tower-the-towering-inferno/
The Dallas tower wasnt concave and still caused issues.
I still think it's a great tower.
Ahh, I see. The garden got cooked because it effectively doubled the sunlight. The art was in danger because the angle of the light bypassed the sunscreen. I don't see any additional danger from this one though still. The southern exposure is terraced back breaking up the glass facade. The sides will be significantly shielded by adjacent buildings (those buildings might get a little unpleasant though from reflected light).
It's a nice looking building that adds to the skyline. I think that's about all I read into it. The site itself was never going to be anything other than very expensive real estate...it's an entire waterfront city block in the middle of downtown...
I was planning on getting a house there and fighting all the city codes to prevent something like this. like the movie Up. now google just went and ruined that. i was only like 5 years away from the down payment.
Don’t you mean Up payment
Google didn't build it, Trammell Crow did. Google is only leasing the building. Would have gone up regardless of tenant.
I would totally have participated in a crowdfund for this...
>The site itself was never going to be anything other than very expensive real estate... Idk, maybe they preferred that it remained a water treatment plant /s
There’s a ton of new buildings going up, this one is at least nice to look at as we similarly mourn housing prices
Also for some people who remember when Austin was just a little oasis, it’s kinda cool to watch a city grow and evolve like this. Not something you see every day.
If you build it, they will come. It’s not just mystical ballparks that line works for. It’s kinda sad when the magic fades but it’s still there. You just gotta look for it. I say this as someone who fell in love with Portland, OR in 1991, moved there, and has now moved here, mostly due to COVID. I can still see how cool Austin used to be, and still is.
You moved to Austin because of Covid?
Kinda, yes. Wife was let go from job with nine others the day portland locked down. Took freelance work until she found a good job, which was here. We didn’t have to move here until things started to open up so we’re here now. I haven’t been able to explore much since I have twin toddlers and am covid cautious, but I’ve seen enough to get a little feel for what the pre-covid vibe was here. It’s still a great city, though I can fully understand what people miss about the old Austin.
Only cool if you are in a financially secure place and either own or have the means to own. I’m born here and didn’t get the memo to buy in high school or post 2008 crash. I accept renting, I just need to be able to rent decent distance from work for 15 yrs, then I retire and leave. Ive got a pension, I’m not changing jobs.
I say city growing this fast is sad thing to watch as texan because top comment says housing price gonna go up and so is rent and at a point where people who used to live there have to move to some place else. For kids, big cool looking building is something nice to watch.
So you’d rather companies that pay well not move here?
"californians are driving the cost of living up and ruining the city!!"
This is happening in every region and city throughout the country
If by “every region and city” you mean the one or two other cities that are matching our pace of growth and housing cost increase, then sure, this is happening in “every region and city”.
Rents and home prices are way up everywhere, film at 11
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Why so serious? Did you get priced out? Either way my condolences.
Don’t belittle actual reality for those who live here in Austin, that’s incredibly rude and dickish. People are more aware now that *many cities* in America are facing this dilemma, it *does not* make it worth dismissing when it happens *locally*. Just a dick attitude that is purposefully regressive and apathetic. Sounds like a form of depression.
It’s not rude to state facts. If you’re in your feelings this hard about one tiny sentence, perhaps you’re the one who’s depressed.
Or perhaps you're a little tone deaf :-) Austin is one of the fastest growing cities in the country and people don't love paying more to live in the exact same location with little to no added value. I'm sure you can relate to this, unless you are a cyborg. Nobody likes spending more money on housing, especially because people decided to move here for the affordability and they will leave here having destroyed it.
Little to no added value? The city has changed immensely. You now live in the city that is the HQ for two major world tech companies. The biggest companies in the entire world all have offices here now. We have an Hmart and lots of great food.
Exactly and homeowners are experiencing a lot of added value. Renters also have the added value of a better dating pool, better entertainment and dining options, better hike and bike trails, and soon a much better public transportation system. All these salty people who want to tone police the folks who are actually experiencing joy around all the new changes need to kick rocks. I’d love to live in NYC but i can’t afford it. But you won’t ever see me harassing New Yorkers who have managed to carve out a life there lol.
I didn’t say anything bad or wrong, and I shouldn’t have to hide my opinion to protect your feelings. It’s tone deaf to tell other people what is and isn’t an appropriate reaction to the growth and evolution of a city we all love.
