Downtown

October 1999

• 200 Block Congress Avenue
  The project is complete, except for the tree planting. Estimated final completion date, including trees, is December 15, 1999.

• Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH)
  The City's recent agreement with the Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) required that the resource center be relocated from its previous location on West 2nd Street. As of August 1999, the Homeless Resource Center is now located at 701 West Fifth Street, occupying the east side of the building.

• Downtown Art Museum
  Austin Museum of Art (AMOA) is proceeding with schematic design. AMOA is gathering survey, geotechnical and environmental information. The City of Austin, State of Texas and AMOA are negotiating the acquisition of the Fourth Street site and a land swap of the Third Street site.

• Downtown Design Guidelines
  The commission has made several public presentations and is consolidating the comments for a report to the City Council.

• Downtown Development Initiatives
  
  • Waller Creek:Waller Creek: The Downtown Austin Alliance has convened a group of the Waller Creek stakeholders and the affected City of Austin departments. They have chosen consultant Chuck Flink to help the group develop the Waller Creek Urban Greenway Action Plan. Work on the plan will proceed once fundraising is completed.
  • Heritage Austin: Completion of their report Heritage Austin: A Community Value Based Vision has been delayed.

• Downtown Litter Removal
  Beginning October 1999, Community Service Restitution (CSR) workers from Austin’s new Community Court augmented existing services. A crew of six to eight offenders will pick up litter for eight hours on Sundays.

• DAA Downtown Parking Signs and Map
  Close to 100 signs are currently in use.

• Downtown Parking Study
  On November 2, 1999, the City gave Wilbur Smith Associates (WSA) Notice to Proceed with the Comprehensive Downtown Austin Parking Study. Sources of funds were identified to enable addition of two areas to the Parking Study — (1) East 11th and 12th Streets and (2) S. Congress Avenue from Town Lake to Oltorf St. WSA expects the project to take 9 months. Draft recommendations for the three project areas will be presented in May and June 2000 for public review and comment. WSA will deliver the final report in July 2000.

  WSA and its subconsultants are reviewing prior related studies and have initiated data collection for parking inventories in the three study areas.

• Downtown Retail/Office Vacancy Listing New Project Description
  The list contains Downtown commercial real estate available for lease or sale in buildings under 10,000 square feet. The list is updated and distributed to over 300 people every six weeks by email, fax, or mail. Many recipients are real estate agents or commercial brokers. In May 1999, the Commercial Broker's Network began carrying this list.

• Poleyard Residential Development
  Groundbreaking for the West Avenue Lofts by Post occurred on September 9, 1999. The first units will be ready for occupancy in late 2000.

• Republic Square Advisory Committee
  The Task Force has completed their work and will soon be forwarding their Final Report to the City Council. The Task Force report makes recommendations on: 1) Park Design; 2) Park Use; 3) Transportation, Parking and Pedestrian Issues, and; 4) Linkages (transit, cultural and historical)

• Scattered Cooperative Infill Housing Program (SCIP II)
  The City of Austin Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Office is currently in negotiations with Anderson Community Development Corporation on the most cost effective, efficient manner in which to complete the 100 unit affordable housing development. Prior to concluding negotiations between the City and Anderson CDC, no construction will commence. Negotiations are expected to be concluded within the month of September. Pending the outcome, the City will determine the best possible manner in which to complete the project.

• Seaholm Power Plant Reuse
  On November 18th, City Council passed a resolution directing the City Manager "to make recommendations outlining next steps for decommissioning the Seaholm Power Plant and soliciting proposals for the reuse of the plant." The City Managers Office is preparing such a memo at this time which should be issued in the next week.

• Town Lake Park Master Plan
  Selection of a design team for the first phase of parkland development is going to the City Council for approval on December 16, 1999.

• Waller Creek Flood-Management and Water Quality Improvements
  The Austin City Council approved the contract for project engineering services on May 20, 1999. Preliminary engineering studies have been underway since that time. A public meeting was held on June 29, 1999 to present the scope of the preliminary engineering investigations. Since that time, the engineering consultant has advised the City that the cost of the project will be greater than estimated in the 1996 study of the project. Supplemental project preliminary engineering studies will be authorized to study additional tunnel alignments and outlet locations in an attempt to determine the most cost-effective project. Another public meeting will be held in late February or early March of 2000 to discuss the results of the preliminary engineering investigations.

• Waller Creek Trail and Park Improvements
  
  • Town Lake and Waller Creek: Project complete except for kiosk and benches
  • César Chávez: No construction yet
  • Trask House: Project complete except for kiosk & benches
  • Palm Park: Project complete
  • Sixth Street Gate: Project complete
  • Seventh Street Lighting: No construction yet
  • Ninth Street Ramp: Project complete
  • Doyle House Ramp: Project complete except for kiosk and bench
  • Symphony Square: Project 70% complete, bridge deck under construction
  • Waterloo Park: Project Complete
  In addition to the site construction, we are in the process of bidding out materials, such as the pedestrian bridge, benches and other site furnishings, signage, etc.