Biggest Single Downtown Austin Development Ever

[The ATX]

In June the city will select one of these five proposals to redevelop the soon to be decommissioned Green water treatment plant site downtown. These renderings were published in the Austin American-Statesman.

Here's what the site looks like now:

Here's the Article from the Austin American-Statesman:

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news.../0507green.html

Big plans for Green Water Treatment Plant

Five big names with five big plans for Green Water Treatment Plant

By Kate Miller Morton

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Proposals for the redevelopment of the Green Water Treatment Plant and Austin Energy Control Center are in, and no matter who wins, big changes are coming to the landscape and skyline of downtown Austin.

Five isolated blocks of city-owned land bounded loosely by the Seaholm Power Plant and San Antonio, Fourth and Cesar Chavez streets will become a residential, commercial and cultural hub in the biggest single development ever downtown.

About 1,000 apartments and condominiums will be built, including a significant number of low to moderately priced units.

Hundreds of thousands of square feet of new office space and several blocks of ground-floor retail will transform the dormant western edge of downtown after construction begins in about three years.

The total appraised value of the land is $55.5 million, but the city did not release the amount each team offered to pay for it. City Council members are scheduled to select a developer by the end of June.

The proposals made by Catellus Development, Forest City, Simmons Vedder Partners, Stratus Properties, Trammell Crow and their respective partners have some things in common. But each also has elements unique to its plan. "Each one of the five has something that is different from the others, that's distinct to that proposal," Council Member Brewster McCracken said. "It's really amazing."

Trammell Crow and partners Constructive Ventures and USAA Real Estate Co. propose the biggest and tallest buildings with the most parking. Their plan also includes the most diverse uses, with space for a 350,000-square-foot hotel and a 250-unit senior assisted living facility in addition to condos, apartments, offices and retail businesses. Five public gathering spaces could accommodate as many as 2,700 people.

Stratus Properties' proposal includes a two-story H-E-B grocery store, with H.E. Butt Grocery Co. serving as a limited partner in the project.

"We think H-E-B being a full-service grocery store is something everybody can afford, it helps every one of those retailers in the area and it makes residential more viable," said the team's attorney, Steve Drenner.

A movie theater and bookstore would also help drive more traffic to the Second Street retail district.

Stratus and partner AMLI Residential are proposing the largest number of rental units, which they say would let them offer housing in a greater range of prices, and they plan to offer medical office space not found downtown. Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, a partnership of Canyon Capital Realty Advisors and Magic Johnson Enterprises, is also a part of this team.

Simmons Vedder proposes a waterfront art park and four bridges over Shoal Creek, including two for pedestrians only.

This team, which includes Cotera + Reed Architects and Bury + Partners Engineering Solutions, also proposes to essentially turn the buildings into power plants by installing solar panels in the skins of its towers. It plans to use water collected from the condensation of air conditioners to flush the toilets.

Catellus Development has proposed a primarily residential project with 500,000 square feet of office space and nearly 200,000 square feet of retail. But the company is also offering to collaborate with city leaders and the community to develop a final master plan for the property that could differ significantly from its initial proposal.

"We're going to present something we think is really neat, dynamic, progressive and all of that, but with that said, if we are selected we're going to say, 'Let's go out and spend time and hear from the city what they really want and hear from stakeholders what they really want,' " Catellus President Greg Weaver said.

Forest City, which is partnering with Novare Group and Andrews Urban, emphasizes public spaces with a grand plaza at Second and Nueces streets complete with a fountain and transplanted moon tower. A grand staircase inspired by the Spanish Steps in Rome would connect the plaza to the trail along Shoal Creek, which would run from the Austin Energy site north of Third Street to Lady Bird Lake.

The master developer of the Stapleton Airport site in Denver and the 9,000-acre Mesa del Sol mixed-use project in Albuquerque, N.M., also promotes a more collaborative approach.

"We're partners with dozens of cities all across America," Forest City Vice President Jim Truitt said. "We fund our own projects, we build them and we own them ourselves. ... It makes us more compatible with cities' goals and objectives."

All five teams will present their plans to the City Council at a special meeting this month. The City Council plans to pick a winner using an evaluation matrix that awards points for different elements including development experience, access to capital and quality of design.

Bonus points will be awarded for public parking and affordable housing.

The city required developers to offer at least 10 percent of all rental units at a level affordable to households making no more than 80 percent of the area's median family income, or $56,900 for a family of four.