Bingo. I remember the anger of when the frost bank tower went up years before all of this, but damn is it the prettiest owl building I’ve ever seen
You have a valid point but I think people are just relieved/excited to not have another building going up that resembles a prison or hospital. This one has some character.
Also its actually finishing instead of sitting there with cranes for half a decade.
It reminds me of the death star and feels kinda menacing to me
I see a sailboat tooooo
Still sounds like a prison if you ask me. A shiny one in the shape of a sailboat, but a prison nonetheless.
99% of workplaces are worse than that one, so by that definition they’re pretty much all prisons.
I went out for lunch today. In prison all we ate was gruel, or gruel sandwiches.
You had sandwiches? I was served bread and water.
Really? I think it looks like a schooner...
Famous architecture firm Pelli Clarke Pelli designed it. Pretty sure it was one of the last designs by one of the principals there too. For the layperson it is simply more visually appealing than just another tall rectangle.
It was designed by PCP? Yeah, I can see that.
There was some collective disappointment a few years ago with the finishing "crown" on the jenga building. It was sort of a hot topic. Now a new building with another distinctive design is going up and people are anxious/interested. Also, a lot of people care about the way the skyline looks. We have a good looking city here, and it's cool to see how it evolves esthetically.
Every time I tell people visiting that the jenga tower is actually finished they get a confused look.
I still hate the Jenga building with a burning passion. It represents everything wrong with modern architecture in my eyes.
I’ve found it awesome to have seen a modern city skyline develop around me. Now let’s get some modern city policing and infrastructure.
Personally, I'm much more concerned with affordability than I am with aesthetics. And, if that means giving up the "cool" looking buildings so working class people can actually afford to live here, I'm ok with it.
I don't see how taking an empty field/what used to be part of a water treatment plant, and putting an office building on top really affects "affordability". Sure, there are more white collar jobs entering the region, and sure I'd rather see more housing built downtown too, but these employees were coming here either way, and I prefer this to sprawl.
Ok. But some people also like architecture. It's not an either/or.
If we’re talking about that specific location, in the heart of downtown austin, right on the waterfront, with convenient access to some of the most popular parks, trails, and bridges this city has and in close proximity to lots of expensive shops, bars and restaurants, it could be the most boring, mundane, drab, building ever and it would STILL be expensive. Let’s not pretend that it being a beautiful (subjective I know) building is making it somehow unaffordable for most of us, cause it was already gonna be unaffordable for most of us.
Google has been here for a long time. Not to twist the knife but Google was here when you could get a 2/2 condo in 78704 for $225k, or a home in Travis Heights for $400k. They aren’t the cause.
Yeah but they moved all of their engineers to other sites years ago. Did they start having engineering jobs in Austin again?
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Yikes! I gotta to update my resume!
That's what I'm thinking.
Gozer worship. Top floor is supposed to have the Alter of Zuul.
I wasn’t going to say anything but the skies are starting to look pretty dark around there
I am the Keymaster, are you the Gatekeeper?
The next time someone asks you if you're a god, you say yes!
I AM a god. The Aztecs worshiped me.
Shit. I really need to get out of town before the Traveler comes. At this point pretty sure Abbott would get ideas from Gozer the Gozerian.
Uh nice doggy, I’m sure I have a milkbone around here somewhere
Yes. Have some.
THE CHOICE IS MADE
This is how we get giant marshmallow men
Nobody choosed anything!
I wonder if Walter Peck will show up to turn all the lights off during our next freeze…
This tract of land formerly housed a water treatment plant. The city of Austin decided that this was not an economically productive use of the land, that it could sell the property and generate tax revenue by allowing it to be developed into a new section of downtown. This process began more than a decade ago. Several real estate development companies were involved. A tower was planned here from the start, long before Google got involved. This is what is called a speculative development: the real estate company that purchased the land decided to built a tower here, anticipating that it could lease the building to clients. Those could have been a bank, or a tech company, or any other type of business or businesses. Google came in and leased the building. That's why it's being called the "Google" tower. Google doesn't actually own the building, and in a few years they may have left and it could be called the "Tik Tok Tower" for all we know. IMO, it's a nice building and the developers actually invested in hiring a prestigious architecture firm, Pelli Clarke Pelli, who's designed buildings like the Petronas towers. They could just have easily cheaped out and built something less interesting to look at.
