Press - excerpts from articles
'Party of the Decade' planned for September Fete
Section of Congress Avenue would get its first new lodging option since 1966
Austin American-Statesman
http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/outandabout/entries/2010/05/05/_ballet_austin.html
by Michael Barnes
May 5, 2010Ballet Austin event chairwoman Andrea McWilliams, co-founder of McWilliams & Associates lobbying firm, is planning the 'party of the decade' for Sept. 10.
Dubbed 'Fete to the Power of 10,' the gala will include pricey cocktails, dinner and performances staged by Stephen Mills at the Butler Dance Education Center (tables go for $10,000; individual tickets for $1,000). Tickets for the performance -celebrating Mills - 10 years as artistic director - cost $250.
The party will migrate to the Seaholm Power Plant for an evening-long event (tickets: $95-$125).
Such a deal: MTV gets Seaholm for $500 a day during SXSW
Austin American-Statesman
by Michael Corcoran
February 24, 2010With downtown party space at a premium during South by Southwest, MTV has managed to work out an agreement with the City of Austin to rent the former Seaholm Power Plant for $500 a day over six days. You read that right: no zeroes are missing.
“Wow,” publicist Elaine Garza said, incredulously, at the bargain rate. “Some people are paying $10,000 to rent a club during the day. Seaholm is the hot space. Everybody’s been trying to get it.”
Gloria Aguilera of the City’s Real Estate Services Division said MTV reserved Seaholm, which has 117,000 square feet of space, after doing a few tapings at last year’s SXSW. Aguilera said the price is only $500 a day because there is no electricity or bathrooms in the warehouse-like shell.
Also, the low rental fee adhere’s to city ordinance #20080306-038, an economic growth initiative signed by then-mayor Will Wynn at SXSW 2008, which encourages filming of movies and television programs in Austin.
Several party planners were fighting over Seaholm, Aguilera said, including Rare magazine, which had been contracted by SXSW to put on a couple events, and Perez Hilton, who wanted MTV out at 5 p.m. Saturday so he could host his now-annual SXSW-closing bash. But MTV had already secured the hot spot.
MTV to take over Seaholm during SXSW
Austin American-Statesman
by Michael Corcoran
February 23, 2010The vacant Seaholm Power Plant, which is managed for temporary use by Austin’s Real Estate Services Division, will be occupied during South by Southwest by MTV, the city’s Gloria Aguilera said Monday. “They’ll be filming there all four days,” Aguilera said.
Spelman and Riley competing to cut carbon; plans for artwork at Seaholm
Austin American-Statesman
Urban Affairs
February 17, 2010Seaholm wall to be public art TheSeaholm Power Plant, which sits on the north side of Lady Bird Lake, is prime real estate, but, its Art Deco lettering aside, not exactly the prettiest thing along the shoreline. On Feb. 25, the City Council is scheduled to vote on a small step toward spiffing up the area.
The city is already planning to redevelop Seaholm and the neighboring Thomas C. Green Water Treatment Plant as a mix of shops, condos and amenities. Part of that plan is shrinking an existing substation to make room for a new library and then turning a wall that will enclose the substation into a work of art.
Exactly what sort of art hasn't been decided. The city has budgeted $750,000 for the wall and would spend an additional $181,200 that is already budgeted for public art. The city's Art in Public Places program would commission the design, engineering and construction.
01_Adaptive Reuse
Four preservation projects -- a barn, a grain elevator, a nurses' dormitory, and a power plant -- show that repurposing old buildings for new uses needn't sacrifice soul.
The ArchitectsNewspaper
http://www.archpaper.com/e-board_rev.asp?News_ID=3395
April 15, 2009
Seaholm
Austin, Texas
Ayers Saint GrossOn a prominent site separating a booming downtown residential district from Town Lake, the Seaholm Power Plant, built in the 1950s, is one of Austin’s most distinctive midcentury structures. Its red neon sign, towering stacks, and stark concrete mass are immediately recognizable landmarks. So when it was decommissioned in 1996, and following a nine-year remediation of hazardous materials, the city drafted a redevelopment masterplan and issued an RFQ to develop the site.
