Mueller Redevelopment Update Thread

[wwmiv]

Those shop houses are interesting. They'll be the first of their kind in Austin, I believe, built on any kind of scale. I can get behind those, definitely.

[migol24]

Originally Posted by Komeht

The Michae Hsu row homes have been built. Those are photos to renderings. More on the way in 2014 supposedly.

Yeesh they look nothing like it. Ah well, I'm never going to live there anyway so I'm not going to complain too much. At least something is happening.

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by StatenIslander237

Thanks for the photo update komeht I have to say, if this is how mass homebuilders build houses out west, I wish they'd come out to the East Coast and build some stuff. All the infill where I live looks like half-assed brownstone-wannabe shlock.

I think it's also worth considering that this neighborhood will look ten times better once it's been lived in for a few years. I have a theory that any new neighborhood tends to improve in appearance once it's been inhabited for some time, once the homes have been personalized (everything from address plates to patio furniture), once the trees have grown in and it's been absorbed as another (likely very desirable) neighborhood of the city.

I won't make any judgments while half the 'hood is still a construction site, but the quality of housing construction seems to be well up to par. I agree with you too Syndic, urbanizing Austin needs to embrace row homes, especially ones like these that still embody the Texas-style of living.

Yeah, couple of things I'll note. The pictures posted by me and others tend to be of the new sections. The older sections are about 5 years old and while still new are starting to develop a bit of character as people adorn their porches, personalize their landscaping, etc. Even the still young trees are starting to grow well and that makes the place look better. The character of old neighborhoods can't be recreated over night. Seaside had same issue when it first went in but the neighborhood is completely charming today.

The other thing is the production builders are Mueller tend to be the better regarded ones around. There's also a mix, with some custom and low volume builders and even a high end builder or two to add variety.

The cheaper builders known for throwing up ticky tack have been excluded (no KB builders in Mueller). Unfortunately, Mueller is not representative of central Texas generally and there are plenty of schlock builders around.

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Those shop houses are interesting. They'll be the first of their kind in Austin, I believe, built on any kind of scale. I can get behind those, definitely.

I really am excited about the shop homes and what gets put in...I'm very very tempted to buy one myself and open up a little business and be a shop proprietor...if I can only talk the misses into it...

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by migol24

Yeesh they look nothing like it. Ah well, I'm never going to live there anyway so I'm not going to complain too much. At least something is happening.

Another pic from earlier...I quite like these actually.

[migol24]

Originally Posted by Komeht

Another pic from earlier...I quite like these actually.

Yeah that was my mistake. I hadn't realized these were the ones you were talking about, until I started looking a couple of pages back.. I was looking at the more recent photos on page 6 and those are not the ones you were talking about. Yeah, those look real nice actually.

[Syndic]

I think Zach Scott is going to be a very nice street once it's been lived in for a while and the trees are full-grown.



I get that hating all-things-traditional in favor of Modernism is trendy, but I think we need to value the traditional American vernacular architecture. It's who we are. And we have to use that as a foundation for all that we build, so that it can evolve and become distinct.

Of all the talk of row houses, I haven't seen these mentioned. I couldn't find a picture of them anywhere online.



They're finishing up a bunch of new ones next to these that are cooler-looking. Once both sides of the street are lined with these and it's been lived in for a while, I think it could look pretty cool. This will be right near the entrance to Mueller from Manor Rd.

[wwmiv]

Those last ones are in Mueller??? Those are awesome.

Perhaps I should, you know, go look at the stuff being put in instead of the pictures of emptiness that I see all the time. Too bad I live in S.A.

[Syndic]

Yep. Those have been there for a while. I'll take pictures of the newer ones next time I go there. I think they're cooler-looking. But, yeah, I can't wait until they're on both sides of the street. I think if people would just visit Mueller and drive (or walk or bike) around the neighborhood, it would win them over. The (narrow) streets that have houses that are more lived-in and have larger trees are really just incredible. It feels like older Austin neighborhoods, but better, due to the design (narrow streets and alleys). I wish I could live there.

[SecretAgentMan]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

The problem is that Mueller was not supposed to be that. The potential for Mueller was for mixed-used grid development, and that has been morphed into pseudo-suburbia for most of it.

Not supposed to be what? The current development is wholly consistent with the original master plan, and if anything is more dense and diverse than the original vision.

[SecretAgentMan]

Originally Posted by Komeht

In the transit rail discussion that is going on, one of the big pitches for the Mueller route is that transit allows Mueller a denser development... pushing buildings in the town center from 3 to as many as 5 stories (Mueller is limited by traffic impact).

I believe a Mueller route was first proposed somewhere about 2008...but a vote was delayed until 2010...and then 2012...and now end of 2014 at the earliest.

In the meantime everyone keeps waiting for town center to develop. Catellus has given alternative reasons (credit crisis, waiting for economy to recover, allow for a more organic more successful town center once enough people are in Mueller...). All of that makes sense. But I'm wondering of there isn't another component to this and that Catellus is waiting for Austin to decide the fate of the Mueller route before really developing town center and the unstated reasons for the delay is that urban rail keeps slipping.

If so, that is bad news for Mueller since it means another two years (at least) before town center really gets going...hope that's not the case.

I don't think so. The fact that Catellus has started on the town center parking garage rather then build a surface parking lot for the Children's Museum, indicates they are about to pull the trigger on the town center. My understanding is that the area that would benefit the most from urban rail is the area north of the town center, towards the AISD Performing Arts Center. That area would be able to be more dense, and more significantly, contain more retail.