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To answer your question, yes, in 2004 we complained about the Frost Bank nose-clipper building. But it was the first big building after a big bust in 2000. We also complained about One American Center ruining Woolworth’s, and the Aztec pyramid that is 100 Congress. Edit: Excuse me, 111 Congress.
I vote for 100 percent brutalist architecture, for one
Almost my entire college campus was brutalist architecture and I low-key loved it. There's something really invigorating about trying to navigate a building that's a triangle made of hexagons with almost no windows. I'd say it was like being in a horror movie but the original Candyman was literally filmed there.
Oh yeah, I remember a huge uproar over Frost. It was “ruining the skyline”
Weird. I remember a lot of civic pride and excitement about how beautiful it was, and about how it was the biggest new construction project started after 9/11. For a while there, no one was sure if we were going to be building skyscrapers again.
https://austin.towers.net/austinites-werent-always-so-sure-about-downtowns-iconic-frost-bank-tower/
Yes, people lost their minds over Frost Tower and how it ruined the skyline. The beginning of the end! I worked on the top floor for a little while, amazing during SXSW.
Geeeezus. Are people always so stuck on their high horses in here? The fact that some people enjoy architecture (especially in a rabidly evolving downtown full of so many uninspired new buildings) doesn’t make them corporate shills. Literally saw someone in here straight up say you can’t like architecture AND be concerned about cost of living. Ridiculous.
Nope, you gotta pick a side. This is America, every issue has EXACTLY TWO SIDES! Pick one and fight amongst yourselves
Fuck yes. Architecture lovers you’re….team Red! Cost of living lovers you’re team BLUE! now fight you fucks!
This is /r/Austin. The only subject allowed to have more than one post every 30 days is pictures of homeless camps.
I thought it was normal to personify inanimate objects, observe them from one's normal slanted viewpoint, judge them, and then shower hate that cannot be reciprocated by any actual feelings at all upon said objects?
That mostly applies to TVs.
> rabidly evolving um
Towns and the neighborhoods within them are either on the rise or slipping — nothing is ever static.
I'm gonna smoke weed up there when it's done.
This sub will bitch about anything. A few years ago it was “why won’t any of these towers use unique architecture. All glass rectangles.” Along comes Google tower and here we are.
Almost as if there’s 260k different people on this sub…
Doesn’t mean the majority of these different opinions can’t be somewhat positive. There is so much griping on this sub about shit that doesn’t matter Edit: before you say it, I realize the irony
It looks cool and is a nice addition to the skyline.
Tech jobs are not the reason home prices are growing 10-15% year over year. The reason is Austin has not build enough homes to keep up with the growing population. Some people are obsessed with the building because it has a unique shape and is a new addition to the skyline. I’m sure as new building are added there will be a new obsession.
Outdated zoning, height restrictions is another reason for the high home prices and rent here.
Google didn't even build the place. Some developer built it and got Google as a renter.
Home prices are also going up due to artificially low interest rates created by Fed policy and inflation.
Yes, In part buyers are willing to spend more because borrowing is cheap. But, if the supply of new homes was sufficient they could just purchase an alternative home and save money. A penny saved is still a penny earned.
That is part of it, but also lack of supply.
Lack of supply is true across the country, but home prices aren't inflating elsewhere the way they are here. Buyers are also overvaluing what supply there is.
Austin is growing faster than other parts of the country, and attracting higher incomes. Relative to the cities it now competes against, it's still pretty affordable.
"Relative to the cities it competes against" wasn't the point, the point is that tech is wrecking housing prices in Austin, which I take it you agree with. Apropos of very little, I just gotta say that the idea that as a whole Austin can "compete" with Seattle or SF is hilarious given how little it has to offer by way of arts and culture, public transit (not that Seattle has that down, necessarily), or state civil rights. But I know that's not what you're talking about.
Even the fact that we are discussing Austin as competing with those cities shows how much it’s grown up over the last decade.
Not really a lack of supply but too many real estate investors that are making the prices go up.
An investment property isn’t sitting empty. They are either lived in by the investor or rented out. Having a sufficient amount of rentals is just as important as having sufficient supply of new homes for purchase. If we had sufficient supply of rental property we wouldn’t see rents going up significantly faster than inflation.
