Austin - East Riverside Corridor Master Plan

Austin Contrarian
February 25, 2010

City Council is scheduled to vote today on the East Riverside Corridor Master Plan. Let's hope Council ignores the Planning Commission.

The Plan envisions the redevelopment of East Riverside as a New Urbanist corridor, built around four major transit hubs. The hope, of course, is that the "transit" will someday be a light rail line connecting downtown and the airport. But East Riverside is a natural place for redevelopment of this kind, with or without rail. East Riverside is close to downtown. It is already fairly dense yet (paradoxically) has many low-density or undeveloped tracts suitable for redevelopment. There is proven market demand, as demonstrated by the redevelopment underway on the western end. While there are single family neighborhoods along the route, there are fewer than along, say, Burnett or Lamar. And, finally, the existing development consists largely of decaying strip malls; everyone (including area residents) would like to see a better use of the land.

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Expanded 'urban rail' would run through downtown on both sides of Capitol

Austin American Statesman
Ben Wear // February 24, 2010

Downtown Austin would have two north-south passenger rail corridors, a more expansive network than previously envisioned, under a recommendation that City of Austin staff will present today to the Austin City Council.

The proposed rail system — which would be in addition to Capital Metro's commuter rail line scheduled to open next month — would link the Mueller development in East Austin to the University of Texas to downtown to the airport.

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Transit Innovation

Dallas Morning News
February 23, 2010

Expanding the reach of rail transit in North Texas will take progress big and small on multiple fronts. Here are a couple of areas where things are quietly heading the right way:

In Austin – House Speaker Joe Straus officially invited ideas on new ways of paying for transportation projects. The speaker announced special committees last week to study needs and report to him on, among other things, "using alternative funding options at the state and local levels."


In North Texas – A coalition of cities and transportation agencies has stepped up efforts to develop the long-proposed east-west Cotton Belt rail link to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. It would connect northern suburbs and North Dallas to the airport and run through downtown Fort Worth. DART owns the Cotton Belt right of way but doesn't have the money to put the project together.

Again, innovation is called for. The North Central Texas Council of Governments is finishing a report on ways the six cities on the east side of the airport can team up with property owners and DART to start the new line.

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Cap Metro Turns Toward a 2020 Vision

The Austin Chronicle

Lee Nichols // February 19, 2010

What will Austin look like in 10 years? If history is any guide, its population will be about 50% larger, and the area will need a transit system to accommodate that.

On Monday, the Capital Metro board of directors will consider Service Plan 2020, a 370-page analysis of the Cap Metro system and recommendations on how to improve it.

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Austin shows off its new Capital Metro rail cars

Dallas Morning News
Micheal Lindenberger

The Cap Metro passenger rail expansion in Austinhasn't been with its significant setbacks, but last night it showed off a gleaming new rail car that should soon besnaking along the city's 32-mile track.

The cars will remind Dallas riders more of the TRE vehicles than the light rail trains they are used to. That's true in part because the CapMetro tracks are used for both passenger rail and freight rail services

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Andy Sarwal - Austin Mixed Use Developer

AustinAmericanStatesman
January 2, 2010

Andy Sarwal

A virtual unknown in the local real estate community, Sarwal is overseeing one of the few large mixed-use projects still going forward in the region: University Park, a $750 million complex that is transforming the former Concordia University campus north of downtown into apartments, townhomes, a hotel, a movie theater, offices and retail space.

Last year, Sarwal and his mystery investors raised $39 million to finance the first office building, now home to Texas Monthly magazine and an Aveda Institute salon training school.

Financing for major real estate developments remains unusually difficult to obtain, but Sarwal said recently that funding is in place for the hotel, a Hyatt concept called Andaz, and a planned 450,000-square-foot building that will include a Premiere Cinema Corp. theater and about 340 apartments.

'I just know I'll drive longer distances and to all the ends of the Earth to accomplish something,' Sarwal said. 'I will get a deal done.'

MORE on "Whom to Watch in Business in Austin This Year"

Austin Considers Density Bonus

The Austin-American Statesman
Shonda Novak // November 29, 2009

Seattle has a plan. So do Tampa, San Diego, Portland, Denver, Nashville and Calgary. Vancouver is the exemplar, a city that has used a developer bonus system to encourage density downtown while assuring that the city core doesn't become a forest of bulky high-rises with a scarcity of parks, public amenities or places for moderate-income people to live.

Now it's Austin's turn.

On Dec. 17, the Austin City Council is scheduled to vote on proposals for a voluntary program under which downtown developers would be rewarded with extra space or height for their projects if they provide certain community benefits, such as affordable housing, child care services or cultural spaces.

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Consultant argues for density near Austin's center to offset sprawl

From: The Austin-American Statesman
By: Asher Price // October 22, 2009

Recommendations by a consultant for the redevelopment of the Brackenridge tract, the 350-acre University of Texas-owned land west of downtown, call for denser construction than City of Austin rules would generally allow.

The difference draws a line of control between the city and the university over the land and reopens a broader discussion of how to encourage growth in West Austin.

