In November 2012, Austin voters approved $13 million in bonds for the redevelopment of Waller Creek. Over the years, the project – now called the Waterloo Greenway project – has grown to encompass a long series of parks, construction of the Waller Creek Tunnel project, planning for preservation of the Palm School and park area, […]
Waller Creek Conservancy
The conservancy group transforming Austin’s Waller Creek.
Posted inParks
Waller Creek parks system now called Waterloo Greenway
The $250 million system of parks planned for areas surrounding Waller Creek in downtown Austin will be known as the Waterloo Greenway going forward, following a naming ceremony held Wednesday at the headquarters of the conservancy in charge of developing the park system. The name comes after roughly a year of planning to brand the […]
Posted inRadio
Austin Monitor Radio: Waller Creek Conservancy
This week John Rigdon, director of planning and design for the Waller Creek Conservancy, sits down with Austin Monitor reporter Jack Craver to talk about plans for the corridor, parks and what the conservancy has been up to of late. To hear it all, tune in below. Austin Monitor Radio is produced in partnership with […]
Posted inAustin
Council approves $110M for Waller Creek chain of parks
City Council voted Thursday to pump another $110 million into the Waller Creek chain of parks. The money committed by the city is part of a long-term $375 million project to turn 35 acres of land along the creek into a chain of parks and civic spaces. The other $275 million is supposed to come […]
Posted inAustin
Downtown 2039: New vision anticipates growth, mobility changes, cultural preservation
Improved mobility, preservation of at-risk cultural assets and public space, and a dramatic expansion of residential and commercial activity are some of the biggest components of a new 21-year vision created for downtown Austin. The Downtown Austin Alliance has started to roll out the results of a two-year process to create its first-ever visioning strategy […]
Posted inAustin
Council considering another $110 million for Waller Creek park system
City Council members have expressed interest in the idea of extending the life of a tax increment reinvestment zone that was set up to fund the Waller Creek chain of parks, an ongoing project that city government is betting will become a cultural and recreational gem that will spur further economic activity downtown. It is […]
Posted inCity Council
Council looks to Waller Creek TIF for homeless funds
City Council is looking to tax increment financing, a tool designed to address urban blight, as a way to address homelessness in downtown Austin. Council is considering extending the life of the Waller Creek Tax Increment Financing Reinvestment Zone for an additional 12 years (from 2029 to 2041) as well as its boundaries in the […]
Posted inAustin
Hiring, developer withdrawal signal movement for medical innovation zone
Last week saw movement on two fronts related to the creation of the long-anticipated downtown health care innovation district that is tied to the University of Texas’ Dell Medical School. The most high-profile piece of news came with the announcement of the hiring of Chris Laing as the executive director of Capital City Innovation. The […]
Posted inAustin
Can an expanded convention center solve the ‘downtown puzzle’?
After months of research, city staff has come up with a few ways that City Council can find money to begin solving the so-called “downtown puzzle,” the expression used by Mayor Steve Adler to describe a host of potential downtown projects that could benefit the city. Those projects include expansion of the Austin Convention Center […]
Posted inAustin
More funding, policy work for Waller Creek in 2017
With work slated to begin later this year on the biggest of the park improvement projects along Waller Creek, there is expected to be a semi-regular drumbeat of news of new funding and collaboration throughout the rest of 2017. Peter Mullan, CEO of the Waller Creek Conservancy, which is overseeing an estimated $220 million in […]
Posted inAustin
Mayor sees collective effort in revitalizing east downtown
Just before the new year, Mayor Steve Adler wrote a lengthy post on the City Council Message Board, titled: “Possible solution to downtown puzzle.” He later said it wasn’t so much a puzzle, but that there were a lot of pieces involved. What he’s referring to is a snaking spine of green space, commercial areas […]
Posted inParks
Group pushing toward $220 million chain of parks downtown
For once, a discussion of Waller Creek at City Hall was almost entirely upbeat. City Council members were delighted during a work session Tuesday to hear an update on an ambitious $220 million project to create a long, narrow public space that stretches from Waterloo Park on 15th Street to Lady Bird Lake. The plan […]