Ronald McDonald House
Mueller Project
Seaholm Plant Redevelopment
Hill Country Galleria (night)9am- Ronald McDonald house (Within the Mueller Project)
We had the pleasant opportunity to visit a product of one of the most charitable foundations, the Ronald McDonald House of Austin. The facility is an impeccable LEED Platinum design, with many features to prove for it. The House allows for sick children and family/friends affected by their nature to lodge at below market rates, and provides many helpful benefits also. The CEO of the non-profit firm, Kent Burress, gave us a slot of his schedule to be our tour guide for an hour. Some of the features that stand out drastically are the sustainable gardens, solar power (that powers 15, or one-half of the rooms on a sunny day), and the air handling system that has been implemented. The kitchen's cold water is sourced from a chilled water system donated by Austin Energy, the city's primary source for cool water. All of the paint/adhesives are low VOC's and contain no formaldehyde, which is great for air quality. The superior architecture allows for 82% of sunlight enter the facility on any day. The temperature monitoring system ensures that any given room does not set the temperature too high or too low, one of the features that gave them a LEED point. They have also installed sensor's that turn the room "on" and "off" as you walk in and out, allowing sustainable use of the energy sources in the room. The 16% premium paid for obtaining LEED standard will have a very quick payoff schedule, and was a relatively small portion of the $11.3M price tag of the building. Through good deeds to people and to the environment, it really seems like the people at the Ronald McDonald House are ahead of the curve at both tasks.
10:30am- Mueller Mixed-Use Project
Atop the old Mueller Airport, Austin's original, this 711 acre mixed-use city-within-a-city has all of characteristics needed for the best work-life-play balance. Originally planned as a PUD zoning, Catellus Development took the project on in 2004, and has since been working hand in hand with the city to develop tracts as time permits. The use has been mandated for Mueller projects, but the city is selling the land on an as needed basis, helping the firm hedge the risks of having to hold non-income producing land for long periods of time. The project has it's own TIF district, and 25% of the residential units will be utilized for affordable housing types of projects. The project is also where the aforementioned Ronald McDonald House is situation. The overall buildout vision extends 15 years out from when it was started.With stringent guidelines to follow to keep the development's impressive LEED Silver status, they have worked closely with current and future retailers,residents, and businesses to have them follow LEED guidelines at their establishments to ensure the overall seal can be retained. So far, Home Depot has built an LEED Gold building, residents have installed solar panels and other systems to encourage sustainability, and the Dell Children's Hospital is the first LEED Platinum hospital in the world. Impressive. Innovative. And in the driver's seat to be a truly world class development when fully built out.
12pm-Sholz Garden, San Jacinto St, Austin
We had lunch at Sholz Garden today, as the whole group was joined by representatives from the State that work as managers in the rural planning/retirement communities departments. The gave us insight into what types of issues developers run into in rural areas and how remediation can occur to increase expansion and growth. Only 20% of the US population lives in rural areas today, straining public spending due to the lack of, and causing depreciation of infrastructure due to less income from the smaller tax base (property & sales). State funded highway systems serve as one of the largest drivers for ancillary commercial/residential development immediately around them. Smaller cities need to take advantage of the incentives and programs that the state offers them to expand their growth, productivity, and quality of life.
1:30pm-Seaholm Power Plant Redevelopment Project
Situated on the southwest portion of Downtown Austin, the city's original source of energy is being slated to be redeveloped through a public-private partnership. The plant was closed down in 1992. This is one of the only projects the city has ever been willing to contribute to, having spent $13M so far on contamination remediation on the historic site. The plan is to keep the shell of the plant, and most of its current structurally sound parts intact, while building a mixed-use development around it. An RFP (request for proposal) has been issued by the city, and has also signed an MDA (master developer agreement) with the gentleman we met with. The project will have a boutique hotel, ground retail, residential rental space, and condominiums; all positioned on the site with a clear sight line of the capital view corridor.
2:45pm-Hill Country Galleria
This lifestyle/mixed-use center in southwest Austin has proven to be a learning tool for academics and developers alike. The $180M project was constructed in Bee Cave, a very wealthy portion of Austin, has had tremendous trouble leasing space in the retail and office portions. The original basis has proven to be unsustainable for any bank to lend permanent financing, and the property was bought just about 2 months ago for a mere $75M in equity by a UT professor and his partner. The retial broker we had the opportunity to talk to was working with the Weitzman Group, and he mentioned that he almost at the 70% occupancy trheshold, and when he reaches it, a lot of his normal (non-concession/discounted) rents will be flowing in. 50% of the office space was just recently signed in, and there has supposedly been more inquiries about leasing. If the lease-up efforts are successful for the new owners, this investment will have proven to be a smart one, while the original owners will see the effects of overbuilding at a high cost basis.
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