Photo courtesy HOKAction taken by the Texas State Facilities Commission on Aug. 15 means the vision for a science and technology museum with the largest planetarium in Texas is closer to fruition.
TSFC voted unanimously to send to one of its subcommittees nonprofit organization Austin Planetarium's unsolicited proposal to build the museum—along with a 47-story residential tower, 1,000 underground parking spaces, restaurants, a gift shop and other retail establishments—in a $240 million mixed-use development at the corner of N. Congress Ave. and MLK Jr. Blvd. on what is now State Parking Lot 7. The development was designed to meet the mixed-use and high-density criteria desired by the state.
According to Austin Planetarium, the proposal is the first unsolicited proposal the TSFC has approved.
"Although being the first to go through this rigorous process is difficult, we are immensely proud as well," Austin Planetarium Executive Director Torvald Hessel said in a news release. "We cannot start a capital campaign until we have a lease agreement, and this is a huge step towards that."
