Now called the Hope Outdoor Art Gallery, where graffiti "artists" can practice their talents, this site with abandoned concrete slabs and concrete walls and unknown foundation elements was abandoned back in 1985. This site on Baylor Street in downtown Austin was intended to be office space for high-tech industry professionals. Instead foundation problems occurred during construction and a dispute between the Developer (Owner) and the General Contractor shut the project down. The building permit expired in 1987. The site was purchased by a bank in 1989. Some demolition of superstructure elements occurred but the at-grade and below-grade elements remain. This site lies downslope of the "Castle Hill" building (former Texas Military Institute site). A lawsuit by the Developer was settled out of court and included the Geotechnical Engineer and his firm, Trinity Engineering and Testing Corp (now Kleinfelder) and all other parties on the project team.
Slopes on expansive clay formations are inherently unstable. I suspect downward slope creep occurred as the project team cut and fill along the slope and applied new surcharge loads. I do not have any information on the foundation design or as-built foundation data. The lesson learned is that you develop sloping sites on massive clay soil with extreme caution.
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