If that timing holds, construction of the 3,700-seat Live Oak amphitheater and an additional segment of the major city corridor known as Willie Way should be underway by mid-2022, said Christi Van Rite. Van Rite, along with Kyle McDaniel, is co-manager of JPD Backyard Finance LLC, which is overseeing the long-anticipated project.
The Backyard, when fully built out just west of the city’s Central Park off Bee Cave Parkway, will include the amphitheater, a 300-person dance hall, shops, two parking garages, and a smaller outdoor performance plaza, dining area and open space known as “The Glenn,” Van Rite said. The Glenn pays tribute to earlier incarnations of The Backyard that had similar gathering areas that went by the same name, she said.
Also planned in future phases is a hotel and office buildings. Currently, the development team is estimating a Spring 2024 opening of a project that will be about more than just live music, she said.
“This is a place for people to come 365 days a year,” Van Rite said. “It’s meant to be a community space.”
At issue in past discussions about The Backyard is parking and how events at the music venue might affect surrounding property owners. Current plans are for two three-story parking garages to house 1,136 spaces, Van Rite said. An initial parking garage will be near Bee Cave Parkway.
“It doesn’t sit right on the road,” she said. “We pushed it back off the road and tucked it down in the landscape.”
A second issue involves plans to connect Willie Way from The Backyard development south to Hwy. 71. Making that happen involves an additional private landowner. Discussions about that road connection are underway between JPD Backyard Finance and the landowner.
“We have been working with our neighbors,” Van Rite said.
