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  #1561  
Old Posted Jul 1, 2018, 6:01 PM
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KevinFromTexas KevinFromTexas is offline
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One thing that strikes me about North Austin is how young it is. The housing stock isn't very old, and most of the development that's there didn't exist before the 60s. It's not that I think either side of the river is better or more or less deserving of something, but I always feel like I'm in a different city in North Austin since I find myself in places that simply weren't there a number of years before.

And yeah, I'm a lifetime South Austin resident. My mom grew up in a 3-story house built in the 30s a couple of blocks east of Congress in Travis Heights. My grandma worked on Burnet Road in the 70s and 80s. She remembered it back when it was mostly farmland.

This is a really neat link to a historic satellite imagery website. They have images for Austin going back to 1952. I dropped in the address "11101 Burnet Road austin, texas" - which, today, is a Freebirds location.. Most of the area around The Domain was sparsely developed and mostly farmland as late as 1967.

https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer

To me, McKalla Place is the logical place for stuff like this. It's going to be more difficult to locate wide open land in Central Austin or downtown or even in parts of South Austin. The industrial spaces getting replaced aren't really of any historic value, and they themselves are only in those North Austin locations because they began to vacate the warehouse district in downtown half a century earlier.
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  #1562  
Old Posted Jul 2, 2018, 6:51 AM
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The ATX The ATX is offline
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Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas View Post
One thing that strikes me about North Austin is how young it is. The housing stock isn't very old, and most of the development that's there didn't exist before the 60s. It's not that I think either side of the river is better or more or less deserving of something, but I always feel like I'm in a different city in North Austin since I find myself in places that simply weren't there a number of years before.

And yeah, I'm a lifetime South Austin resident. My mom grew up in a 3-story house built in the 30s a couple of blocks east of Congress in Travis Heights. My grandma worked on Burnet Road in the 70s and 80s. She remembered it back when it was mostly farmland.

This is a really neat link to a historic satellite imagery website. They have images for Austin going back to 1952. I dropped in the address "11101 Burnet Road austin, texas" - which, today, is a Freebirds location.. Most of the area around The Domain was sparsely developed and mostly farmland as late as 1967.

https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer

To me, McKalla Place is the logical place for stuff like this. It's going to be more difficult to locate wide open land in Central Austin or downtown or even in parts of South Austin. The industrial spaces getting replaced aren't really of any historic value, and they themselves are only in those North Austin locations because they began to vacate the warehouse district in downtown half a century earlier.
I knew N. Austin boomed in the 80s because that's when I move there. The difference in the aerials between 1973 and 1985 is amazing.
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  #1563  
Old Posted Jul 19, 2018, 4:45 PM
atx-adam atx-adam is offline
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Epstein is unveiling his USL team name, coaches, and players six days before the city council votes on the McKalla place agreement:

https://www.mystatesman.com/sports/s...tqV67dNHZrawL/
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  #1564  
Old Posted Jul 20, 2018, 12:09 AM
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Originally Posted by atx-adam View Post
Epstein is unveiling his USL team name, coaches, and players six days before the city council votes on the McKalla place agreement:

https://www.mystatesman.com/sports/s...tqV67dNHZrawL/
Excuse my exaggeration, but I can see dozens of cheering fans in attendance. For such a HUGE track, this looks like a puny, albeit nice endeavor. Hard to get excited over this. He should stick to racing. How about a drag strip...
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  #1565  
Old Posted Jul 20, 2018, 3:22 AM
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Went to tonight's info session at the Main Library. Good attendance, well over a hundred folks, I'd say, with what seemed to me to be a slight majority in favor of the MLS deal but a very vocal anti crowd. I think the speakers split about evenly for and against.

The for message was the inclusiveness of soccer, the civic pride it could bring, the relatively unprecedented nature of a pro sports team privately funding a stadium that the city would own and the youth soccer benefits. The against message was lost tax revenue/cost to the city, lack of transparency in the process, parking, traffic, affordable housing and environmental (McKalla being at the headwaters of Walnut Creek).

It appeared based on comments that a good portion of the against were from the Gracy Woods NA (although at least of couple of the positive comments came from folks that said they live in Gracy Woods). One person mentioned the Epstein team and basically asked why we would want an MLS team when we have a team scheduled to play out at COTA (which shows the minimal level of sports knowledge some of these folks have). Another talked about living exactly 1.2 miles away from the site and the disaster that would befall her home and quiet little neighborhood if the stadium is built. Seriously, as if the Domain/Broadmoor doesn't even exist.

