Austin voters authorized the potential parkland swap by passing Proposition B with a 46% margin in the city's November election. Following that vote, the city opened a public solicitation process for a trade involving the parks department maintenance facility at 2525 S. Lakeshore Blvd.—located adjacent to Oracle's global headquarters.
In exchange for the maintenance facility, Austin asked for "at least 48 acres of waterfront land contiguous to an existing city park," as well as funding for a replacement maintenance complex elsewhere and the restoration of parkland around another maintenance center at Fiesta Gardens.
Parties interested in acquiring or leasing that 9-acre tract had from Nov. 15 to Dec. 9 to submit bids for the property. Austin said the Lakeshore Boulevard complex's appraised value sits at $35.3 million in its solicitation package, while the Travis Central Appraisal District listed it at $34.86 million as of this year.
The city did not identify any specific land it was targeting with its request, but the Driveway Austin center off the Colorado River is a likely target in a possible three-way trade with Austin and Oracle. Driveway CEO Bill Dollahite previously said he had been in touch with Oracle and Austin about a deal, and this fall he was preparing to close down his custom-built cycling training course before eventually selling the property.
"Because of everything that we had done to make it what it is, this is a great resting place for what I consider a legacy project for me. And now everybody can enjoy it, including me," Dollahite said after the November election.
Although the solicitation period for the property exchange closed earlier this month, details on Oracle's submission and the outlook for related park improvements are not yet available while Austin reviews the company's bid.
"Generally during the evaluation process, we do not release anything other than the name of the respondents. Additional information may be available after the city has evaluated the response and has a recommendation and score," a city spokesperson said.
Information in the city's solicitation package identified Bolm District Park at 6700 Bolm Road as the possible site of a replacement maintenance complex if a deal comes together and the existing Lakeshore campus is closed. That new facility's opening would be followed by rehabilitation of the existing Fiesta Gardens maintenance center, located off of Jesse E. Segovia Street, in a project including demolition of storage structures and restoration of the landscape, shoreline and buildings on the lakefront parkland.
Oracle did not respond to requests for comment about the contents and review of its submission to the city.