The winning team, including Southwest Strategies Group and Baltimore architects Ayers Saint Gross (ASG), programmed the site for new high- and low-rise construction to house a mix of office, residential, hospitality, and special-event space. The Seaholm building itself, with its cavernous turbine hall ringed by high clerestory windows, was envisioned as a retail center. “The model is the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco,” said Ann Powell of ASG.
Travis may join city in Seaholm taxing district
Austin American-Statesman
http://www.statesman.com/search/content/news/stories/local/04/15/0415seaholm.htmlby Suzannah Gonzales
April 15, 2009Travis County commissioners, lured by the prospect of gaining hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue, voted Tuesday to advise the City of Austin that they're willing to join a taxing district to help redevelop the former Seaholm Power Plant.
Seaholm currently generates no tax money because the property is owned by the city, but officials hope the site on West Cesar Chavez Street will become a $117 million mix of shops, offices and condominiums and will include a boutique hotel and special-events space.
... The proposed structure of the (Seaholm financing district) is for the proceeds to help offset the costs of the redevelopment of the power plant, addition of a plaza and transportation improvements," said John Rosato, lead developer of Seaholm Power LLC, which is spearheading the redevelopment.Planned Seaholm Development puts retired power plant to different use
Community Impact Newspaper
http://www.impactnews.com/central-austin/news/3909-planned-seaholm-development-puts-retired-power-plant-to-different-use
by Mark Collins
April 10, 2009For nearly 40 years the Seaholm Power Plant on Cesar Chavez provided energy for residents. Now on the verge of a major transformation, the power plant will serve Austin in a completely different capacity.
... “It is one of the most interesting spaces I’ve ever been in, and I’m a 69-year-old architect that has traveled the world and seen a lot of spaces,” Black said. “I’ve never seen a space more interesting than the inside of that building; it really is a magnificent thing inside.”
... “We were very intrigued by the power plant and spent a tremendous amount of time there,” lead developer John Rosato said. “That has been the main purpose of our design team — figuring out how we take an industrial site and convert the building into retail and offices while maintaining its character.”
City, developer are near Seaholm deal
by Shonda Novak
Austin American-Statesman
December 15, 2008The taxing zone “is a way for the city to participate in the Seaholm project without having to come up with out-of-pocket funds,” said John Rosato, principal with Southwest Strategies Group, the lead developer in Seaholm Power LLC, which the city chose to redevelop the site after a competitive selection process.
“As a government-owned property, Seaholm has yet to contribute a cent to the tax base. But that will change dramatically in the coming years, and this vehicle enables future funds to pay for the city’s participation,” Rosato said.
The focal point will be the preservation of the landmark power plant, a 136,000-square-foot building with more than 110,000 square feet of useable floor space. Once renovated, the building will house an events center plus offices, shops and restaurants.
Jeff Trigger and his La Corsha Hospitality Group will oversee the construction, management and operations of a 180-room hotel planned for the project.
Trigger is the former managing director of the historic Driskill Hotel in downtown Austin, Trigger said there’s keen interest from “Austin-centric retailers” who want to be part of Seaholm.
“We’re not going to be generating a whole lot of electrical power, but we sure want to generate a lot of energy,” Trigger said. “As you can tell, I’m jazzed about this.”City, developer are near Seaholm deal
Proposal calls for Austin to pay 16 percent of $117.2 million mixed-use project downtown
by Kate Miller Morton
Austin American-Statesman
March 28, 2008The City of Austin and the local group it chose to redevelop the Seaholm Power Plant and surrounding property three years ago are close to reaching an agreement that would allow the $117.2 million project to move forward.
... Rosato hopes the group will be able to start construction by this time next year. If that happens, construction could be completed in 2011.
ILLUMINATION
A new site-specific aerial dance from Blue Lapis LightWhere: The Seaholm Power Plant, downtown Austin
(Entrance at 3rd Street & West Ave.)
