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To see Press Releases & Announcements
Excerpts from articles - print & online
Los Angeles company takes $40M stake in Seaholm
CIM Group to foot large part of project's $117M price tag
by A.J. Mistretta
Austin Business Journal
April 18, 2008CIM has entered as an equity partner in the $117 million Seaholm Power Plant project, contributing about $40 million to the redevelopment that will bring a mix of residential, office, retaila nd other uses to the site.
The Austin City Council approved Seaholm's master development agreement earlier this month, pushing the complex public-private initiative that's been in the works for years far closer to reality.
the pdf of the ABJ article
Seaholm redevelopment plan approved
Austin Business Journal
April 10, 2008The Austin City Council approved the master development agreement for the $117.2 million Seaholm mixed-use redevelopment project today.
The agreement says the development group Seaholm Power LLP, led by Southwest Strategies Inc. , will pay $98.6 million or 84 percent of the cost of the project, while the city will pay $18.6 million. The redevelopment plan calls for a 22-story hotel, 60 condo units, 130,000 square feet of office space and 50,000 square feet of retail and commercial space. The 150,000-square-foot decommissioned power plant will be the centerpiece of the 7.8-acre property across Cesar Chavez Street from Lady Bird Lake
... City leaders have said the Seaholm redevelopment, along with the Green Water Treatment Plant redevelopment--for which the city is accepting development proposals due later this month--will reinvigorate southwest portions of downtown, provide links from Cesar Chavez to the city's traffic grid, and extend the New Urbanist vision of the city-financed 2nd Street Retail District.
City strikes deal on Seaholm Power Plant development
CBS 42 Reporter: Rebecca Taylor
http://www.keyetv.com/content/news/topnews/story.aspx?content_id=44824b62-7d68-4848-922b-f918b4bcc40f
April 10, 2008The stage is set to start turning an old downtown power plant into an upscale hub where people can live, work and play.
The City Council Thursday sealed the deal on a multi-million dollar plan to redevelop the Seaholm Power Plant.
This power plant, located right on Lady Bird Lake, has been out of operation for more than a decade. Seaholm started pumping power into the city back in 1954, but the turbines couldn't keep up with technology, and it shut down in 1997.
Today, the concrete-based building is ready for redevelopment. The plan approved Thursday calls for spending $117 million to turn the original plant into an upscale shopping mall of sorts with restaurants and cafes. Next door would sit a 20-story high-rise complex with a world class hotel on the ground floors, and 200 luxury condos above that.
Some hope the plan will add new life to Downtown Austin, while preserving a part of its past.
“It originally provided all of the electrical energy for the city, and it's just a great building that has a great deal of potential to be part of a whole development that will really bring it back to life, and we're very excited about that,” John Rosato with the Southwest Strategies Group said.
From Seaholm to sea of mixed-use
News 8 Austin
http://www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/?SecID=278&ArID=205375
April 10, 2008Austin City Council breathed new life into the Seaholm Power Plant Thursday, when it gave final approval to redevelop the site.
The council unanimously approved a redevelopment plan that will preserve the Seaholm Power Plant and transform it into a mixed-use development project.
"It's really rewarding to see a plan come forward, you know, a complicated legal document, financing package that ultimately delivers on the public goals we wanted," Mayor Will Wynn said.
The $117 million plan, to begin in 2009, calls for the rehabilitation of the plant with almost 100,000 square feet of mixed-use space for retail and restaurants.
"It just is a great building that has a great deal of potential to be part of a whole development that will bring it back to life," developer John Rosato said.
Council OK's Seaholm redevelopment
KVUE.com
http://www.kvue.com/news/top/stories/041008kvueSeaholm-cb.4f6b9688.html
April 10, 2008The Austin City Council Thursday unanimously approved a new mixed-use development on the banks of Lady Bird Lake.
Developers are now free to move forward with design and marketing for the $117 million redevelopment plan.
Council OKs measures for RV park, power plant
KXAN.com
http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?s=8150597
April 10, 2008The other council approval assures that the Seaholm Power Plant will remain a fixture downtown.
The historic building will receive a makeover, thanks to the council's approval on a $117 million redevelopment plan.
The deal has been in the works for more than two decades and includes plans for a hotel, 60 condo units, restaurants and shops.
The plant's makeover will also preserve more than an acre of open space for visitors.
... Once completed, the development will create about 200 jobs and raise an estimated $2 million a year in tax revenue.
The power plant was built in 1950 and powered Austin for years. The preservation project was sparked in 1984, when the city's historic resources survey targeted Seaholm.
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.
Book of Power
Austin Business Journal
January 4-10, 2008Q: In the last year, someof the pieces of the Seaholm redevelopment began to come together and the partnership is in the process of securing the master development agreement. What do you see ahead for Seaholm in 2008?
A: The coming year will be an exciting one for the Seaholm site. First, a finalized vision for the site will take shape. We will execute our master development agreement with the city of Austin in January, enabling us to move forward in finalizing construction documents marketing condo units and negotiating leases. Construction could begin as early as December 2008.
Seaholm site rezoned for mixed use
Austin Business Journal
December 17, 2007In the latest step toward paving the way for the Seaholm power plant redevelopment, the city has granted preliminary approval of the site's rezoning to allow greater height on part of the 7-acre tract.
