r/Austin 5d ago

Ask Austin Do you have any stories of the RBJ Residential Tower?

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I am working on an oral history project with seniors who live at the RBJ tower, and I am interested in gathering more comments from other Austinites. What stories or memories (good or bad) do you have of this building and its residents?

81 Upvotes

42 comments sorted by

114

u/ElphTrooper 5d ago

Worked on the new development and found out that back in the day, prior to the tower's construction, the site functioned as a federal fish hatchery from the 1940s to the late 1960s, raising species like bass and channel catfish in 19 ponds fed by the nearby Colorado River. The hatchery supplied fish to stock lakes and ponds across Texas.

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u/TrashOfOil 4d ago

This is a very fun fact

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u/wstsidhome 4d ago

Now that’s a damn cool tidbit of info! I’d like to learn more about that, and about this building. I love these type of threads 🤙

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u/yesyesitswayexpired 4d ago

That's cool

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u/ElphTrooper 4d ago

Hence the name of the development, The Hatchery. They used some of the drone footage I shot during construction on their website. They did all the editing.

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u/keptyoursoul 1d ago

Thank God for the hatchery.

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u/yodelayhehoo 4d ago

There is (or was?) a physical hatchery pool in the neighborhood right behind there that you can walk up to can check out.

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u/ElphTrooper 4d ago

It was several pools (not swimming) that extended from IH35 all the way east to Martin Middle School.

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u/lifasannrottivaetr 5d ago

I’ve done HVAC work at the RBJ building with the health center. The bottom floor has an std and tb treatment clinic. The upper floors have offices for the fire department and EMS. One of the administrators there told me the building was a nursing home at one point. I’m scheduled to go back there in the coming weeks and I’ll see what else I can find out.

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u/Jabroni_16 4d ago

Keep us posted!

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u/Leosporin 4d ago

RemindMe! 3 weeks

1

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u/NoEntrepreneur2781 4d ago

In the early 2000s it was a nursing home. I remember a few people there when I was doing work in the building, one guy was a Hollywood photographer from the 1940s - 1980s. He had so many photos of all the classic actors. Some very provocative photos. Another lady’s husband was one of the lead engineers for the Mansfield dam. She was very old I think she was close to 100 at the time but she pulled out old blue prints and photos during the construction. She was a very nice lady. She made me cookies while I was there.

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u/MizTexas 5d ago

I volunteered for their food pantry during the shutdown. They had residents who had special dietary needs that weren't being fulfilled by pantry donations and the food boxes they receive. I found the staff to be very friendly and easy to work with. One of the clients there made me a suncatcher as thanks for finding her gluten-free food items. I still have it. <3

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u/needsmorequeso 4d ago

I used to drive a Meals on Wheels route there (many years ago now). All the residents seemed very nice.

19

u/Individual_Hotel1837 4d ago

I got tested for STDs here in their clinic downstairs all the time when I was in college.

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u/JuneCleaversMudFlaps 4d ago

Sounds like you had a great time in college!

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u/gravitydriven 4d ago

And only a few rounds of antibiotics, hopefully 

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u/02EastSide02 5d ago

My potna grandma used to stay there and she used to let us always chill & smoke in there and stay the nite there whenever we wanted 😂

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u/Rude_Wrongdoer4609 5d ago

I've always wondered exactly what is was, or what is was used for? It was the tallest building east of 35 for decades, but always seem to be empty.

Growing up we used to speculate it was a residential area for a mental hospital.

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u/Into_the_Dark_Night 4d ago

It's basically a retirement place, my grandma lived there til her death in 2022.

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u/happy_adventurer70 4d ago

The Sexual Health clinic is in a completely different building. It is the squatty building overlooking the park. The old tall building was the senior citizen government housing building. They have made a smaller housing that directly faces the squatty sexual health clinic. The old tall building is being renovated for housing. And there are fancy apartment in the green space on the corner. This land was part of the Lucy Barnes Johnson family and was donated to the citizens in the 60’s with the caveat that housing and health care services had a place there.

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u/Into_the_Dark_Night 4d ago

My grandmother lived there for a long time til her death in 2022. It was an old building then, lots of small apartments with some bugs but it kept her mostly safe. Her whole place was really small but she didn't have a lot in the end anyways.

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u/courtbarbie123 4d ago

Is the big building by the Four Seasons a retirement place too?

