Amazon's New Domain?

Hot Austin neighborhood could be home to next Amazon headquarters

Rock Rose district street The Domain phase three Northside aerial event 2016

The Broadmoor campus, located across the street from Rock Rose at the Domain Northside, is being pitched as the perfect location for HQ2.

Courtesy of Endeavor Real Estate Group

If you think North Austin’s Domain and Domain Northside mixed-use developments are bustling with activity now, imagine if Amazon sets up its second corporate headquarters across from what’s known as Austin’s “Second Downtown.”

Brandywine Realty Trust, one of the biggest office landlords in Austin, is pitching its Broadmoor campus as a potential site for Amazon HQ2. Broadmoor, whose main tenant is IBM, sits across Burnet Road from the Domain and Domain Northside. Amazon already has a corporate office at the Domain.

In a proposal that had been posted online but has since vanished, Brandywine touts the 66-acre Broadmoor campus as a place where Amazon would have lots of room to grow.

“With Austin’s record-setting growth and booming economy, Broadmoor has the capacity — on a tight urban grid roughly the size of 16 city blocks — to house continuing growth in Austin’s newly emerging social and economic core,” Brandywine says.

Austin is among 238 communities vying for Amazon HQ2 and is considered one of the leading contenders. The e-commerce giant, based in Seattle, says the $5 billion project would generate as many as 50,000 Amazon jobs in the winning community — a prospect that some Austinites fear could aggravate the city’s traffic and housing woes.

Brandywine says it already has the ability to expand Broadmoor to 8.2 million square feet, with the possibility of adding another 20 million square feet. Today, the site contains a little over 1 million square feet of office space.

“Paired with Austin’s sweeping landscapes and culturally rich entertainment districts, Broadmoor is a place to find inspiration and community,” Brandywine says.

Brandywine expects the Broadmoor campus to be rezoned as a transit-oriented development by the end of 2017. Currently, MetroRail trains and Capital Metro buses serve the area.

The City of Austin says the goal of a transit-oriented development “is to bring together people, jobs, and services designed in such a way to make it efficient, safe, and convenient to travel on foot or by bicycle, transit, or car.”

In addition to Austin, Brandywine is promoting property in its hometown of Philadelphia for Amazon HQ2. Moody’s Analytics identifies Austin as the frontrunner for HQ2, followed by Philadelphia.

In 2015, Brandywine bought out IBM’s ownership stake in the Broadmoor campus, located at 11501 Burnet Rd, near MoPac. The campus encompasses seven office buildings totaling 1.1 million square feet. IBM has occupied space at Broadmoor since 1991, and was the only tenant for many years.

It’s uncertain whether Broadmoor is included in the city's bid for Amazon HQ, as details of the proposal have largely been kept under wraps.

traffic transportation

SKIN IN THE GAME

Renowned Hill Country tattoo artist inks new sacred geometry app

Photo courtesy of Dillon Forte

Dillion Forte at his "tattoo ranch" in the Texas Hill Country.

In the world of tattooing, there may seem to be few better rat traps left to build, but Dillon Forte aims to change that. In October, the renowned Wimberley-based tattoo artist and entrepreneur introduced a new iPadOS app to bring ancient symbology into the digital age.

Forte has made a worldwide name for his black dot work (a contemporary take on stick-and-poke techniques) and ambitious undertakings like tattooing underwater and opening a “tattoo ranch.” His ink appears on Usher, Chris Hemsworth, and Kehlani.

Still, he is most recognized for his sacred geometry designs, using patterns to convey various meanings. His interest led him to create the Sacred Geometry Drawing App, a convenient way for novices and experts to develop and export their creations.

The app grew out of his own practice. Over the past decade, he has used tablets and freehand techniques to achieve his highly symmetrical artwork but grew to realize existing tools were not always easy to use.

“The app is an attempt and fulfillment of my desire to make sacred geometry accessible and bring the ability to create into the fingertips of as many people as possible,” Forte tells CultureMap via email, adding a tagline: “symmetry made simply.”

He says he wished the app was available when developing his signature style as a tattoo artist, but it was designed with a broad range of users in mind. He hopes that designers, educators, and artists will find a use for it.

A short intro to the app's capabilities is available on YouTube. It looks like a standard drawing app, starting with a blank canvas and some tools like pens, pencils, colors, and of course, straight line and dot makers.

A "symmetry index" anchors the functionality and expands it to something between 2D art and 3D modeling. In addition to generating shapes like repeating patterns and spirals, the app also creates 3D shapes with grids, so that the artist can map their design in real space or even create sculptures. There is also an index for explaining the spiritual meaning of some standard designs.

“Geometry often prompts an intimidating feeling when it comes to making art,” Forte continues. “The fundamentally complex and often academic nature of math-based art can induce a sense of fear in the potential user instead of creating a sense of awe. The purpose of the sacred geometry app is to cultivate the latter."

Creatives interested in constructing their own geometric masterpieces can download the app at the App Store for free, and in-app purchases are available.

technology apps tattoos arts