... Southwest Strategies Inc . is the lead developer of the Seaholm redevelopment. The latest plans for the redevelopment call for 130,000 square feet of office space, 60 condo units, a 180-room hotel and 50,000 square feet of retail.
Park Once, Invest Twice
City parking garages could fund trails and transit - starting with Seaholm and Green
by Katherine Gregor
The Austin Chronicle
November 23, 2007Kick-starting the initiative would be two major redevelopment projects soon to go live Dowtown. The first is Seaholm: the transformation of the 7.8-acre site of the decommissioned power plant (across Cesar Chavez from Lady Bird Lake) into a mixed-use wonderland of affluence.
http:/ /www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/column?oid=oid:563808
They might be angels
For Blue Lapis Light, dance artists Laura Cannon and Nicole Whiteside become
heavenly creatures
The Austin Chronicle
October 5, 2007... and Illumination, opening this week in the Seaholm Power Plant, these women have become pioneers in a kind of aerial dance work that few others in Austin have ever attempted and only a handful of people in the country are doing.
ILLUMINATION
A new site-specific aerial dance from Blue Lapis Light
preview the DVD - http://www.bluelapislight.orgWhere: 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.
KVUE News Video on Demand
http://www.kvue.com/video/local-index.html?nvid=178299&shu=1
or view the mov file: KVUE video
Aerial dance performance at Seaholm power plant
September 25th, 2007The Seaholm power plant will soon be the site of some dazzling performances. Blue Lapis Light made headlines last year when they performed their aerial dance, light and music show at the Intel shell. Next month they'll be showcasing the same concept drawing on the unique architecture of another Austin landmark for inspiration.
Blue Lapis Light
http://www.kvue.com/news/links/
September 25th, 2007
Click here to learn about the 16th Annual Austin Memory Walk benefiting the Alzheimer's Association Capital of Texas Chapter at Austin High School, Saturday, September 29, 2007.
Dance Group Uses Plant To Set Stage For 'Illumination'
http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=7102102&nav=menu73_2
from KXAN Austin News' Jim Swift report
September 19, 2007Scaffolding in a city park, a North Austin warehouse, the condemned Intel building, the downtown federal office tower: These are just some of the unexpected places where choreographer Sally Jacques has treated Central Texans to dance performance
There is no doubt you have driven by it 10,000 times, but odds are you've never had a peek inside the city's decommissioned-but-still-grand, old, art deco Seaholm Power Plant.
Dancers and their backup crews will give us all the opportunity to slip inside the building and see it for the first time, through our own eyes, yes, but also through the prism of Blue Lapis Light.
"You don't impose on it," Jacques instructs. "You really see the language of the space you're in."
"The building speaks to you; you don't speak to the building," Swift said.
"Absolutely, yes," Jacques replied.
Developer John Rosato is leading the effort to redevelop the Seaholm site into a hotel, condominiums and retail space, but first he jumped at the opportunity to work with Jacques.
"I've always appreciated what Sally does," Rosato said. "I think it's absolutely beautiful and very dramatic."
"After the audience sees our shows, they see a place that's a heavenly realm, of sorts," said dancer Nicole Whiteside. "When the lights are in and the costumes and the music, it'll be transformative, and hopefully, it'll transform people, too, the way that it kind of shapes all of us as we work in it together."
Groundwork being laid for Seaholm District
by Laura Mohammad
Austin Business Journal
August 13, 2007Construction began today in the Seaholm District -- offering many the first tangible evidence of the five-year transformation of the land in and around the old power plant's site into a vibrant mixed-use development.
Improvements started today include the realignment of Sandra Muraida Way and the addition of a roundabout, water and wastewater lines and a water quality biofiltration meadow.
Driskill Hotel chef quits for job with ex-boss
by Kitty Crider
Austin American-Statesman
March 12, 2007In his new job, Bull, 32, will oversee food and beverage responsibilities at the St. Anthony hotel in downtown San Antonio. Then he will be involved in the same capacity in the restoration of the now-closed Stoneleigh Hotel in Dallas. Afterward, he will oversee the culinary operations for the planned Seaholm Plaza Hotel project in Austin, which Trigger will manage.
pdf of the entire article
Austin unveils plans for Seaholm site
http://www.kvue.com/news/local/stories/020107kvueseaholm-cb.404679a0.html
link to the video - http://www.kvue.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/videoPlayer.php?vidId=118018&catId=12
or view as a mov file: Plans for Seaholm
Thursday, February 1, 2007, 06:53 PM CST
By CLARA TUMA
KVUE NewsOne of the most beloved buildings in Austin could soon become one of the busiest.
Seaholm Power, LLC
Late Thursday, developers unveiled plans for the Seaholm Power Plant in downtown Austin.The new $100 million project calls for shops, businesses, restaurants and a new 22-story high-end hotel and condominiums.
"You could live there, you could work in the office, shop at the retail, it really could be a full-use facility," said John Rosato, manager partner of Seaholm Power LLC.
City Council members on Thursday got their first look at detailed plans for the almost eight acres of land along West Cesar Chavez across from Town Lake. They said they liked what they saw, but wanted to be sure affordable housing was included in the layout.
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.
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.
Driskill manager heads to new projects
Austin American-Statesman
August 11, 2006Jeff Trigger, who oversaw restoration of Austin's historic Driskill Hotel in the 1990s, is leaving that hotel to launch a hotel management and consulting company called La Corsha Hospitality Group.
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 Partners .
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 Partners , 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.