The only council member in attendance was Leslie Pool, who sat in the back, and several of the naysayers were scurrying around her during the meeting. It certainly seemed like a pretty organized resistance. A whole lot of them seemed to know each other. Regardless, even some of the against crowd seemed to acknowledge in their comments that this deal is probably happening and that they're hoping that the city works to get a better deal than the one that Precourt initially proposed (a sentiment I'm all on board for, and something several of the for crowd mentioned in comments as well).

Last edited by ClendonRoss; Jul 20, 2018 at 3:35 AM.
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  #1566  
Old Posted Jul 20, 2018, 4:16 AM
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I was there and also spoke. I do agree that the crowd had way more anti people than other events, but it was also the usual suspects. The fact that the pro side didn’t make a big push for turnout or organize a rally in favor leads me to believe that they feel pretty good about the situation.
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  #1567  
Old Posted Jul 20, 2018, 4:24 PM
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Originally Posted by abigdeal View Post
...The fact that the pro side didn’t make a big push for turnout or organize a rally in favor leads me to believe that they feel pretty good about the situation.
Or they are simply (and dangerously) complacent.

The squeaky wheel will get the grease/oil!!!
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AUSTIN (City): 974,447 +1.30% - '20-'22 | AUSTIN MSA (5 counties): 2,421,115 +6.03% - '20-'22
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  #1568  
Old Posted Jul 20, 2018, 7:03 PM
atxsnail atxsnail is offline
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Originally Posted by abigdeal View Post
I was there and also spoke. I do agree that the crowd had way more anti people than other events, but it was also the usual suspects. The fact that the pro side didn’t make a big push for turnout or organize a rally in favor leads me to believe that they feel pretty good about the situation.
The meeting was described as an opportunity to provide input on the negotiation process. That probably leaves out people who are generally in favor of the deal but don't have anything to contribute to contract design.

BTW anyone who is interested in providing input on community benefits should do so at https://www.speakupaustin.org/mckalla
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  #1569  
Old Posted Jul 26, 2018, 3:02 PM
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The Austin Chronicle finally wrote an article about the dark money behind the McKalla Place opposition!

https://www.austinchronicle.com/news...ey-v-precourt/
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  #1570  
Old Posted Jul 27, 2018, 2:40 AM
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Had someone from "Our City, Our Choice" by to sign a petition to get the McKalla transaction put on the ballot.

I'm assuming this is coming from COTA. I also love that the tactic of "put it on the ballot so WE CAN DECIDE is the go to NIMBY move of forever.

Had a long dressing down of the dude on my porch who knew not a god damned thing about what he was shilling for, but he wouldn't tell me who was paying him to go door to door.
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  #1571  
Old Posted Jul 27, 2018, 1:52 PM
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Chris Bils Twitter thread on Linger Lane proposal also does a good job of deconstructing some other mystery opposition.

https://mobile.twitter.com/ChrisBils...95848855805953
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  #1572  
Old Posted Jul 28, 2018, 4:17 AM
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Term sheet released tonight. It’s happening gang!!!!
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  #1573  
Old Posted Jul 28, 2018, 4:38 AM
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Quote:
Daniel Salazar, Staff Writer Jul 27, 2018, 10:41pm CDT

After nearly a month of negotiations, the city of Austin and Precourt Sports Ventures have carved out the basic shape of a potential Major League Soccer stadium deal at a North Austin site.

The city posted Friday evening a term sheet for a professional soccer stadium at McKalla Place, a 24-acre site owned by the city just south of The Domain.


"The term sheet ... is the result of the negotiations and contains the basic terms to be included in definitive agreements to be drafted by the City and PSV," according to city documents.

Precourt Sports Ventures wants to relocate the Columbus Crew SC from Ohio to the Texas capital with a permanent stadium at McKalla Place. While that stadium wouldn't be ready until the 2021 season, a permanent stadium deal is seen as paramount to securing PSV's relocation; the team would start playing at a temporary stadium for the 2019 season.

