PSV has an eye on building a 20,000-seat stadium on 24 acres off McKalla Place near the intersection of Braker Lane and Burnet Road in North Austin.
City staffers released a report today that analyzes whether the site is a good fit for a stadium.
Council Member Leslie Pool, whose District 7 includes McKalla, said council members will need to assess if the report answers their questions and if staff included all options for the site. She said she is not sure if discussion of the report would come up at the next council meeting June 14.
Developing McKalla options
Pool said she also wants to consider looking at housing options on-site.
“It’s really important right now to include the concept of housing units on that site, whether in addition to or in lieu of [a stadium],” she said.
The report mentions a general mixed-use redevelopment scenario, indicating that “while there was not sufficient time to conduct the appropriate market and financial analysis needed to ascertain their financial viability of a generalized mixed-use redevelopment of the site, staff was able to develop a methodology to ascertain a highly generalized ‘test’ of a range of land use options that could fit on the site.”
One of these scenarios, according to the report, could include income-restricted housing units “at a density appropriate for lower intensity of development” and another scenario could include the maximum amount of density by rezoning the property and taking advantage of the density bonuses for affordable housing.
Pool said she would also be interested in the city issuing a request for proposals so developers can pitch concepts for the property.
On June 5 the Gracywoods Neighborhood Association, which is located northeast of the site, is hosting a meeting for residents to learn more about two other concepts being pitched for the site.
The meeting will be at 7 p.m. at the Brentwood Church of Christ chapel, 11908 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin. Learn more about the meeting here.
Neighborhood President Francoise Luca said the meeting is open to anyone, not just Gracywoods residents.
“I appreciate the fact that developers want to talk to the community and do community engagement, but the bad thing this is isn’t the right forum,” she said. “There should be [a request for proposals so] that everyone could respond to same thing.”
She also stressed that these are just concepts, and no proposal is official yet.
“One comment I hear from residents is they think it’s a done deal,” Luca said.
Increased traffic
The McKalla site is also located in the North Burnet/Gateway master plan area that has its own zoning code and envisions a dense, more walkable area. Development in this area has picked up recently, notably on the east side of Burnet Road and includes the redevelopment of the IBM Broadmoor Campus and a plan to build a 14-story high-rise adjacent to the McKalla site.
With increased development has come increased traffic that has many residents who live or work in the area concerned. For developments that would create more than 2,000 additional trips per day, the developer is required to conduct a traffic impact analysis. The city then proposes traffic improvements, such as signal upgrades or turns, and asks the developer to cover a portion.
Pool said the city’s current process of asking developers to pitch in often is not sufficient. With any new development, she said the city needs to take a larger and more comprehensive look at how that development would affect other streets in the area, not just ones adjacent to the property.
“The transportation opportunities and effects the additional development will have on that traffic shed have to be a distinct focus,” Pool said.
Although PSV has not yet completed a traffic impact analysis, the city’s report includes an evaluation from the Austin Transportation Department of the traffic impact and some recommendations to accommodate fans coming from on-site parking, transportation network companies, transit and shuttles.
Some recommendations include requiring PSV to develop a pedestrian connectivity plan between the stadium and off-site parking sites, rail stations and bus stops; develop special event management strategies; and fund capital improvements such as traffic signals, pedestrian crossings and new travel lanes.
The city also recommended studying a separation of MetroRail from Braker Lane on top of discussing adding a new rail station on-site.
For more details of the traffic report, visit here.
