The future site of The University of Texas system's new hospital campus is currently constrained by Capitol View Corridors that limit development within sight lines of the Capitol dome. A pair of bills are proposed this year to remove those restrictions, which medical officials said could clear the way for a larger hospital complex.
The big picture
The medical complex from The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center will be situated on the 19-acre Erwin Center site in Austin's Innovation District.
The UT Medical Center will feature two hospital towers, including a 250-bed hospital and 156-bed cancer center with hundreds of exam rooms. The new facilities will be open to UT students in various medical fields for work and study opportunities.
After the Erwin Center's demolition, the university system previously announced the UT Austin hospital and MD Anderson cancer center would break ground in 2026. Interim UT Austin President Jim Davis said the university now views that project and the surrounding area south of its campus as components of an innovative medical hub with new technology that can improve patient experiences.
"We’re having this great time designing what could be the hospital of the future, alongside MD Anderson at the same time, that brings their strength and their skill to the market, and put that together on this piece of land," he said at a March 26 ULI Austin panel.
The context
The new hospital complex could end up being a draw to the city for those seeking ongoing, patient-based treatments, MD Anderson President Peter Pisters said.
"We know that we're going to be able to serve Austin, but we're also going to be able to reach West Texas because we know there are a lot of patients from places like Midland, Odessa, Lubbock, Abilene, that come to see us already," he told Community Impact. "We're going to be able to see increasing numbers of those patients, and we're going to be able to turn Austin into a destination. People flying from around the country, coming here for care."
UT is also working to "unlock" the wider Innovation District area with the other entities and landowners that have a presence there, Davis said, and by drawing new companies to support its medical focus.
"We have invited others to be a part of that—Central Health, the city of Austin, our neighbors in the area—to say, ‘How do we use this land really wisely to make this a unique place for Austin, for Texas? And how do we drive all that transformation, innovation through that area and spread that around the whole country?'" he said.
A closer look
The future UT Austin Medical Center property is blanketed by Texas Capitol View Corridors—geographic planes extending from the Capitol dome that prevent any structures from blocking sight lines to the building from around the city.
Of the nearly three dozen view corridors in Austin, several cross the old Erwin Center site at 1701 Red River St. and could restrict development there. The two companion bills filed in the Legislature this year—Senate Bill 2076 from Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, and House Bill 3114 from Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth—would eliminate the corridors over the property and clear the way for an expanded medical complex.
Geren said he proposed the legislation in support of the future university hospital facilities as well as upgrades to UT Austin's Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium nearby.
"This bill would eliminate certain view corridors—not all—and exempt the north end [of the stadium] from height restriction to allow UT Austin to build two world-class hospitals and modernize the north end of the stadium," he said during a March 26 House committee hearing.
Geren also said some corridors targeted in his bill were originally placed to protect Capitol views along I-35—sight lines that'll already be removed through the Texas Department of Transportation's multibillion dollar highway lowering and widening project.
Eliminating the corridors over the future UT hospital property could expand the footprint of the medical complex without needing to build as tall, Pisters said, a change that could also lower project costs while still preserving some views of the Capitol.
"We're really looking at the Erwin Center site and opportunities to create a little bit more land on that site," he said. "The university and ourselves have a real desire to do something spectacular, and we're really optimistic about what we can do."
Geren's bill was left pending in the House as of late March, while Creighton's has yet to be heard in a Senate committee.