Dates: October 4-7, 11-14, 18-21, 25-28
Time: 8pmBlue Lapis Light presents its latest site-specific aerial dance performance, Illumination, at the Seaholm Power Plant in downtown Austin. Artistic Director and recent Austin Arts Hall of Fame inductee Sally Jacques, along with choreographers/dancers Laura Cannon and Nicole Whiteside, will transform the interior of the historic building to create images of beauty and transcendence. The architecture of Seaholm, reminiscent of a cathedral, inspires the vision for Illumination. The dancers, suspended from ropes and cloth, will soar through the space in graceful athleticism. Highlighting the grand architecture, Illumination will feature lighting by Jason Amato and sound design by William Meadows.
Illumination has been made possible with great assistance from various departments of the City of Austin and Southwest Strategies Group Inc.
Alamo Cinema Drafthouse
Karrie & Tim League owners
in a speech by Karrie March, 2007
"Danny Roth especially. We met him 11 years ago. When we approached him with no business cards or business plan and pitched him our hare-brained scheme, he treated us with total professional courtesy, just as if we really had financial backing and a tried-and-true business model. He was responsible for getting us our first lease, and he has been behind every new theater we have tackled since the first."
Austin to see Seaholm Plans
In $100 million project downtown, developers seek to blend new, old buildings
Austin American-Statesman
February 1, 2007Developers are expected to roll out today their vision for a mixed-use project that would transform the former Seaholm Power Plant into shops, offices, a hotel and condominiums by 2009.
... "This is a historic event and an opportunity for saving a slice of Austin's history, " said John Rosato, managing partner of Seaholm Power LLC. "It's the first time that the city has entered into a public-private venture for the sole purpose of saving an iconic building in Austin."
Assistant City Manager Laura Huffman said, "We view this as a pivotal opportunity for revitalizing downtown and realizing a longtime goal for a transit hub at Seaholm."
... Centro would develop the condos. Units could cost from about $450,000 fpr abpit 1,200 square feet to more than $1 million for the largest 3,000-square-foot units, Rosato said.
Jeff Trigger, ex-managing director of the historic Driskill Hotel in downtown Austin, would oversee the construction, management and operations of the Seaholm Plaza Hotel, to be built just north of the former power plant, through La Corsha, his newly formed hotel management and consulting firm.
Alamo Drafthouse moving to Sixth St.
The historic Ritz will be a theater again, a change cheered by area business leaders
Austin American-Statesman
by Shonda Novak & Chris Garcia
March 21, 2007The Drafthouse's longtime real estate broker, Danny Roth, Southwest Strategies Group, and the Downtown Austin Alliance, which represents downtown property owners, helped put the deal together.
A sense of history
Austin Business Journal
Book of Power 2007 issue
Dec. 29-Jan. 4, 2007For more than two decades, Jeff Trigger has been in the business of managing, restoring and renovating hotels. And in that time, Trigger has often been approached often by hotel companies interested in tapping his hospitality expertise.
... Trigger's La Corsha, along with Southwest Strategies Group Inc. and Centro Partners LLC, make up Seaholm Power LLC, the group that's transforming the historic art-deco Seaholm Power Plant site downtown...."To me, it's neat to be able to preserve history in a sense of place," Trigger says. "Seaholm is a very special project, and that location is screaming for a community-oriented facility. Once completed, the hotel will be downtown Austin's only independent luxury hotel. And there will be plenty of green space. We're hoping it will become the place to be in the downtown neighborhood. And, of course, the icon of the smokestacks is just phenomenal."
Developers, city officials have lofty plans for SW downtown
Austin Business Journal
Oct. 6-12, 2006The Seaholm Power Plant Reuse project's developers are looking to attract empty nesters, young professionals and then some.
... Daniel Roth, a partner with Seaholm Power LLC and with Southwest Strategies Group Inc., envisions a project that will feature an events center and a plaza with shops and cafés, a bus stop, the Lance Armstrong Bikeway, a rail stop, a streetcar stop and an Austin-San Antonio commuter rail station.... Fellow project partner Kent Collins, a partner with Centro Partners, says Seaholm's condos will range from 800 to 3,000 square feet.
Hotel/condo tower to become 1st part of Seaholm makeover
Work could begin next summer on 163-room hotel to open in 2009
Austin American-Statesman
September 22, 2006A 22-story hotel and condominium tower could rise above the smokestacks at the former Seaholm Power Plant by 2009.
