Official: Residents, developers share concern about traffic on road

A 2.2-mile stretch of a Northwest Austin roadway has caught the attention of developers, who are planning four new projects. This development is leaving some residents concerned about increased traffic flow and protecting the environment.

Building on Spicewood Springs Road is a result of scenic views of the evergreen canyon area, developers said, and because it is one of the few places left in Northwest Austin with available lots with close proximity to good schools and to Central Austin.

"People are looking for relatively affordable new homes in [nearby] Northwest Hills, and these are just about the only opportunity to get that," said Anthony Siela, managing member for PSW Real Estate, the company that is developing two new residential communities, one on Spicewood Springs and one nearby. "People are not excited about remodeling homes anymore, and not as many people can afford to go tear down one home on one quarter-acre lot and build a million-dollar house."

Planned projects

The projects along Spicewood Springs are in various phases of development and are located between MoPac and Loop 360. They include a proposed commercial office building, two single-family communities and the new Austin Board of Realtors headquarters.

PSW's single-family communities include Spicewood, which will include 13 detached, two-story homes with three to five bedrooms at an average size of 2,600 square feet. Siela said PSW received the site development permit from the city of Austin and expects to break ground in the next few months. Homes could be for sale by the end of August.

Siela said the new community could attract families who like the area because of the schools, proximity to downtown and lower home prices than neighborhoods such as Tarrytown or Zilker Park.

"I would say there are probably going to be some families and some folks [who] had a larger home or a larger lot and maybe want something a little bit more efficient to manage, a little more energy-efficient than what they've had," he said.

PSW's second property, Cima Hills, is in the design phase and will be located on Cima Serena Drive near Spicewood Springs Road.

The Austin Board of Realtors broke ground in September on its new headquarters at 4800 Spicewood Springs Road, and the building is expected to open in January. The nonprofit organization was founded in 1926 and provides real estate services to its members including education and operates the Multiple Listings Service information for Central Texas.

ABoR CEO Paul Hilgers said the new building will be available for anyone to rent for events.

The Spicewood Springs location was partially chosen, Hilgers said, because ABoR wanted a central location closest to the majority of its members. The five-story, 33,000-square-foot facility includes video technology for members to market their services, a members lounge, auditoriums for meeting space and an outdoor terrace.

Hilgers said it was not an easy process to receive city approval for the project.

"We want to be helpful in that neighborhood to make it a better place for everybody to live," he said. "I'm not bashful about the fact that our building is going to be a lot prettier to us than to anybody else. In that regard, technically we went through all of the notification processes, [and] we got the approval of the city."

Located near the new ABoR building is a proposed office building called the Overlook at Spicewood Springs. The property sits on 23.49 acres of land at 4920 Spicewood Springs Road, according to city of Austin documents.

The project is expected to go to Austin City Council on Aug. 7 for approval to rezone 4.283 acres of the land from single-family to general office use.

The building is slated to be two stories above street level with an underground parking garage, said Scott Taylor, president of project management company Tierra Concepts LLC and project manager for the ABoR and Overlook developments.

A traffic impact analysis was not required for the Overlook because traffic generated by it would not exceed the thresholds established in the city's land development code, according to city documents.

Development concerns

Some residents said they oppose the Overlook and ABoR projects because of the size of the buildings and proximity to Spicewood Springs. They also fear there is not enough capacity to accommodate existing traffic and a potential increase of cars on the road as a result of these new developments.

Northwest Hills resident Karen Sironi said she has environmental concerns because the area is located in the Bull Creek watershed, the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone and the golden cheeked warbler habitat. Sironi said she wants to ensure this kind of development does not take place on Spicewood Springs Road in the future.

"I was astounded how big and how imposing the [ABoR] building was," she said. "It was so out of place. It belongs on Loop 360 or at The Domain, but not on Spicewood Springs Road. Environmentally it is just not good for the area."

Sylvia Pope, a hydrogeologist for the city of Austin, is responsible for identifying critical environmental features and reviewing development plans for both the ABoR and Overlook properties to see what protective measures for the environment may be necessary.

She said she is still waiting on additional documents from the developer regarding environmental protection plans for the Overlook project.

Taylor said ABoR went before an environmental review board for approval on variances.

Traffic concerns

Jason Meeker, a commissioner for the city of Austin's Zoning and Platting Commission and a Great Hills neighborhood resident, voted against the rezoning for the Overlook.

He said building the project so closely to Spicewood Springs would eliminate opportunities for future multi-modal transportation.

"The problem in that section is that there is no left-turn lane, there's no median, there's no ability to go around someone to the right to pass them," Meeker said. " I was concerned that this particular development, the way it was described to me, was unrealistic in the amount of traffic it was going to raise on the road."

Hilgers said he wants the city of Austin to prioritize alleviating traffic on Spicewood Springs. He also recognizes some residents' opposition.

"Expansion on Spicewood Springs has been planned, unplanned, opposed, supported, [and has been] very controversial—like any east-west thoroughfare in Austin—for all of its history," Hilgers said. "We're very much sensitive to the realities of this development in this neighborhood."

Hilgers said developers and residents share the concern about being able to accommodate traffic, and he wants ABoR to be a good partner to the neighborhood.

"Our hope is that we can work together to encourage the city to recognize that this roadway should be given some priority," he said.