Burnet Road gains own identity

Burnet Road is benefiting from the same momentum that helped brand South Congress Avenue and South Lamar Boulevard—SoCo and SoLa—as authentic Austin corridors.

City officials say new residents are flocking to the North Austin corridor—"BuRo" or "Low Burn"—faster than they can follow.

"This redevelopment we're seeing is brand new, and I think it's exciting," said Ryan Robinson, city of Austin demographer. "The growth spike along Burnet is so new that an analysis of census data wouldn't reveal much or even cover the time period in question."

Area leaders point to new businesses such as La Mancha Tex-Mex Tavern, Pinthouse Pizza and Lucy's Fried Chicken as evidence of Burnet Road's rapid surge toward self-sustainability.

"I imagine residents in that area understand the overall cache of their neighborhood is greater because of that development," Robinson said. "They have created an urban environment where you don't have to get in your car to get a beer or ice cream."

Residents will have an easier time reaching their Burnet Road destinations thanks to one of two new Capital Metro MetroRapid buses expected to stop along Burnet Road starting next summer. Austin voters also approved a $15 million bond package in 2012 that provides pedestrian improvements along Burnet Road and nearby North Lamar Boulevard.

But before the spotlight shined on the North Austin corridor, area leaders were proactively planning how best to grow Burnet Road in a way that nearby residents no longer have to leave the neighborhood for entertainment and amenities.

Keeping the culture

Increased traffic is segmenting Austin, creating a greater need for self-sustaining neighborhoods, said Will Muntz, co-owner of La Mancha Tex-Mex Tavern, which opened in June at the former Jorge's Restaurant location on Hancock Drive.

"When I come home, I don't want to go outside my neighborhood," he said. "It's just a nightmare."

Muntz, 15-year owner of The Lucky Lounge in downtown Austin, has lived most of his life along the Burnet Road corridor. As the area grows, surrounding business owners are working together to maintain the Austin culture Muntz argues has been lost in other growing parts of the city.

"[La Mancha] was built with the intention of trying to fit the Austin scene the way it's always been—not the way it's changing," Muntz said.

The area is particularly attractive for new businesses because Burnet Road is closer to Austin's population epicenter than downtown, said Tyler Norwood, co-owner of Pinthouse Pizza, which opened in October 2012 next to The Pit Barbecue.

"Burnet is a microcosm of Austin," Norwood said. "You have mom and pop shops next to converging development."

Three of the five Pinthouse Pizza owners live within walking distance of the microbrewery and pizza parlor, further motivating the group to see all Burnet Road businesses succeed, he said.

"We look at how to contribute, not how to compete with everyone else," Norwood said.

Managing development

The AMLI 5350 project represented the first large-scale apartment project on Burnet Road. Its success proves that denser, mixed-use development can thrive along the corridor, said John Burnham, managing director at Cypress Real Estate Advisors. His firm is constructing Burnet Marketplace, which, alongside another vertical mixed-use project called Burnet Flats, will open in 2014.

"We're really just matching the vision for what the neighbors had in mind for this area," Burnham said.

The back-and-forth between developers and neighborhood groups does not always settle differences between the two sides but has resulted in many successful projects, said Dale Henry, Brentwood Neighborhood Association president.

"Not all development is good, and we don't support it all, but we do support a lot of growth," he said. "We want to get shops and places people can go to locally rather than them having to drive to the mall or some other part of town."

Some development disputes are settled by the city. A proposed Little Woodrow's location on Burnet Road was denied a conditional use permit

Dec. 10 by the Austin Planing and Zoning Commission in part because of parking concerns and other issues raised by the Allandale Neighborhood Association—particularly closing times.

"We were seeking to have them close no later than 1 a.m. on the weekends along with other bars in the neighborhood," President David Mintz said.

Steve Zettner, president of Sustainable Neighborhoods of North Austin, a volunteer group representing Allandale, Crestview, North Shoal Creek and Wooten neighborhoods, said Austin's rapid development is pushing many families with young children and senior citizens out of the city's urban core. Burnet Road risks the same imbalance, said Zettner, whose Allandale neighbors have both been priced out of their homes.

"When I bought my house eight years ago it went for under $200,000," Zettner said. "Now, there's a house on my street selling for $500,000."

Corridor improvements

Sustainable Neighborhoods has planted more than 140 trees along commercial thoroughfares and helped advocate for safer access in and out of Lamar Middle School on Burnet Road, Zettner said. Such quality-of-life improvements complement other corridor initiatives, he said.

A $15 million bond package approved in 2012 will help improve pedestrian access between Koenig Lane and North MoPac. The city will determine exact improvements to Burnet Road based on a consultant's pending recommendations, said Demira Wyatt, project manager with the city of Austin's project management division.

Capital Metro will also improve bus services along Burnet Road next summer with

MetroRapid, a new bus service that has the ability to coordinate traffic signals to ensure faster service.

Linda Watson, Capital Metro president and CEO, said ridership is already high along that road, making the corridor attractive for

MetroRapid, which will replace the Burnet Road stops served by the No. 3 bus route when the new service goes live next summer.

"We've got good built-in ridership before we even start [MetroRapid]," Watson said. "And when you throw in the really fast and intense development that's gone on over there, we just think it's going to be a natural winner."

Future opportunities

Neighborhood advocates said traffic congestion along Burnet Road needs to be addressed next, as an estimated 72,000 cars travel the Central Austin corridor per day, according to city of Austin data.

More neighborhood jobs could reduce commuters, said Burnham, who suggests parceling out offices into smaller suites to create more working space for neighborhood residents. He calls the idea one small fix to ensuring Burnet Road does not encounter a fate similar to other fast-growing Austin corridors.

"Clearly as you bring density and new people to an area, there is an inherent change that happens," Burnham said. "But on the Burnet corridor we're still in the infancy of that change."