The project is the first part of a multimillion dollar plan to transform the Seaholm site into a vibrant district with shops, offices, housing, entertainment and cultural attractions.
... Jeff Trigger, former managing director of the historic Driskill Hotel, will run the 163-room hotel, tentatively called the Seaholm Plaza Hotel.
... Austin-based Centro Partners LLC will develop the 62 condominium units, with prices from about $350,000 to more than $1 million, said Kent Collins, a Centro partner.
... The city last year tapped a group led by Austin-based Southwest Strategies Group, Inc. to redevelop the 7.8-acre Seaholm site, which will include preserving and reusing the power plant and its Art Deco-style facade.
Mixed-use properties provide convenience to residents
Austin Business Journal
August 4-10, 2006Further south, it's anticipated that the redevelopment of the Seaholm Power Plant site will act as another hub of activity, particularly since mass transit will be a part of the mix.
Austin Inc.
Not your ordinary ceremony: Architects honored at Seaholm
Austin American-Statesman
March 10, 2006The awards dinner was at an old power plant, and prizes went to projects that included a parking garage and a water plant expansion.
In other words, this year's local American Institute of Architects awards were a little out of the ordinary.
The Austin chapter held the recent banquet at the closed Seaholm Power Plant, slated to be reborn as a mixed-use project by 2008.
... Finally, Seaholm itself walked away with an honor recognizing its sustainability — it has been around for 50 years and could last 50 more with the pending transformation.
Seaholm's rebirth set for 2008
EPA says ex-plant ready for development; summer start possible
Austin American-Statesman
January 18, 2006The former Seaholm Power Plant overlooking Town Lake could be crackling with new energy by mid-2008.
... A grand opening for at least part of the project is set for July 4, 2008, Rosato said.
... Seaholm is the first facility nationwide to receive a "ready for reuse: designation under the federal Toxic Substance Control Act.
to read the article.
Development on former Seaholm Power Plant site move forward
EPA and Texas commission has given site in downtown Austin an environmental
clean bill of health
Austin American-Statesman
January 17, 2006A new chapter unfolded today for the former Seaholm Power Plant as a federal agency cleared the way for work to start on transforming the decommissioned 1950s plant into a mix of housing, shops, restaurants and offices.
The plant is the first nationwide to receive the designation among sites subject to the federally regulated Toxic Substances Control Act. Since 1997, the plant has undergone $13 million of remediation work to clean up PCBs, asbestos, lead-based paint and other contaminants.
City may open prime land
Austin American-Statesman
October 26, 2005Today, Council Member Brewster McCracken will propose shrinking an Austin Energy substation on Cesar Chavez Street to free up 1.4 acres of waterfront land for redevelopment. The substation sits next to the former Seaholm Power Plant, where a massive redevelopment project is under way.
"It obviously limits what can be done there, because you'd have an electrical substation in the middle of a potential redevelopment through the rest of downtown," said John Rosato, a partner in Southwest Strategies Group, which the city chose to redevelop Seaholm.
But Rosato points out it would still be a great place for a mixed-use project, with enough residential spaces springing up downtown to support it. There are 900 living units within six blocks for Seaholm, and another 2,200 in the works, he said.
Guadalupe Gets a Makeover
Austin Chronicle
July 22, 2005Austin-based Southwest Strategies Group, owner and developer of the former Half Price Books site, is known for such projects as South Congress' Penn Field and the recently awarded downtown Seaholm Power Plant revamp. Partner Danny Roth says, "our emphasis is on local businesses still having a home." He says SSG has already inked agreements with three local outfits: Celebration!, a gift shop that's been in Hyde Park for 20 years; Boomerang's Veggie and Meat Pies, a restaurant he calls a "new concept" for Austin; and Gelato's, an ice-cream, coffee and panini shop with two other Austin locations.
Stratus, Southwest Strategies Group win city bids
In Fact Weekly
April 25-29, 2005The City Council approved contracts for two major downtown projects last night, agreeing to the sale of Block 21 to Stratus/Trammell Crow Co. and work with Seaholm Power, LLP to redevelop the dormant Seaholm Power Plant.
