Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2010 > January > 24 > Entry
Live It Up Party at the Austonian
The Austonian generates super-sized reactions. Perhaps because the residential tower, slated to open in June, is, at 56 stories, the tallest west of the Mississippi in a city that, until recently, preferred a relatively low skyline. Or maybe because of the price tags on the sleek condos, soaring into the millions of dollars, at a time when many families find it hard to make ends meet.
Julie Thornton and Hans Dietrich
Or place the blame on the name, appearing to fuse our fair city with the suffix historically reserved for Houston, my former hometown, which, only after Dallas, is the bogey man of Austin development. I’d add to the list the a rumor mill — a restaurant offered $20 million for the top floor! Kanye West purchased one of the penthouses! — that are met by official Austonians with coy comebacks such as: “I hadn’t heard that.” (“Yes” or “no” will do.)
Decorator Karen Hall and soon-to-be Austonian Emily Moreland
Still, everyone is curious. With a rush of anticipation, I’ve attended three events in the raw spaces of the streamlined, elliptical spire. At the Ballet Fête, on a rainy night, I was stunned by the views, which seemed to erase Austin landmarks and map lines like runny watercolors. Later, at the Runway to Heaven charity fashion show, I recognized what a potentially smashing space the Congress Avenue lobby could be.
Lily Lloyd, Elizabeth Pitts and Susan Dunaway
Friday, at Live It Up, the last such party before the opening, four floors were filled with gawkers. A surprising number lingered on the first floor, near the Second Street entrance, a convivial enough spot. Floor 54, destined as a penthouse, hosted a pop band and easiest access to limitless views, along with bar stations.
Jana and Eric Visser
Narrower Floor 55 will become the private club, which can be divided into sections for parties. Friday, it held the loud jazz band. Even thinner Floor 56 will be the gym. The gym? Really? The highest perch in Austin, the place where the Hill Country and the Lost Pines can be grasped with the swivel of the head, will be a workout area? Sounds like a placeholder to me. (Though I do look forward to Pamela LeBlanc’s likely column on “Sweating in the Clouds.”)
Sarah Blackburn and Jennifer Guthrie
Tout de Austin attended Live It Up, and not just haute société. (Perhaps I should use Spanish terms, since the finances were hatched in Spain.) Those of us cursed with acrophobia crept as close to the sheer glass cliffs as we dared. On a clear night, this will be the place to throw a cocktail party. But you won’t get me out on the tiny balconies.
Pei-San Brown and Christi Cuellar
The Austonian will continue to be the talk of the town. Much of consequence will happen here. That’s predetermined. And most of the annoying rumors will vanish like the top of the altitudinous tower on a foggy night.
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