The two plans by the New York-based consulting firm, hired by the UT SystemBoard of Regents, imagine the Brackenridge tract — now home to a municipal golf course, a university field lab, stores, offices, restaurantsand two-story apartment complexes along Lake Austin and Lady Bird Lake — redeveloped as a densely built, walkable, close-in alternative to suburban sprawl.

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DFW APARTMENT DEMAND UP; OCCUPANCY, RENTS DOWN

From: Dallas Urban Core
October 9, 2009

North Texas apartment occupancy fell in the third quarter, as did its average rent when compared with October 2008 figures, according to Carrollton-based MPF Research Inc.

The apartment analyst firm reported a 4.1 percent decrease in Dallas’ average apartment rent to $772 between third quarter 2008 and 2009. Fort Worth experienced a 2.1 percent fall to $686 during the same period.

North Texas apartment occupancy came to 89.9 percent at the end of September, down from over 93 percent a year ago.

However, Dallas–Fort Worth net leasing during the third quarter increased for the first time in a year by 2,770 units.

With an estimated 17,576 apartments under construction at the end of September, about 8,500 apartments are set to open by the close of 2009.

Elsewhere, Austin’s average rent fell 6.8 percent to $829, Houston rents fell 2 percent to $783 and San Antonio rents fell 0.7 percent to $725.

New mixed-use project planned for downtown Austin

From: AustinAmericanStatesman.com
By: Shonda Novak // October 8, 2009

A South Texas developer is proposing to build a 12-story building with apartments, offices, shops and a white-tablecloth restaurant near the Capitol.

Palmco, Inc., a developer and builder with offices in McAllen and Austin, wants to build Capitol Terrace at the southwest corner of Lavaca and 14th streets.

It would have 30 upscale apartments, aimed at lobbyists and others with business at the Capitol or state agencies, as well as five floors (61,000 square feet) of office space, said John Donisi, an attorney and partner with Drenner & Golden Stuart Wolff LP.

The firm is representing Palmco in its request for a zoning change to build a larger, taller building than city rules allow.

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Austn - Rial vs. Road Debate

From: News8Austin

By: Karina Kling // September 15, 2009

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) estimated five years ago it would take a lot less money than it has to get people from one place to the next.

Already, their spending has one transportation planning watchdog fearful road improvements will end up in the ditch, so more money can be spent on rail.

The question is will commuter rail take cars off congested roadways?

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Eco Hotel in Austin

From: Austin American Statesman

By: Shonda Novak // September 10, 2009

In the first major hotel project to be announced for downtown Austin in nearly two years, developers plan a 17-story hotel that could mark the debut of a new global brand.

The hotel, proposed for the southwest corner of West Fifth and Colorado streets in the Warehouse District, would be a concept called 1 Hotel, by Starwood Capital Group. Starwood Capital has billed the concept as the first luxury eco-friendly global hotel brand.

Starwood has hired Woodbine Development Corp. to build the hotel, which would have about 250 to 275 rooms.

Woodbine, a seasoned hotel developer based in Dallas, developed the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines near Bastrop, as well as the Hyatt Regency Hill Country and the Westin La Cantera in San Antonio.

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Austin MetroRail: Still no opening date

From: statesman.com
By: Ben Wear // August 19, 2009

Capital Metro officials, still working to solve various issues with its commuter rail line, can’t yet say when the line will open.

When the line does open, agency officials said, some of the morning and afternoon runs on the 32-mile line between Leander and downtown Austin might start at stations further up the line rather than at the end points.

In the fourth monthly update since an eleventh-hour postponement of an announced March 30 opening date, Capital Metro said it had completed training engineers, completed adjustment to railroad crossing “safety equipment pending any new issues,” finished some track repairs at the U.S. 183 frontage road and Parmer Lane crossings and completed work on “signal preemption” technology meant to clear cars from places where the track is near a street traffic signal.

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Austin - Emissions, ozone could be problematic for city

From: The Daily Texan

By: Syeda Hasan // July 15, 2009

The Clean Air Force of Central Texas, an organization that promotes improving air quality through educational programs, is continuing its efforts to inform citizens about the harmful effects of ozone emissions in the region.

The group designed its “Big Push” campaign this year to keep Austin in compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation standards this “ozone season,” the period from April 1 to October 31, when ozone levels are highest.

Bryan Lambeth, spokesman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, said at the group’s presentation at Green Pastures Restaurant on Tuesday that while Austin’s ozone levels have been in decline, they still do not meet the new EPA standards which lowered the amount of emissions permitted.

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Austin Capital Metro -- No start date yet for Red Line

Austin-American Statesment
By: Ben Wear // Friday, July 17, 2009

Capital Metro has just released its latest passenger rail update and the bottom-line still hasn’t changed: No start date yet for the Red Line from Leander to downtown Austin.

And, as has been the case since May, a promise to report back in a month.

And as has been the case with the other monthly reports, the jargon-heavy release from the transit agency reports progress on getting the track’s control systems nailed down and training completed, and in each case indicates that more is left to be done.