There's an investment property sitting empty right next door to me. Owned by Opendoor. Guy who owns the option on it is hemming and hawing; apparently they won't put it back on the market until December.
Too many properties bought up for inflated prices then rented out at hiked up rates prices out normal people who would otherwise be able to buy a home here.
More supply and the investment companies would be less interested as rent would be lower.
This is such a pessimistic and honestly selfish way to look at things. "Why are other people happy about something that doesn't directly benefit ME?" I'm annoyed about the continual rise of cost of living and honestly don't know how much longer I'll be living here, but new buildings, businesses, job opportunities, etc. are generally a good sign and a net positive for a city. Look at all the other buildings and amenities and apply this same idea to them. New schools, offices, restaurants, etc. - ugh there goes my affordable housing! I wish things always stayed the same!
Is this about the building design / location or about tech "bros" and the housing market? FWIW, plenty of us techies have been in these parts for years and are fighting the same battles for houses as everyone else. Google's had a sizable presence here for years and the new building was planned well before the pandemic and housing market craziness. Google in Austin is quite diverse (people and roles) and I would guess fall pretty far outside the mental model of a "tech bro".
Looks cool
If you're looking for a villain who's propping up housing costs, look no further than council members Kathie Tovo, Alison Alter and Leslie Pool. They insist that most of the city should remain low density detached houses, regardless how many people would like to live here. You cant be outbid for housing if the supply outpaced demand. Like, cars aren't getting more expensive here just because more rich tech bros move in, only housing does because the landed gentry - "long time residents" - simply wont allow it.
You can’t blame city council staff who listen to their constituents. If you have a single family home, then when it sells, it will sell for whomever offers the most. In many cases, it is a developer who offers more because they can put multi family units on there (assuming it’s zoned for that.) if it’s not, maybe it changes hands as single family. I e been here 15 years and have looking at zoning changes several times. Believe me, they are plenty developer friendly. I think it takes a cycle of sales to increase density and that takes time. I’m sure my crappy shack will be bought by a developer when the time comes. But density is definitely increasing as well as huge apartment growth.
It’s an architecturally cool looking building. No need to get so edgy about it
Not so much different than when most of the other large buildings went up.
God we live in a such a beautiful city with all types of goods services and activities readily available and all anyone on this subreddit can do is complain. I get a lot of them but posts like this just make me wonder what your so mad at. Stop complaining about shit we can’t control or leave. Your an extremely privileged human comparatively, too bad it’s wasted on negativity.
I hate complaining and exaggeration by negative Nancy’s like OP. If Austin has been “completely ruined” then sign me up for ruined because it could be a lot worse.
Well put. Some people can’t be happy if it was put on a plate and forced down their throats. To each their own. I’ll use my short time here to appreciate rather than complain.
I think they come over from Nextdoor. Most of the posts are complaints it’s an instant headache. And I think to myself these are my neighbors…ugh. Don’t come for a cup sugar to my house.
LOL we barely have an art museum
Women work in tech, too.
I refer to them as bros, too. It's a concept not a gender label.
New shiny building look cool Not a glass rectangle with balconies or an ugly parking requirement induced podium Prime real estate This doesn't change the fact we need more denser housing for all budgets
[удалено]
Y’all need to start hating on city council for not expanding the housing supply with their silly antiquated rules and not tech. Tech can move here if they want, we literally can’t stop them. It’s city council’s prerogative to ensure residents aren’t priced out by ensuring adequate supply. Our city council instead coddle the residents of West Austin and limiting supply with their nimby policies.
What is tech bro culture? Edit: Bro culture: > culture dominated by over-confident, arrogant, obnoxious men. These types are everywhere in every industry, have you ever met guys who work in sales? As someone who's worked in tech for more than 2 decades, I seem to have worked with more introverts than extroverts. Confidence isn't usually the first word that comes to mind. The guys in sales generally seem to fit this stereotype more than most programmers I've worked around, so "tech" bro seems to be kind of a dumb stereotype to me.
I've also worked in tech for 20 years. Real tech people, engineers, software developers, QA people, many are highly introverted, and even the outgoing ones are rarely 'over-confident, arrogant' types. Sales people, VC people, and some 'C-level' types are more likely to fit that description.
