Last weekend, we went on a tour of the condos downtown hosted by the wonderful guys at The GoodLife Team. WOW! What fun! If you get the chance to do this, act fast. It was free to attend, but there were only 30 spots and they filled up in 48 hours. The next one is November 13th.

First Stop: The Austonian

Austin’s tallest building. The ride to the 56th floor in an outdoor cage/construction elevator was a thrilling experience. The amenities at this place are going to be fabulous. It even comes with a 24-hour concierge. The models are gorgeous, but unnecessary since the view of Hill Country is so spectacular. Even if we could afford it, though, I’m not sure it’s the right fit for us. It’s going to be gorgeous, though, when finished.

We rode 56 stories up in an external open-air/cage construction elevator!

Looking down on the Frost Tower

The view from the future restaurant.

Looking West

Looking East

Second: The Spring

This was my clear favorite of what we saw. I liked the layout of the units and I could “see” us living in them.

Third: Bridges on the Park

This one is a boutique building, so it was dwarfed in size by the other properties we saw. E and I both like the larger facilities and the numerous amenities you get with the additional residents chipping in. It’s a great little building, though, and has a fabulous view of the park and immediate access to the lake, trails, and a pitch/putt golf course. One of their claims to fame is that residents trim down when they move in.

Fourth: The Shore

I didn’t care for the model we saw at The Shore, but the amenities of the facility are amazing. The pool and party deck looked like something out of CSI Miami. The night-time views of the city, watching sunset, and watching the bats emerge from the Congress bridge was a great cap to the evening.

Sunset View from The Shore

Bats Emerge at Sunset

In Sum

This are, of course, just a sampling of the range of what’s available. Even as we talked on the tour, I could tell that the Realtors had other ideas for places that would be a good fit for us. I don’t know how they did it. They were able to keep up with all 30 of us, what we liked/didn’t, what felt like a good fit, what amenities were available at each place.

Thank you, Todd and Carlos, for an amazing tour and a fabulous education.

We would love to live downtown. We end up down town a lot for events and things, it would make us more centrally located, and it’s more our style than a house since there is practically no maintenance. E would even drive against traffic to get to work, shortening his little commute even more.