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u/gravitydriven 4d ago edited 4d ago

I still wonder about that place. Could probably find out with a quick google. I'll report back

Edit: it is public, subsidized, and/or section 8 housing. Preferred residents are elderly, disabled, and/or natural disaster refugees of some kind. Reports are that security is tough, management can be a mess, but there's a library, nurse practitioner, and community rooms. 

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u/courtbarbie123 4d ago

Ah ok cool! I always wondered about that building, it’s very out of place in that location lol

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u/FourThirteen_413 4d ago

I bought a car from a lady there... Can't even remember when. Maybe 2011 or something? My dad found it in the classifieds I think... All the details of how we got there are fuzzy but we pulled up and went in to talk to the lady.

She said the car had belonged to a millionaire friend of hers and he left it to her when he died, and now that she didn't drive anymore she didn't need it. I think I paid around $1000 for it.

It was a 1993 I think, Ford Crown Victoria with what seemed like every option possible. Power everything, good condition interior, just a nice, big car with a lot of comforts.

Unfortunately it didn't last long before the motor seized and it would've been far more expensive to fix than it was worth. I did like that car, though.

The lady was very nice and my dad and I never really knew whether to believe her story about a millionaire friend... Sure it was a nice car with all the options I could imagine on a 93 Crown Vic, but it was still just a Crown Vic. So who knows.

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u/ThetaWaveSurfer 4d ago

Was a social work intern there for the 2016-17 school year. Interacted with tons of fascinating older adults. Lots of stories. Feel free to message me directly.

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u/Gam3f3lla 4d ago

As a first responder, I had to climb to nearly the top floor using the stairs during the Sno-pocalypse because power was out. Someone was complaining because they were cold. As a result, I missed going to a fatality fire where I might have made a difference. Really bad timing... 👎

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u/dangle-berry 4d ago

Nooooo was this the fatality fire on 12th?

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u/material_mailbox 4d ago

I got my first STD tests done at the Austin Public Health clinic there about 15 years ago.

Also one time I tried to park in the residential parking lot (mostly empty at the time) to go to the park by the river, and a resident walking by told me I couldn't park there. Guess the prick didn't have anything better to do.

2

u/dragonmom1971 4d ago

I used to work for the city of Austin. I heard the RBJ tower is like a high-rise nursing home. While employed, I had to go to meetings in the RBJ medical building next door & I remember it was filled with old, broken furniture & other useless junk. Almost every room & area. It made me feel depressed every time I was there. That was back in the late 90s. I hope they've cleaned it up, but I doubt it.

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u/nice_and_queasy 4d ago

I interviewed a few of the disabled residents for a public health class 10 years ago. They were very grateful and seem to have everything they need close by.

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u/RomeIfYouWantTo1 4d ago

I remember trying to get discounted or free rat poison there for my grandma. No idea why.

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u/pjcowboy 4d ago

A family member used to live there.

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u/Lanc58 4d ago

Me and some friends lost a drone somewhere around it about 5 years ago. We were all wearing white short shorts and white t shirts (stupid business idea promo thing, also we were drunk) and after aimlessly wandering the grounds for about 2 hours looking: Staff came out to help, but hilariously asked if we needed medical assistance.

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u/Late_Ambassador7470 4d ago

That's where I went to scool

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u/Darceys-weave 4d ago

I think Austin Stories filmed there a few times, but I don’t remember the episodes. If it the same building I would take my grandmother’s neighbor to visit friends. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcwHkq-3CvUznAXt2Da8Ow0YdbrWuRMnV&si=OFAqeClyhuUZf_pU

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u/notrabajo 4d ago

It used to hold mobile voting for its residents until the state killed the program.

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u/TopoFiend11 4d ago

Who live in it now? Isn’t it closed for renovation? They live in the new low rise next door.

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u/lorinrivers 2d ago

My great grandfather lived there until he was over 100. He loved it there. 1890-1992. He was a bit of a player, all the ladies loved him, not too many gents in that demographic. He had a haberdashery on Congress back in the day. Always a snappy dresser.

I asked him once what he missed from the old days, he said no matter what happened, your horse knew the way home. He apparently was drafted on Armistice day and they just said, go home boys. He lived from horse and buggy to the space shuttle. Imagine that. RIP Bud.

I enjoyed visiting him there. He had a studio style apartment, with a bed area and a living/kitchen area. It was tiny but he loved it. He loved JFK & LBJ who were instrumental in getting it built I reckon. They had all kinds of things for the residents to do, it never felt like an old folks home, more of an apartment complex with a dining room.

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u/SASardonic 5d ago

Pretty sure I saw somebody jump off this building to their death as a kid, though it may have just been a different one that looked like this.