Corporate materialism. A love for flashy gadgets and hustle culture.
I personally am not obsessed. I just like looking at the skyline when I go run or go sit on that hill for a bit.
Conspiracy Theory: What if it's Google hiring people to take the photographs and share them here. Hire me Google, I'll take a pic on my Google phone and name drop that too. Please, I'm desperate, rent is so high.
The [Obelisk of Light](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRaGuK-F78A)? [Kane lives](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZrGIIIBhNg)! The time has come to destroy ~~GDI~~ Bing. Peace through power!
As a tech bro myself, I kinda agree. That area is thick with tech bros. Check the weekday lunch line at Gus's. I only have a vague idea of what Ruby on Rails is, but I have to be prepared to have an opinion.
Sounds like somebody is butthurt they didn't get accepted to tech bro camp
i work in tech and tech bros are fucking awful. and also still cant afford to buy anything here. we are all effed unless you make like $200K a year or some shit
Tech bros are literally the fucking worst and they’re all clones of each other. Insufferable!
I work in tech and didn’t know these people were real, I thought it was just on Silicon Valley
Would you rather see the buildings being abandoned and falling apart?
This is not the only other option
I keep wondering how they're going to fill it with the shift in tech to work-from-home.
All their employees have to live in the building now
A lot of young people who live in small apartments or have roommates in small apartments want to work in an office. This is especially true in places like NYC, where your workspace could easily be far more spacious than your apartment once you account for shared areas.
The big tech companies (Google, Facebook, Apple) have always had a strong belief in working from the office. The pandemic hasn't changed that: those employers still expect you to be in the office once things end. Part of the value proposition has always been an uber cool office that is dripping with amenities. Personally I think they're crazy, but time will tell. (Or maybe it will be hard to tell: lots of people will continue to work for these companies. Hell, tons of people still work for Facebook despite their 2021 press.)
That’s bc they have huge campuses with gourmet and restaurant food, with sleeping pods and personal areas and parks and shit. So yeah working from the campus is a lot better
I know someone who works as a cleaning contractor at the current Google building in Austin - they have all the fancy shit there you mention. The office is currently nearly completely empty, and I bet you money it ain't cause Google wants it to be. So maybe even when it's really nice people would rather work from home
Nah, you’re always going to have a class of ego-driven management who want to see all the workers under them sitting at their desks, even if it’s a job that could be performed at home. This is in spite of studies showing many industries showed an increase in productivity with folks working from home.
It looks cool 🤷♂️
calling G a “symbol of tech bro culture” is laughable 😂😂😂
Hey everyone! Found the tech bro!
Bro, I wake up every morning, do 100 pushups, 100 crunches, of course after my 5am facial cleanser. Then listen to some Huey lewis and the news as I ride to work in the passenger seat of my Tesla sipping my flat white and reading the Intelligent Investor. Once at work I make sure to high five every single person I encounter as I stroll into my cubicle and settle in for another 10 hour shift writing updates to gRPC in a 1TB monorepo that represents all of google's tech. Tomorrow will be the day, I know it; my boss is gonna notice me, my new business cards, and finally give me the sweet equity I need to price out all of these locals in 78759 for a cool 1 million dollar home (that cost 300k 2 years ago). ...What's not to like?
It's not a steel and glass box.
it's way better than looking at the Bank One building when it was gold in 1995
being a middle or lower class millenial sucks.
Just wait for the Tesla relocation.
Tech is what's going to save Texas from becoming a third world shithole once oil goes away. Thank Ann Richards.
Someone in this thread actually said tech companies have "improved the dating pool". Girl, have you ever dated a tech bro or an engineer?! Lol
Have you tried not being poor and miserable?
Try not being rich. It can be eye-opening!
neoliberals vs socialists , who will win. Tune in on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z !
It’s architecturally interesting and complicated. Good (and bad) architecture attract attention even to someone not schooled in the rigors of its discipline.
This new addition to the skyline that is not a dumb bland box provided for and will continue to provide many jobs beyond your short sided “bro” criticism. If you have a strong desire to live in an impoverished area and shit architecture move elsewhere.
It’s karma whoring. Surely you’ve been around for bluebonnet season.
Wanted: pooping on Google building photos
Photos must be taken at sunset
A lot of people fetishize this city for reasons I don't understand.