Seaholm Power, LLC ... was a team that included Southwest Strategies Group, Inc., Boston-based Design Collective, Inc., H.C. Beck, LTD and Centro Development.
John Rosato of Southwest Strategies Group said Seaholm Power, LLC's strength was the team members' experience in the restoration of historic buildings like the art deco Seaholm plant. Rosato said the preservation of Austin's history was a driving force in the team's desire to submit a proposal on the project. "If we had our druthers, we would always be working on historic structures," Rosato said. "It reminds us of our heritae and of our past. With everything new that's happening downtown, it's important to have a way for people to recognize our older buildings and relate them to our history."
The Seaholm project is intended to be a mixed-use project that also will serve as a transit hub for the community.
Four for Seaholm
The Austin Chronicle
April 8, 2005What the City GOT:
1) Seaholm Power, LLC
Partners include: Southwest Strategies Group, Design Collective, HCBeck, Centro DevelopmentPrincipal features: "A dynamic 24/7 environment where residents and visitors alike can live, work, and play." The concept includes a cultural entity (in the presentation, the Music Hall of Fame) in Seaholm itself, along with commercial, retail, and exhibition space, and two new buildings — a two story commercial building and new home for KLRU and Austin City Limits, and a 10-story residential tower with ground floor retail. All of these are linked by a "Grand Plaza" that can host outdoor events, along with other open-space amenities and linkages to Town Lake and the rest of Downtown.
Notes: The Seaholm Power concept presumes the relocation of the large Austin Energy substation directly east of Seaholm, although no plans for such a relocation are yet on the table. While architecture firm Design Collective is from Baltimore (where their portfolio includes a redeveloped power plant), the Seaholm Power team includes a number of key figures in Austin's long-running Downtown renewal effort.
Seaholm proposals showcase music
Public spaces most important part of most proposals
In Fact Weekly
February 18, 2005The Seaholm Power Group proposed turning the 130,000 square foot mian turbine building into a gathering place where major events such as South by Southwest, New Year's Eve, or a Lance Armstrong victory celebration could be held. According to Southwest Strategies' John Rosato, the main building would retain its open-air structure, housing a mixture of cultural, commercial, retail and gallery spaces. Elsewhere on the eight-acre site would be a two story, 60,000 square foot cultural/commercial structure, a ten-story residential tower with ground level retail, and a Grand Plaza designed to host a wide variety of outdoor public events. The north edge of the plaza would contain a transit hub for bus, rail, bike and auto transportation. Two levels of underground parking is planned, with 225 spaces on each level. "It's important to preserve the power of the space of the turbine building," Rosato said. "It is an incredible structure. The main hall presents numerous opportunities for public space, including music venues, restaurants, galleries and other attractions. We want people to come away from it thinking 'City living is cool.'" Partners in the Seaholm Power Group include Southwest Strategies Group, Centro Development, H.C. Beck, and Design Collective.
Seaholm ideas sing
Music themes unite competing plans for plant
Austin American-Statesman
February 18, 2005A team led by Southwest Strategies Inc., the developer of Penn Field on South Congress Avenue, would convert the power plant into a mixed-use project with room for "ACL" or another cultural institution, with performance space, plus shops and restaurants.
... A plaza north of the power plant would link all of the elements and could be used for public events.... Southwest Strategies' plan includes a grand plaza on the north side of the building, connecting Seaholm with other building on the site.
... The Southwest Strategies team includes Design Collective, Inc., a national architectural design firm that has redeveloped a former power plant in Baltimore.Seaholm Power Announces Team for Seaholm Redevelopment
Press release - Thais Austin (taustin@avanceconsulting.net)
August 20, 2004"What distinguishes Seaholm Power and what we are proudest of is the depth of experience and commitment of the local companies on the team to Austin's downtown," said John Rosato with Southwest Strategies Group. "Additionally, our team brings extensive experience with the redevelopment of power plants and with historic preservation."
The Seaholm Power team has the proven ability to create dynamic cultural, retail and housing complex that will not only preserve the icon of the Seaholm Power Plant building but develop the surrounding site as a community destination with visual and experiential triggers that remind us of our history.
FOR INFORMATION : SEAHOLM@AUSTINTEXAS.COM