ATX: New Brackenridge Tract Plan... infill opportunity!

[ATXboom]

Monday, October 15, 2007 - 2:59 PM CDT
New plan for Brackenridge Tract discussedAustin Business Journal
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A special task force recommended that a short- and long-term plan be developed for the University of Texas at Austin's Brackenridge Tract.

The Brackenridge Tract is made up of about 345 acres along the Colorado River and is home to UT Austin student housing, a biological field laboratory, a municipal golf course and a youth sports complex. In addition, there are a number of commercial buildings on the tract that are leased to various businesses.

The task force, which has been reviewing the tract for more than a year, concluded that about 74 acres used for student housing may not be "the highest and best use of the land."

They also questioned whether the field laboratory should remain at its current location.

The task force is recommending that the board have an open process to select an outside planning firm that would develop a master plan.

"We are confident this report will provide the guidance necessary to outline the best uses of this irreplaceable university asset," UT Austin President William Powers, Jr., said. "The university community is indebted to this task force for its tireless attention and work, and we are very grateful for its service."

The land was donated in 1910 by Colonel George W. Brackenridge of San Antonio, a former UT system regent.

The board is accepting public comment on the report at its next meeting on Nov. 9.

[TDoss]

This has to be one of THE most prime re-development opportunities in the nation.
I absolutely love this real estate.
It's going to take a really big dog to be the master developer on this.

[DrewDizzle]

The lack of development is what makes that part of Town Lake so enjoyable. Put a bunch of concrete, condos, retail, polution, and noise there - which is upstream to the rest of Town Lake - and you make ruin what's good. I say upgrade those arcane apartments and keep the rest the way it is.

[ATXboom]

think creatively!!! You don't have to have a bunch of concrete and pollution - that is a sad and limited perception of infill. Go to Portland and walk a around.

[tildahat]

I hope UT keeps some grad student apartments and maybe even builds faculty/staff housing. Sad that we are at that point, like those cities in California which have to build public housing for teachers, but we are....

[JACKinBeantown]

Create a nice park. Parks are the best long-term investment a city can make. The buildings will work their way in. Parks have to be put there by people who care about what's best for the city.

[TDoss]

Originally Posted by JACKinNYC

Create a nice park. Parks are the best long-term investment a city can make. The buildings will work their way in. Parks have to be put there by people who care about what's best for the city.

I vote for Fast Food Restaurant drive thru pads all the way down Lake Austin Blvd.

[arbeiter]

Sorry, I think some of you are so off base with this! This is a golden opportunity! One that everyone's been wondering about for decades - why have those shitty barracks taking up amazing land?

i always thought they should build a new campus for UT, but barring that, construct a greenbelt, and devote the rest of the land to a mixed-use, dense development with affordable housing, employers, and shopping... tens of thousands of people can walk or bike to this central location.

[Dragonfire]

Originally Posted by arbeiter

i always thought they should build a new campus for UT, but barring that, construct a greenbelt, and devote the rest of the land to a mixed-use, dense development with affordable housing, employers, and shopping... tens of thousands of people can walk or bike to this central location.

Traffic is already horrible in that part of town, we don't need to add tens of thousands of people to that.

I drive through this area every week, and the student housing is an eyesore. A park would be nice, although I don't think the entire area should be made into a park. Whatever they do, getting rid of the barracks will be the best thing.

[M1EK]

This is about the only spot in Austin where a surface rail alignment could be created from scratch which would make something like "rapid streetcar" feasible. When I worked on the OWANA plan, a group of folks was already trying to get streetcar running from Deep Eddy into downtown next to the UP RR. Now imagine running through the old golf course (or south of Lake Austin Blvd if the golf course stays) in its own right-of-way; and suddenly you have something which is actually worth building and worth riding even if you have a car.

[DrewDizzle]

i always thought they should build a new campus for UT

I just spit Diet Pepsi all over my fucking keyboard.