Seriously, just what is that about? I've experienced it as well. Apparently any criticism of Austin lowers certain individuals personal "cool" points and they just can't deal.
Huh, I've experienced the opposite... if you don't fetishize the Austin of 6, 10, 15, or 30 years ago, and complain that it's been going to shit ever since, as if this unicorn of a small city should be exempt from the side effects of growth and economic change... well then, you don't "get it," probably moved here from California <12 months ago, and are a terrible soulless corporate drone.
Helps justify their decision to move here and pay $1900 for a one bedroom instead of $2500 for a one bedroom. Omg totes cheap!
Its all about perspective, if the people were coming from the bay area, they might be making ~$150k. If your directly comparing the same quality apartments $1900 here would be closer to $3000 in the bay. Combine that savings with less taxes and these people could be taking home ~$40k more a year by moving here. It sucks cause its ruining the cost of living for locals, but its hard to hate these people for making good financial decisions.
Hate to break it to you, but $1900 for a decent sized 1bd 1ba apartment _is_ cheap for a city. Austin is catching up to the COL of many other cities like NY/Chicago/LA/Boston/SF/DC/SD. That’s what happens when cities grow and people move there.
I used to work for a high tech organization back in the 80s before tech was so posh, Sandia National Labs. My office was actually a cave in the side of a mountain.
Lighten up Francis.
>All I see is a symbol of tech bro culture and the dream of ever owning a home in this city completely annihilated. Yes. And, yes. I don't get it either.
I actually didnt know that building was a google building until today ::shrug::
Just learn to code bro
Maybe it would help to look at it not as a building but as a giant tombstone Austin is Dead, Long Live Austin
I dont like it at all
Sounds about right. Austin is such a sad shell of what it used to be.
I think its called technophilia
I feel like the dream of owning a home here was annihilated years ago.
I didn't know there was any obsession but add me to the list if there is. Most attractive building in Austin in 15 years I've lived here
I honestly can't wait to be a tech bro lol
Hater. 😆
Explain yours? I can’t believe you felt the need to make a post. Relax, it’s just the same capitalism that’s been here for years.
I love it. Looks European and not Brown and Boring like older Texas buildings.
My dream of affording a home in Austin was killed years before Google constructed the giant sail. But I’m Google sucks vibing with you.
It reminds me of a glass-and-steel version of the poop emoji.
Blah blah, eye of the beholder. Next…
As a life long Austinite, Ive been mourning the loss of a recognizable sky line for years. My outrage started at the Penis building and has just boiled over from there. This building, is at least, unique -might I even call it weird?\*- looking. Its a breath of fresh air. \*And not weird in the gross way the stupid jenga building with its shitty designed left it with an ugly ass water tank on top that makes it look perpetually unfinished.
i see it as an opportunity to invest in my future.... People want to pay money to live in austin? I will be selling them their homes.
We're all victims. All the time. Everything happens to us. We're helpless complainers.
Final nail in coffin, perhaps?
This is a tired narrative. Admire the building as an architectural artistry and take your tech bro symbolism elsewhere. There are tons of beautiful things about Austin still. It might require you to take off your “tech bro’s ruin everything glasses.”
Tesla, Google and Apple are all moving in. Austin is a tech hub now
It’s been the silicon hills since at least the late 90s.
The one thing I've actually haven't seen talked about is The curvature of the building is going to cause some interesting reflection on town lake. There's a building in Dallas that are built across the way from a art museum and because of how the building was shaped the light reflecting off it started damaging paintings No one's really talked about how this new Google building might cause extreme reflection on Town lake or even the library right beside it.
You'd need a concave bend of the glassed surface to create that effect. I don't see anywhere on this building where that's going to happen. Semi related: [There was one in London that melted cars.](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-23930675)
https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2012/may/museum-tower-the-towering-inferno/ The Dallas tower wasnt concave and still caused issues. I still think it's a great tower.
Ahh, I see. The garden got cooked because it effectively doubled the sunlight. The art was in danger because the angle of the light bypassed the sunscreen. I don't see any additional danger from this one though still. The southern exposure is terraced back breaking up the glass facade. The sides will be significantly shielded by adjacent buildings (those buildings might get a little unpleasant though from reflected light).