Continuing the thread from yesterday, here’s the latest look at the other large-scale projects currently underway in the downtown area. Of the two, it’s been longer since I looked at the Axle project and the differences are clearly visible. The last set of photographs I posted from the Central Street Project showed an open structure that is now rapidly being enclosed. The other, Covenant Health Park, I featured in August when the stadium was officially given its name but, if anything, there is more to see there.
First up are the pictures of the Axle project. Readers of this website already know, but others may be interested to learn the details of the project: The completed building will include 85,000 square feet of mostly office space and is needed already as the company expands. facility is designed to take them into their next phase. As of April, the company had over 600 employees whereas their projections had been to grow to 285 by this date. The new headquarters project is being managed by Lawler Woods, was designed by Design Innovation Architects and is being built by Merit Construction.
With the building rapidly approaching being enclosed, work can continue through the winter on the inside, no matter the weather. While some of the building is wrapped in purple insulation, the rear of the building is being bricked. Expect to see brick on the Central Street side in short order. As with all these other projects, this one is projected for completion in 2025.
As for the stadium, it is rapidly taking shape, but most of what I noticed wasn’t in the stadium structure proper. The main stadium structure looks largely in place and there is no longer any call for imagining how the parts might fit together as it’s all obvious.
The three things that popped at me as I looked at the site for the first time in a couple of months: The water tower is back, the scoreboard structure is up, and the Beauford Delaney building, the last building built taller in downtown dates to 1985 (Ed. Note: This is corrected based on comment – Thanks!), has rapidly assumed its place overlooking the ballfield. The nine-story (I think I’d said “ten” before) structure is largely in place.
The building, designed in a collaborative effort with DIA and BarberMcMurry will feature a:
. . . nine-story mixed-use building . . . (which includes) retail and restaurant space on the plaza level. (An) Event space is planned for the second floor, with direct access to the stadium. The second floor will also include office space, slated for use by Boyd Sports. The upper floors . . .will include 47 luxury condominiums each offering either views of home plate or the plaza. A private viewing deck for residents will be offered on the fourth . . .
When I photographed it in late August (see the link above), the fourth floor was underway. Eight weeks or so later there are nine. It’s amazing what money and serious deadlines can do. I’ve included a rendering from the DIA site and paired it with a shot from about the same angle. Expect to see this one begin to be enclosed in coming days. That April deadline is looking more attainable, which is something I could not imagine a year ago.
A final note on the water tower: It has been stripped of its most recent incarnation as a painted advertisement for UT, but nothing has replaced the VOL orange. I assumed something related to the teams would have been painted there, but it is bright and shiny. If it were to be painted, wouldn’t that have best been accomplished on the ground? I’m sure there is a logical answer to all of this, but it evades me.