[arbeiter]

Originally Posted by Dragonfire

Traffic is already horrible in that part of town, we don't need to add tens of thousands of people to that.

I drive through this area every week, and the student housing is an eyesore. A park would be nice, although I don't think the entire area should be made into a park. Whatever they do, getting rid of the barracks will be the best thing.

It's inevitable. All of the naysayers always say that, but how do you explain why the traffic is easily manageable in parts of Seattle where the density is 10,000 people per square mile? At some point it shouldn't be about the Lexus' and Mercedes being able to zoom down Lake Austin Blvd. at 45mph.

[arbeiter]

Originally Posted by DrewDizzle

I just spit Diet Pepsi all over my fucking keyboard.

What's so funny? i didn't mean a campus to replace the existing one, but to have graduate classes, a medical center, something...

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by arbeiter

It's inevitable. All of the naysayers always say that, but how do you explain why the traffic is easily manageable in parts of Seattle where the density is 10,000 people per square mile? At some point it shouldn't be about the Lexus' and Mercedes being able to zoom down Lake Austin Blvd. at 45mph.

I agree with you on this point. I think that alot of people here don't think outside of the box. People should think less about wether they can drive a car but what other transportation methods they can take instead.

[DrewDizzle]

Originally Posted by arbeiter

What's so funny? i didn't mean a campus to replace the existing one, but to have graduate classes, a medical center, something...

Oh, I thought oyu meant a whole new campus.

[JAM]

Don't rush to develop Brackenridge tract, UT regents told
Value of golf course, student housing, field lab extolled at public hearing.


By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, November 10, 2007

For Derek Bassett, the choice of a graduate school in chemical engineering boiled down to the University of Texas and the University of California at Berkeley. He picked UT because of the student apartments on the university-owned Brackenridge tract along Lake Austin Boulevard in West Austin.

"I chose to come to UT because I felt it was a better home for my family," Bassett said, with a safe neighborhood, easy access to campus and a fine school nearby, Mathews Elementary. In other words, Bassett said, the apartments are an important tool for the university in recruiting graduate students.

This value of the 515 apartment units in the intellectual marketplace was hammered home time and again by students, former students and advocates for students on Friday as the university's governing board took public comments on recommendations to develop portions of the Brackenridge tract.

Several speakers noted that UT President William Powers Jr. has emphasized the importance of making the university more competitive in recruiting the best graduate students as part of the school's quest to rise in the national rankings. In his state-of-the-university address in September, for example, Powers said boosting graduate student stipends would be a top priority of an upcoming capital campaign.

"We believe that removing the housing is not in line with that mission," said Bradley Carpenter, a vice president of the Graduate Student Assembly.

Many of about 40 speakers also extolled the virtues of Mathews Elementary, whose international flavor — 40 countries, 20 languages — derives from the fact that many of its pupils are children of graduate students. It would be a blow to the community if that were lost, they said.

The regents also heard from golfers, open-space advocates and West Austinites worried that the Lions Municipal Golf Course could be sacrificed to development. City Council Member Jennifer Kim said the golf course, the student housing and a biological field laboratory are all valuable assets that should be preserved.

Professional tour player Ben Crenshaw didn't address the regents but signaled his support for Muny, as the course is called, by his presence at the meeting.

"My brother Charlie and I were raised in West Austin," Crenshaw said in an interview. "We're a proponent of keeping the golf course intact. I think that's the main thing."

The regents took no action Friday concerning the Brackenridge tract. Chairman H. Scott Caven Jr. pledged a spirit of openness and transparency as the regents review the public comments and a report by a task force of civic, business and university leaders who recommended the regents hire a consultant to develop a master plan for the tract.

The regents will discuss the Brackenridge matter at their meeting Dec. 6 and 7 in Austin. They might take action at that time, said their spokesman, Anthony de Bruyn.

rhaurwitz@statesman.com; 445-3604


Find this article at:
http://www.statesman.com/news/conten...1110brack.html