Downtown Development Initiatives

Summary

Status

Block 4 Residential Development: see Block 4 Residential Development Initiative.

Waller Creek: The Lower Waller Creek Neighborhood Association (LWCNA), comprising property owners along Waller Creek below 15th Street, are developing voluntary guidelines for private development along the creek.

Design Guidelines: see Downtown Design Guidelines.

Downtown Development Advisory Group: In November the Downtown Development Advisory Group began work on their final report to the Council. Included in the report will be a recommendation for a downtown planning and development corporation.

Heritage Austin: Heritage Austin is a program of the Heritage Society of Austin. The team, comprising five local architects, meets weekly to develop a community values based vision for downtown, as well as eighteen issue papers. Heritage Austin has a Storefront Community Design Center at 807 Congress Avenue, where they have been holding public input sessions. They are working on a final draft of their Community Workbook, the first draft of which was released in November, 1997.

Description

• directing the City Manager to initiate a study to determine the feasibility of developing the Electric Utility "Poleyard" property for residential uses, and developing a public-private cooperative venture;
• directing the City Manager to develop a letter of intent outlining a public-private joint venture for redeveloping the City's Block 4 and the privately held Block 20 into a mixed-use residential project;
• directing the City Manager to initiate discussions with public institutions and private interests to develop a public-private cooperative effort for proposed improvements to Waller Creek;
• directing the Design Commission to prepare draft design guidelines for the city's downtown region, building on previous Council actions, planning studies and community consensus building exercises;
• creating a Downtown Development Advisory Group to advise the Council on specific projects as well as long term policy decisions regarding City-owned assets in the downtown area, and;
• endorsing the Heritage Austin public input process, and resolving that Heritage Austin serve as an independent planning resource and advisory body to the City Council for downtown Austin, working parallel and in conjunction with the downtown development advisory group.

Basic Data

• Project Contact: Michael Knox, Development Services Process Coordinator, 499-6418