The Austonian Blog - Downtown Luxury Condo in Austin, Texas

Downtown Austin Event: Austin Triathlon

This Labor Day, thousands of athletes will participate in the 5^th-annual Austin Triathlon in downtown Austin. The course begins and ends at Auditorium Shores and follows a path north and south along South Congress, down Cesar Chavez towards Mopac and within the lake and the surrounding park itself.

Located minutes away from Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin, The Austonian is not only an ideal vantage point from which to watch the race, but is also provides amenities and services for athletic residents. 

The Austonian’s 6,000 square-foot Fitness Center features state-of-the-art equipment for cardio and strength training. For residents who enjoy swimming, The Austonian’s 10^th Floor Lawn features a 75-foot saltwater lap pool. The luxury condo also offers bike storage and bike valet for residents.

(Photo credit: Austin Triathlon website, http://www.theaustintriathlon.com/default.asp) 

 

 

Austonian Art Collection: Claudia Reese’s Art in Public Places Project

Claudia Reese, an artist in The Austonian Art Collection was recently selected to create one of eight way-finding ”Obeliscos” along East 7^th Street. The unveiling of this public art, which is part of Austin’s Art in Public Places East 7^th Street Improvement Project, took place this weekend.

Reese is an Austin artist who has been making ceramics for over 20 years and runs CeraMix Studios. She has exhibited national and internationally at museums including the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas; Art Expo, Chicago; and the Takashimaya, Tokyo.

Five ceramic platters by Reese hang in the 10^th-floor library of The Austonian (www.theaustonian.com). 

(Photo: Texas Wildflowers, 2010, Ceramic by Claudia Reese)

 

Green Living at The Austonian: Water Savings

As of August 28^th, Austin has officially set a new record of consecutive days over 100 degrees in one year. With the temperatures continuing to rise, and water in short supply, the City of Austin will implement additional water usage restrictions on September 6^th. This second phase of water restrictions will further limit the use of water for landscape. The restrictions will also extend to restaurants, who will not serve water unless requested, and the washing of sidewalks and other paved areas.

Water conservation can be achieved by a variety of means ranging from consumption reduction to recycling water for reuse. The developers of The Austonian incorporated water conservation plans into the design of the 56-story building, which occupies just one-third of a city block and provides 166 residences on less than three-quarters of an acre.

The Austonian incorporates low-water plants in its 10^th-floor green roof terrace and irrigates the plans with reclaimed water from the building’s cooling system. As a result, The Austonian uses a very limited amount of public water for street-level irrigation and no water for irrigation of the 10^th-floor green roof terrace. By comparison, a suburban community with 166 homes uses an estimated 33.2 million gallons of water per year for landscape watering. Additionally, The Austonian has incorporated low-flow toilets, lavatories and showerheads which reduce the use of potable water by at least 30 percent over typical fixtures. 

For more information about The Austonian and the sustainability of the building, visit www.theaustonian.com. 

(Photo credit Thomas McConnell)

Downtown Austin Event: 7th Annual Bat Fest

This Saturday, the 7^th annual Austin Bat Fest takes place on the Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin. The free, family-friendly event begins at 1 p.m. and features live music from 14 bands on two stages, dozens of food vendors and a number of local artisans.

Attendees will gather around 7 p.m. to watch 2 million Mexican Free Tail Bats emerge and take flight from their home under the bridge.

For more information and a full line-up of the bands, vendors and artists, visit the website.

Photo: Kinetic bat sculpture by Austin artist Dale Whistler, www.dalewhistler.com. 

Downtown Austin Event: The Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival

This Sunday marks the 21^st anniversary of The Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival in downtown Austin’s Waterloo Park from 11a.m. to 5:30p.m. What started as a friendly competition between Austin and San Antonio has evolved into of the largest local hot sauce contests in the world, drawing nearly 15,000 people annually according to The Austin Chronicle.

Admission to the festival is free with the donation of three healthy, nonperishable food items or a monetary donation to the Capitol Area Food Bank..

The hot sauce contest has three categories for entry: homemade, restaurant and commercial, and is judged by some of the finest chefs in Central Texas.

Festival attendees will enjoy food from several local vendors including Aster's Ethiopian Restaurant, Buffalo Billiards, Curra's Grill, Matt's Famous El Rancho, Santa Rita Tex Mex Cantina, Sun Garden Shaved Ice, and Torchy's Tacos. Live local music is planned throughout the day.

For more information, visit the website. 

