Fewer Parking Lots = More Density

Two new major downtown Austin projects were announced this week, both of which will replace space-wasting and ugly, empty swaths of concrete space, otherwise known as parking lots.

The first is the 18-storyWestin Hotel to go in on the former location of The Bitter End and the giant parking lot next to it on 3rd and Colorado. The hotel will feature a street-level restaurant and a 3rd floor bar overlooking Colorado.

The second is the Austin Museum of Art high-rise, combining a 40,000 square foot museum facility, along with 425,000 square feet of office space. It will go in what is now the gigantic parking lot at 4th aand Guadalupe, directly north of the new AMLI tower, and south of Republic Square Park where all the homeless people hang out.

AMOA is a little less than dazzling in its current state, so this is exciting to me. It's supposed to be complete by 2011. Here is an image: