Manchaca Monday: South Austin Office Space Update

As a recap of our office development project on Manchaca Road, the idea behind the office park is to create a setting off of a high volume road that is peaceful and secluded. The narrow lot naturally supports that and we tried to leave as many trees as possible to create a tranquil setting. Many views from the large windows in the offices will be right into trees.

The retention pond is finished and the paving is halfway done. We are beginning to see how everything will eventually work and feel.

This is what the site plan looks like:

Now, the buildings are taking shape! The envelopes on all three buildings are close to finishing up. Building One has most of the framing and decking done. Building Two is just waiting on some siding and window frames. Building Four is the closest to being buttoned up. Next week we will have all the glass windows in and perhaps our metal fabrications that will give the buildings more identity. 

We are working hard to to get these buildings ready for occupancy by early January 2015. Below are some photos of the progress.


South Austin now has some fresh studio office space available around the corner!

Back in the Saddle Again - Manchaca Monday

This morning I use the faucet many times to make coffee, brush my teeth or wash my hands. However, I never once thought about how that water made it to my personal sink. I'm pretty sure we use water from the tap everyday and never once think about how we have the privilege to access to it.

 

Today that ends! At our Manchaca site where we are developing an office studio complex, we are in the middle of all the site work that will give us access to this water. In the photo to the right, you can see the workers attaching the wet tapping saddle to the city's public waterline. When we officially tap into the city's waterline, there will be such an insignificant amount of water lost you could catch it in a coffee cup, even though water flow will not be interrupted. I do not presume to be able to explain the physics behind this but here is an infographic below that might help.  

In the picture to the right is our fire line and water line that will be tied into the city's water. During the site plan approval process with the city, there was some back and forth with city officials on pipeline sizes and how best to save the trees (also shown in the picture). These have since been resolved but added time to the schedule. In the next couple of weeks, we'll also be adding a backflow preventer. This is important because our pipeline ends at the back of the site and we cannot have the city's potable water contaminated by any backflow. While we budgeted for these extraneous costs, a developer less experienced might run into some problems.


The moral of this story is the importance of doing your homework before you buy a piece of property to understand the city code on what is allowed on the site and having a team or architects or engineers to advocate for you. 

You can always reach us at info@fatterevans.com if you have any questions about site development or feasibility studies. 

Manchaca Mondays: Sitework - Not Sexy, but Salient

As part of our Manchaca Monday series, here's a post regarding the importance of paying attention to site work when developing a site. Site work is more than just moving dirt around and laying pipes. This is the foundation for a successful project. Even though talking about retention ponds, water lines, sewer lines, etc. is not sexy, it is vital for a project to function properly in the long term and when emergencies arise. 

At the moment, our development on Manchaca Road is concerned with digging trenches and laying pipes. When one of our principals visited the site today, he noticed a fire hydrant pointed in the wrong direction which could cause problems down the line. Additionally, he saw a 2 inch domestic water pipe being laid in a less than favorable way. The domestic water pipe came to intersection with some electrical components and had been laid at an angle on top of the electrical with only sand as a cushion separating the water lines and electrical. Our principal expressed concern that sand doesn't hold up very well and the water pipe could break over time under the weight of the dirt and water. 

The problem has since been addressed. However, it shows the importance of site visits and taking the time to see the site work is completed correctly and in the best interest of the functionality of the site. 

 

In the next couple of weeks, utilities should be done and we'll be moving on to pouring concrete. Thanks for stopping by; check in soon for more updates!