Halfway through a 10-year plan to upgrade the city’s network of sidewalks, officials say the initiative has gone better than expected but still needs considerable work to extend walkability to the majority of residents. “It feels like a tale of two cities: It’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times,” said John Eastman, […]
Planning
Posted inPlanning
South Central Waterfront financing plan expected next month
After many years of vision planning and discussions, two major redevelopment projects – the South Central Waterfront and the Colony Park Vision Plan in Northeast Austin – are showing some degree of progress in relation to how the projects would be financed. City staffers are expected to present a preliminary financing plan for South Central […]
Posted inPlanning
Office building planned on 35th Street, pending rezoning
A defunct Burger King on 35th Street looks set to be torn down and replaced with an office building, should City Council approve a rezoning request. The project, located at 3427 Jefferson and 1615 W. 35th streets, will have 36,000 square feet of office space and 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Before the project […]
Posted inPlanning
Council to adopt TIRZ, implement full south waterfront plan
The long-delayed South Central Waterfront Plan moved closer to implementation Thursday after City Council initiated a tax increment reinvestment zone to guide the use of new property tax revenue on the south shore of Lady Bird Lake. The TIRZ is one key element of the South Central Waterfront Plan, which upon adoption will regulate development […]
Posted inPlanning
Rezoning to bring back Austin Opry House headed for Council vote
The revival of storied music venue Austin Opry House moved one step closer to reality Tuesday when the Planning Commission recommended rezoning the site at 200 Academy Drive to make way for a mixed-use development. Beyond reviving the 1,200-capacity venue, plans include a museum of Austin music, 100 residential units, commercial space and a public […]
Posted inPlanning
Statesman PUD proposal needs improvement, Environmental Commission says
The planned unit development proposed for the former Austin American-Statesman property is not an environmentally superior project in the eyes of the Watershed Protection Department, but it could achieve superiority if the developer agrees to more than a dozen conditions. Drawing on the department’s opinion, the Environmental Commission took a similar position Wednesday, voting unanimously […]
Posted inPlanning
Montopolis Bridge in East Austin could get $7 million in amenities and visual improvements
An 83-year-old East Austin bridge with a view of the downtown skyline could get some major aesthetic upgrades under a project being considered by the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority. The Montopolis Bridge was opened to traffic in 1938 to replace an older crossing washed away by deadly floods three years earlier. The bridge served as a crossing for […]
Posted inPlanning
Council OKs annexation for Bull Creek site
With Council members Alison Alter and Kathie Tovo opposed, City Council on Thursday approved the annexation of a 25-acre site at 11213 FM 620 and ensured the administrative approval of redevelopment of a wastewater lift station close to the headwaters of Bull Creek. While environmentalists worry that allowing service could endanger the Jollyville Plateau salamander, […]
Posted inPlanning
Updated: Vocal Thomas Springs residents oppose expanding street
At Tuesday’s meeting of the Travis County Commissioners Court, local community members expressed their outrage over the Thomas Springs Road development –specifically, the plan to significantly widen the road for the stated purpose of making room for bike lanes. The majority of local commenters, quoting everything from Thomas Paine to the neighborhood association to justify […]
Posted inPlanning
Austin Opry House development faces opposition from Planning Commission, neighbors
A mixed-use project seeking to revive historic music venue Austin Opry House ran into concerns Tuesday from the Planning Commission, which voted to postpone the rezoning case by a month to give the applicant, Richard Weiss, more time to work with neighbors worried about traffic and disruption from concertgoers. Plans for the development at 200 […]
Posted inPlanning
Downtown Commission wants financing plan, study on convention center expansion
With the city expected to begin entering into engineering and design contracts next spring related to a revised expansion of the Austin Convention Center, the Downtown Commission has asked for a detailed financing plan and market analysis for the public to review in advance of contract approvals. At last week’s meeting, the commission voted 4-3 […]
Posted inPlanning
Proposed ‘Statesman’ PUD draws criticism
Members of the city’s Parks and Recreation Board will be deciding in less than two weeks whether to recommend approval of the Statesman planned unit development from a parks perspective. It could prove to be a difficult decision. Parks planner Scott Grantham told board members at Tuesday’s meeting that he wasn’t sure if they would […]