USL soccer team takes shape as Austinites debate MLS plan

Capella Capital confirms mixed-use plans for McKalla Place

MLS negotiations to begin but city still welcomes other proposals

Court keeps lawsuit against owner of Columbus Crew soccer team alive

The term sheet shows movement from both the city and PSV on different issues, but Austin City Council must approve any final deal. And the Council has its share of optimists and skeptics of such an agreement.

Here are some basic points from the term sheet, which you can read here:

The 20,000-21,000-seat stadium would be privately financed and donated to the city upon completionThe site is expected to feature more than eight acres of green space and 130 affordable housing unitsPSV would lease city-owned stadium for an initial 20-year term with three possibilities for 10-year renewalsRent payments of $550,000 would begin in the sixth year— and would total $8.25 million over the first 20 yearsA non-relocation clause, a city priority after PSV's efforts to leave Columbus, would be includedBoth the city and PSV would work on a Transportation and Parking Plan, as well as figuring out how to pay for a Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority rail station at the stadium siteThe club would distribute 1,000 complimentary seats for each regular season game on average, with 100 of them going to the city of Austin to distribute as it sees fitBoth sides expect a stadium would remain exempt from property taxes as a city-owned siteBoth sides would work to locate a permanent club headquarter in Austin city limits and keep "Austin" in the club nameThey'd make an agreement on community benefits, including affordable housing, complimentary tickets, charitable contributions and fundraising opportunities.
City Council is scheduled to be briefed on the term sheet, with an opportunity for public comment, at a special meeting on Aug. 1.

Some kind of deal with PSV is expected to go up for a Council vote on Aug. 9, along with alternative development proposals for McKalla Place. Private developers have pitched competing visions for the site.

Capella Capital Partners is behind one such effort and another is spearheaded by of Marcus Whitfield, John Chen and Vista Planning and Design.

Meanwhile, a United Soccer League team is gearing up to play its first season in 2019. The team, majority owned by Bobby Epstein, will play its first season at Circuit of The Americas, where Epstein is chairman. It plans to unveil a team logo, name, coach and several players at an event on Aug. 3.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biz...eased.amp.html
It's getting done guys!!!
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  #1574  
Old Posted Jul 28, 2018, 11:28 AM
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Awesome! I'm not a soccer fan, but I still think I'll make some games. May even buy a hat.
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  #1575  
Old Posted Jul 29, 2018, 12:29 AM
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Wish it were closer to San Antonio (well, I wish were HAPPENING in San Antonio), but I will definitely be catching some games in Austin when RSL is in town.

Congrats guys.
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  #1576  
Old Posted Jul 29, 2018, 2:33 AM
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the Genral the Genral is offline
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Are we celebrating USL or MLS?? I still don't see anything definitive about the Crew landing here. Seems a bit premature to start getting too overly excited.
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  #1577  
Old Posted Jul 29, 2018, 2:54 AM
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Originally Posted by the Genral View Post
Are we celebrating USL or MLS?? I still don't see anything definitive about the Crew landing here. Seems a bit premature to start getting too overly excited.
What? The city and team have agreed to terms. Just need a rubber stamp Council meeting on Aug 9. Tell everyone you know, it’s happening.
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  #1578  
Old Posted Jul 29, 2018, 3:37 AM
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What? The city and team have agreed to terms. Just need a rubber stamp Council meeting on Aug 9. Tell everyone you know, it’s happening.
Nope, not yet. Not until there's an official announcement.
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  #1579  
Old Posted Jul 30, 2018, 10:05 PM
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Term sheet released tonight. It’s happening gang!!!!
The City wants a say in the design of the stadium? Oh shit! That's not good.
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AUSTIN (City): 974,447 +1.30% - '20-'22 | AUSTIN MSA (5 counties): 2,421,115 +6.03% - '20-'22
SAN ANTONIO (City): 1,472,909 +2.69% - '20-'22 | SAN ANTONIO MSA (8 counties): 2,655,342 +3.80% - '20-'22
AUS-SAT REGION (MSAs/13 counties): 5,076,457 +4.85% - '20-'22 | *SRC: US Census*
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  #1580  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2018, 3:22 AM
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Leslie Pool is against the deal... shocker. She’s also telling people they have more time to negotiate terms because she either doesn’t understand the language or is deliberately misleading people as to the point behind an October date.
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