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New City Hall and Public Plaza

Summary

A new City Hall and adjoining public plaza will be constructed on the existing Municipal Annex site on the north shore of Town Lake, as part of a public-private partnership with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). The City facilities will be part of a complex of buildings that include offices for CSCŐs Financial Services Group, retail shops, restaurants and residential spaces. A new Council Chambers and other public meeting rooms will be included. City staff expects construction to be complete by the end of 2003.

Status

Carter-Burgess, Inc., has been hired to develop a space program and plan for the new City Hall and Public Plaza. Stakeholder and community participation meetings began in mid-February. The program will be completed in April 2000. Selection of a Design Team for the new City Hall is underway, and Council is expected to select a team in March 2000.

Beginning in January, the City Council moved its regular meetings to alternate sites, and all City employees working in the Municipal Annex will be relocated by the end of February. Asbestos removal and demolition of the Annex will begin in March.

Issues

The development of a new City Hall and Public Plaza provides Austin with an opportunity to design and build a city hall that is "uniquely Austin". Community participation is vital to a successful programming and strategic planning process. With the new City Hall being part of a larger private development, it will be important for the design team to create a new City Hall which is distinct from the surrounding CSC developments. Further, due to the plazaŐs location at Town Lake, consideration needs to be given to connecting the plaza with nearby pedestrian walkways and bikeways.

Description

The new City Hall will be approximately 100,000 sf, and overlook both Town Lake and a revitalized, retail oriented Second Street. A Public Plaza will be constructed on the south side of the lot, facing Town Lake. Three levels of underground parking are included in the development, with one level dedicated to daytime CSC parking upon completion of the third of three office buildings, as well as parking for the retail space included in the project.

All personnel and functions in the current Municipal Building on 8th Street (except for the Emergency Operations Center which will locate to a new "Combined Emergency Center" at the Robert Mueller site) will relocate to the new City Hall, and include: the Mayor and Council Members, City Manager and his staff, City Clerk, Public Information Office, Budget Office, departmental administration for the Financial and Administrative Services Department, and Government Relations. The Law Department will also relocate to the new City Hall, vacating leased space in Norwood Towers on 7th Street. Moving the City AuditorŐs offices (currently in leased space in Two Commodore Plaza) into the new City Hall is under consideration.

Basic Data

  • Project Contact: Ron Davis, 499-7001

    Revised February 24, 2000
    Back to the January 2000 Contents

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