(Image via http://digitaljournal.com/article/296764)

Snap Pod Offers Downtown Austin Workers and Dwellers Fast and Healthy Food

A new healthy lunch and dinner option is opening in downtown Austin across the street from The Austonian. Snap Kitchen, a healthy prepared foods store with two locations in Austin, is opening Snap Pod, a non-mobile vending unit housed in a recycled shipping container at 215 Congress Avenue.

Snap Kitchen offers healthy, handcrafted prepared foods made with local, organic ingredients. Their menu offers a selection of items made fresh daily including full meals, salads, snacks, diet-friendly desserts, gluten-free options and specialty elixirs. All menu items are portion controlled and labeled with nutritional content, making the meals an ideal choice for people looking to maintain a healthy diet.

The rotating menu at Snap Pod will feature all of the Snap Kitchen staples, but will alternate items throughout the week. Microwaves and picnic tables provide a on-site dining option, but the greatest draw for Snap Pod is the ability to serve the downtown work and urban-dwellers fast, healthy and convenient menu items to go.

The Snap Pod is unofficially open for lunch now, but will host its grand opening the first week of September. More information about Snap Kitchen and the new Snap Pod can be found on their website. 

 

The Austonian Art Collection: Gary Sweeney

Gary Sweeney is an artist in The Austonian’s art collection whose mixed media pieces feature popular iconography.

This summer, Sweeney installed the temporary public art installation “Keep Austin Surreal” at 517 South Lamar. The installation is made of hundreds of plastic Put-In-Cups, which are typically used in commercial signage, installed in a chain-link fence. The whimsical 12’ x 30’ installation will be up through October 23^rd.

Sweeney is one of more than 60 local and regional artists included in the art collection of The Austonian, which is displayed in the public spaces and elevator lobbies of the Austin luxury condo.

For more information about Sweeney, visit his artist website. 

(“Austin – Center of the World,” 2011, Vinyl lettering and paint on board, 26.5” x 33”)

 

The Austonian Art Collection: Judy Paul

Judy Paul, an artist featured in The Austonian art collection, has been producing art for over twenty years, and creates original, print and custom pieces. Paul produces mixed media paintings by combining acrylic paint, collage, pencil and screen-printing. Her work displays positivity through images of nature, animals and birds.

Judy is one of more than 60 local and regional artists included in the art collection of The Austonian, which is displayed in the luxury condo’s public spaces and elevator lobbies.

Two of Paul's recent works are below. View her full online gallery at http://www.judypaul.com. 

“Tree Owl, ” Mixed media collage painting on birchwood, 20” x 30”

“Whale,” Mixed media collage painting on canvas, 24” x 36”

 

 

 

Downtown Restaurants in the Base of The Austonian Pave the Way to Austin’s Ultimate Downtown Dining Experience

Congress Dining Room, photo credit Casey Dunn

Austin is a city known for its food. Over the last several months, Austin has repeatedly shown up as a trend setter in the food movement. One set of restaurants that has garnered attention locally and nationally since opening at the beginning of 2011 is the trio of spaces in the base of The Austonian: Congress, Bar Congress and Second Bar + Kitchen.

Congress received the city’s first and only five-star rating from Mike Sutter, restaurant critic for the Austin American-Statesman. Congress received the ranking because it is “an extraordinary restaurant experience from start to finish.”

From Bar Congress topping Esquire Magazine’s list of best bars in America, to the Austin Chronicle’s “Destination Dining Downtown” spread, the trio is tastefully paving the way to Austin’s ultimate downtown dining experience.

For more information about the restaurants, visit http://congressaustin.com/. 

 

Downtown Austin Event: Austin Ice Cream Festival at Waterloo Park August 13

This Saturday, the Austin Ice Cream Festival invites patrons to beat the heat with something sweet in downtown Austin’s Waterloo Park. The family-friendly event will include games, activities, contests, live entertainment, and of course, lots of ice cream. The festival is to remind the community of a time when ice cream trucks used to roam the streets of Austin in the summer, and proceeds benefit numerous charities including Austin Children’s Shelter, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Habibi’s Hutch. Guests are invited to participate in homemade ice cream making, popsicle stick sculpture building, and ice cream eating contests.

To satisfy the sweet tooth the rest of the summer, BerryAustin2Go, at the base of The Austonian offers ten rotating flavors of soft serve frozen yogurt and a variety of floats, parfaits, smoothies and frozen drinks daily.

(Photo via http://www.icecreamfestival.org)