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by SecretAgentMan

I don't think so. The fact that Catellus has started on the town center parking garage rather then build a surface parking lot for the Children's Museum, indicates they are about to pull the trigger on the town center. My understanding is that the area that would benefit the most from urban rail is the area north of the town center, towards the AISD Performing Arts Center. That area would be able to be more dense, and more significantly, contain more retail.

Agree that the parking garage is a harbinger of things to come soon. . .seems unlikely they would start that without having some definite plans. . .

[Global]

I am a Mueller resident, I live in the older section of Mueller that is now 5 years old, so I read the various negative comments about my neighborhood with a bit more personal interest than others here.

As an actual resident of this neighborhood as opposed to an online critic or urban development afficianado, this neighborhood is anything but your typical suburbia. Please walk the streets of the first section of Mueller homes...yes the homes do have a bit of a "Pleasantville" feel to them now, but give it 15 years, and that will change. More importantly, in my experience, Mueller doesn't attract your typical suburbanite at all. Mueller residents are highly socially engaged, most homes have no yard (a patio at best) so this neighborhood actually gets to know each other in its parks, front porches and sidewalks. Block parties or happy hours on the green also happen often here. For me, this is not like any suburb I've seen, and nothing like a Cedar Park or Round Rock.

Instead of judging the pics posted here, I invite you to take a walk through the neighborhood, near the Threadgill Row Homes (Hsu), you'll find more victoiran "detached row homes", that I'd be happy to live in as well. There's so much variety here, and it will only grow.

[Komeht]

Pecan Street Lab - almost complete - also designed by Michael Hsu (for those who think Mueller is strictly suburban/traditional)

[Syndic]

All right. I have pics.

It was after work and the sun was going down, so the lighting isn't the greatest. But everybody was gone so I got to walk around and snap some shots. That is, until this surveillance machine started flashing its lights and telling me that it was my final warning to leave the premises and that they had notified the police(??). Seems kind of ridiculous. I was just taking pictures. Kinda pissed me off. No cops ever came, though, and I just left.

Anyway, here are the pics. Sorry for the crappy iPhone quality.

The H-E-B




Looking north at the shopping center building adjacent to the H-E-B


The shopping center building at the entrance from Berkman


The entrance from Berkman


Turning around, I noticed you could see the highrises from downtown from there




I was so focused on the H-E-B that I didn't even notice this machine that eventually barked orders/threats at me.


Looking north again, from in front of the H-E-B. Another shopping center building.


Big glass front. Should have a lot of sunlight in there when it's done.






That's about when that machine started barking orders/threats at me. I wanted to walk around and explore a bit more but I just decided to leave. On my way out, the way I came, I noticed that on the other side of Berkman they've started working on something. Not sure what. Weren't some apartments planned for out there? This would be just south of (the future) Barbara Jordan Blvd., right in front of the entrance to the H-E-B shopping center.


You can see on Google Maps that they plan to connect Barbara Jordan soon and turn Berkman into a boulevard with a median. I think once it's connected completely that it's going to be a pretty busy road due to the fact that it connects 51st St. and Manor Rd.

[alwaysmiling]

Now can't y'all just imagine the light rail getting spliced in there somewhere? and then it would make its way from the Mueller "town center" down Red River, by campus, the stadium, and into the CBD... 2021 right? i know its not the transport thread but i couldn't resist.. Wonder where'd it pick up in there?

[The ATX]

That's odd. I can't believe APD would waste time responding to that. From what I saw on YouTube, they are too busy hassling Alex Jones's supporters for passing out free copies of Infowars at SXSW:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WvqNTVbraU

[tildahat]

Originally Posted by SecretAgentMan

Not supposed to be what? The current development is wholly consistent with the original master plan, and if anything is more dense and diverse than the original vision.

Which is why the original plan is disappointing. Too many McMansion sized houses, too few mid-rises, too few row houses. I wouldn't have minded it being 100% row houses - lots of urban neighborhoods are.

It might also have helped with The Gap issue, my single biggest complaint with Mueller. But I don't want to start another debate on that.

[tildahat]

Originally Posted by Global

I am a Mueller resident, I live in the older section of Mueller that is now 5 years old, so I read the various negative comments about my neighborhood with a bit more personal interest than others here.

As an actual resident of this neighborhood as opposed to an online critic or urban development afficianado, this neighborhood is anything but your typical suburbia. Please walk the streets of the first section of Mueller homes...yes the homes do have a bit of a "Pleasantville" feel to them now, but give it 15 years, and that will change. More importantly, in my experience, Mueller doesn't attract your typical suburbanite at all. Mueller residents are highly socially engaged, most homes have no yard (a patio at best) so this neighborhood actually gets to know each other in its parks, front porches and sidewalks. Block parties or happy hours on the green also happen often here. For me, this is not like any suburb I've seen, and nothing like a Cedar Park or Round Rock.

Instead of judging the pics posted here, I invite you to take a walk through the neighborhood, near the Threadgill Row Homes (Hsu), you'll find more victoiran "detached row homes", that I'd be happy to live in as well. There's so much variety here, and it will only grow.

I'll grant you that a lot of Mueller criticisms seems to amount to "it's new and not a cool old neighborhood." But you can't build a new "old" neighborhood. I'm sure Hyde Park was "cookie cutter" when it was first built.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by SecretAgentMan

Not supposed to be what? The current development is wholly consistent with the original master plan, and if anything is more dense and diverse than the original vision.

I more meant that the official plans fell short of their potential, which is why I said "the potential" for dense blah blah blah.