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Capital Metro insists progress made on MetroRail

BY JIM BERGAMO / KVUE News
There was still no word Friday on when Capital Metro plans to start its MetroRail service.

Two more federal safety violations discovered in June have contributed to the delay, but despite those, Capital Metro insists it is getting closer to a start date -- possibly as early as September.

The Capital MetroRail test runs continue at the rate of five to 10 per day. Most taking the trip on this day walked onto the rail car -- some did so rolling a bike beside them and one rolled herself onto the train in her wheelchair.

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Austin Congestion

From: Austin Contrarian

July 9, 2009

The Texas Transportation Institute has issued its annual report on congestion in American cities. As usual, Austin doesn't do well, punching well above its class. Tthe average Austin traveler experienced an annual delay of 39 hours in 2007. That's up from 32 hours in 1997, although no worse than 2006.

Ryan Avent puts the Austin figures in perspective:

The average traveler in the New York metro area faces 44 hours wasted per year, for instance, while the average traveler in Los Angeles loses 70 hours per year to congestion, even though New York’s metropolitan population is much, much larger than LA’s. More interesting still, Austin and Raleigh aren’t that far behind New York with 39 and 34 hours wasted annually, despite the fact that both metro areas have less than two million people while greater New York is home to 20 million people.

TTI also calculates the percent of peak period travel that is congested. Austin again fares poorly -- its roads are congested for 70% of the peak travel period.

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Austin 6th in Sustainable Cities List

From: Smarter Cities (NRDC)

One major advantage in climate change protection that Austin, Texas, has over other cities, according to Ester Matthews, director of the Austin Climate Protection Program, is the fact that the city owns its energy utility. It’s not just because it provides the city with more funding to invest in other green programs; it’s because Austin, the “Live Music Capital of the World” and home to the University of Texas, has a progressive community that insists on a responsive government. In the case of Austin Energy, this means the citywide-elected board members of the utility—City Council members—support efficient energy measures. Also, Texas is the only state on its own electrical grid.

This combination allowed the city—relatively quickly and without the need for federal approval—to plan to adopt a smart grid, which is the infrastructure of the not-so-distant future that will distribute energy production and storage systemwide. If the plan, known as the “Pecan Street Project,” materializes, it will develop alternative energy, putting solar panels on homes and compensating residents for excess energy used to power something else in the city. The project has partners in the university, the Environmental Defense Fund, and corporations including Dell, GE Energy and IBM.

Although the city is one of the country’s most advanced in using energy efficiency and allocating it effectively, its three major energy sources for electricity currently are coal, nuclear power and natural gas. But Austin Energy is working toward a goal of 30 percent renewable by 2020, and currently obtains 11 percent of its energy from wind power. It also offers a 100 percent green energy option, GreenChoice.

Punching Above Its Class -- Austin Traffic

From Urban Returns

July 9, 2009

The Texas Transportation Institute has issued its annual report on congestion in American cities. As usual, Austin doesn't do well, punching well above its class. Tthe average Austin traveler experienced an annual delay of 39 hours in 2007. That's up from 32 hours in 1997, although no worse than 2006.

Ryan Avent puts the Austin figures in perspective:

The average traveler in the New York metro area faces 44 hours wasted per year, for instance, while the average traveler in Los Angeles loses 70 hours per year to congestion, even though New York’s metropolitan population is much, much larger than LA’s. More interesting still, Austin and Raleigh aren’t that far behind New York with 39 and 34 hours wasted annually, despite the fact that both metro areas have less than two million people while greater New York is home to 20 million people.

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Compact, Climate-Friendly, Competitive

To restart the economy while saving the planet, the Congress for the New Urbanism advocates traditional neighborhoods for all

BY KATHERINE GREGOR The Austin Chronicle June 26, 2009

"This is one of those moments to step up and articulate what urbanism is worth to America."

That's how Scott Bernstein, president of the Center for Neighborhood Technology, summed up the call-to-service at CNU 17, the 2009 Congress for the New Urbanism, June 10-14 in Denver. The planning organization has stepped up its no-sprawl message, lobbying in D.C. for new federal law that promotes sustainable development patterns through urban reinvestment. The Obama administration reportedly is listening: "The biggest urbanist in the White House is Barack Obama," observed John Norquist, CEO of CNU and a former mayor of Milwaukee.

New Urbanists are a frankly evangelical bunch; for nearly two decades they've preached that compact urban form can help correct everything from poverty to obesity. Increasingly, their anti-sprawl message appeals to both policy-makers and next-gen lifestylers (the one-third of Americans who now say they'd like to live near a coffee shop and a streetcar stop in a cool city neighborhood). At CNU 17, two overarching themes of national import emerged. One was the economy, stupid: how smart city-shaping, supported by the right federal transportation policy and funding, offers a powerful tool for communities across the U.S. to create value, wealth, and jobs now. The second was climate action: how U.S. policy that promotes compact (re)development is essential to the fight against global warming.

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