Whether the unfinished Intel building in downtown Austin will be demolished at the end of the month is still up in the air.
Plans were announced Tuesday to tear down the structure on Feb. 25. The building frame has become a downtown eyesore since construction stopped in February 2001.
The plan is to build a new $65 million federal courthouse at the site. But since downtown property is so hot right now, Mayor Will Wynn is considering holding off on the demolition to sell it to a private developer.
"What we're asking the federal government to do is to simply give us 90 days to explore other options, because that site is incredibly valuable as a redevelopment opportunity with the existing concrete pillars in place," Austin City Council member Brewster McCracken said.
The city wants to hold off on the implosion for 90 days to see if selling to a private developer is possible.
One downtown developer said the land alone is worth more than $10 million. If the building becomes a new federal courthouse as planned, the city won't see any tax money.
"If it's torn down there is millions of dollars of potential value to the taxpayers that is lost imminently," McCracken said.
U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett was instrumental in bringing the courthouse to the abandoned site beginning in 2003.
"It will be uphill to get this reversed and an alternative considered," he said.
News 8 Austin plans to air the implosion live at 7 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 25.
But that was when downtown development was slow.
"I certainly can't see any harm as slow as the GSA [General Services Administration] has been, to taking a few more weeks to consider all the alternatives," Doggett said.
At least one developer has made an informal offer to buy the lot at Fifth Street and San Antonio, according to McCracken.
City leaders say an alternative site for the courthouse would be the Town Lake Animal Center on West Cesar Chavez after they move in a few years. Thanks to last year’s bond election, the 50-year-old animal shelter will be moved to a new $12 million, 40,000-square-foot facility on the Health and Human Services campus on Airport Boulevard.
But, the decision will be up to the federal government, since they own the land and the building.
“When the U.S. General Services Administration purchased the Intel site almost four years ago, the city and Downtown Alliance were very grateful that we could provide a positive solution to a critical problem they had downtown. With the overwhelming support we’ve received over the years from our customers, the city and the community, we’ve made great strides in advancing this project for the taxpayers.
To turn back now would cost the taxpayers millions of additional dollars, deprive the citizens of their badly needed new courthouse for at least two more years, and could potentially jeopardize the construction funding in the future.
GSA has received no communication requesting or suggesting a change in course for this critical project. We did recently receive an unsolicited offer to buy the site which, quite frankly, we did not deem to be a serious offer given the financial and time commitment the federal taxpayers have already invested in the new courthouse.
We certainly understand the city’s desire for more economic development. However, to request that the federal government shut down a courthouse project that is this far along and start over is just not possible.
This United States Courthouse project has been in the works for over 10 years. The site was acquired almost four years ago and the design is well underway for this current site. With all the millions of taxpayer dollars already in site acquisition, design and plans for the implosion, it would be fiscally irresponsible to start over now. Therefore, we are proceeding as planned and will hold the implosion as scheduled,” said Scott Armey, Regional Administrator for the U.S. General Services Administration.
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