Monarch Breaks Ground

In what appears to be a trend, another large residential tower has broken ground in downtown Austin (at West and Fifth). In a break from the trend, this tower will be full of high-end rentals instead of high-end condos.

Zom Inc., the developer and ostensible future landlord, and PageSoutherlandPage, the architect, appear to be making full use of the building's prime location, with 9,000 square feet of street level retail, so that's nice. On the other hand, the building doesn't appear to be green - no mention of LEED or even Austin Green Building certification. The only nod to the environment is the promotional mention that the building has "an earthy, Austin feel through judicious use of natural materials and colors." Um ... ok ... using natural materials is nice, but if that means shipping marble countertops over from India, it isn't a sustainable building practice.

*Image from Zom Inc.*

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By Shawn Shillington in News on July 7, 2006 3:52 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

jorge

The architect is RTKL Asssociates of Dallas, not Page Sutherland Page.

daniel

will wynn gets da bozack.

M1EK

An apartment building downtown could be constructed using the hides of baby seals and spotted owls, and it would still be more 'green' than the typical suburban apartment complex we'd otherwise see cropping up. Consider all the driving that ain't gonna happen, at a bare minimum.