All five teams have pledged to exceed the city's requirement, though some provide much more detail about how that would be done.

The Trammell Crow team, for example, plans to make 25 percent of its rental units affordable under the 80 percent guideline and also plans to make a donation to the city's affordable housing fund for every condo it sells, estimating total donations could reach about $2.5 million.

The Stratus group would make 15 percent of its rental units available to households under the 80 percent requirement, reserve 5 percent for families making as much as $82,900 and allow the city to buy up to 5 percent of its condos at cost.

"This will significantly change the accessibility of downtown away from being just a place for rich people," McCracken said.

Although the city has imposed an unusually short time frame for the selection of a development team, the redevelopment of the sites won't begin for several years. The city won't be able to turn over the water treatment site until 2010, and the Austin Energy site won't be available until 2011.

[The ATX]

Next Thursday , 05/22, the developers for each proposal will make their pitch to the Austin City Council.

[The Voice of Reason]

Next Thursday , 05/22, the developers for each proposal will make their pitch to the Austin City Council.

[The ATX]

The city staff recommended that the Austin City Council select Trammel Crow for the Green site redevelopment. The City Council will formerly vote on which of the five developers to select next week. The TC proposal calls for several towers including a 52 and a 55 story condo tower. Here's a couple photos of the Trammel Crow proposal:

Here's link to details and renderings of all proposals:

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/seaholm/green.htm

[erdogs]

That was the one I was hoping for, now we just need the city council to agree. That part of town is going to look amazing in a few years.

[The ATX]

The Trammel Crow proposal is the one I'm pulling for also. But the Stratus one is a close second for me.

[The Voice of Reason]

The Trammel Crow proposal is the one I'm pulling for also. But the Stratus one is a close second for me.

[The ATX]

They discuss it in an executive session (closed to the public) next Wednesday, June 18th. An anti high rise and opponent of dense urban development candidate won a city council spot in a run off election today. I hope the current council can come to a decision on this project on the 18th before the anti-downtown development opposition starts.

[The ATX]

It's official. The city council has chosen Trammell Crow.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news.../0619green.html

City picks Trammell Crow to redevelop Green Water Treatment Plant

Officials says that development team agreed to pay the city $57.9 million for project.

By Kate Miller Morton

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The Austin City Council on Wednesday unanimously chose Trammell Crow and its partners Constructive Ventures and USAA for the single biggest development project ever to take place downtown.

The group beat four other development teams to win the right to negotiate with the city to buy and transform five isolated blocks of city-owned land bounded loosely by the Seaholm Power Plant and San Antonio, Fourth and Cesar Chavez streets into a residential, commercial and cultural hub.

But a city official familiar with the proposals said the Trammell Crow team offered to pay $57.9 million for the six acres appraised at $55.5 million. The official requested anonymity because the official is not authorized to speak about the unsigned deal.

Of the five teams, Trammell Crow proposed the biggest and tallest buildings, the most uses and the most parking for the current sites of the Green Water Treatment Plant and Austin Energy Control Center.

Two weeks ago, members of the city staff announced that they had determined that the Trammell Crow plan was the best deal for the city.

Their decision was based largely on financial information the city has refused to release, including: the proposed sales price for the land, sales and property tax projections, the financial backing of the developers, and the amount of public money needed to achieve the developers' plans. City officials say the information won't be released until the city has signed a deal with the selected developer, a process that could take more than a year.

[The Voice of Reason]

WOW!

I have to say, Austin is definately 100% begind becoming a major city.

this was once the best small city in America. it was not very large at all, really, and right now in an economic downturn that many call a housing crisis, Austin is building its guts out. on top of what started before the easy mortgages dried up now we have projects like this!!

This is more "city" than many cities have all told. add this to all of the other significant projects, I am really shocked.

it seems like in most citys 10-30% of all proposals happen. For Austin it seems like its 80%

[The ATX]

The city has taken the next step in this development. They have officially decommissioned the water treatment plant. But I suspect it may be a long time before the developers can get any financing, even in the relatively healthy Austin economy,

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/...15/daily34.html

Green Water plant decommissioned

The Thomas Green Water Treatment Plant was decommissioned on Dec. 16 at a ceremony attended by city officials and former plant workers. After speaking about the 83-year old plant

[The ATX]

Demolition of the plant has started and some earthmoving is going on. No updates on how the economy has affected the developer's plans.