ACC names architectural firm for building renovations at Highland Mall

The Austin Community College District board of trustees has chosen local firm Barnes Gromatzky Kosarek Architects to head up the $18 million renovation of the J.C. Penney building at Highland Mall.

ACC purchased the 205,000-square-foot property for $15.7 million in August 2011. In accordance with the college's master plan, approved last year, the property will serve as swing space for classes that have been displaced by campus renovations.

"In order for the district to expand and renovate their existing facilities, they have to have a place to put people from those campuses while they're doing the work," said Andy Albin, BGK spokesman. "The idea is that J.C. Penney is a very flexible place."

School staff will decide on programming for the building, or identifying which individual spaces the faculty needs, by the end of February. BGK will use the college's programming plan to develop their architectural plan for the building. ACC will begin to occupy the space in May 2014.

Along with the swing space, the college will use the building for a math and science learning program modeled after the National Center for Academic Transformation's Emporium.

"It's not like a traditional classroom. It's larger, it has more technology and it's a collaborative space. It's really going to drive, in many ways, part of the design of this facility," said Jay Barnes, BGK principal for the project.

Plans for the space include science and computer labs, libraries, and testing centers.

ACC purchased the mall's Macy's and Dillard's properties in 2010. Those properties are, in addition to the J.C. Penney space, set to be used as part of the school's master plan for Highland Mall. No specific uses for the Macy's and Dillard's spaces have been announced.

Last May, the college purchased the land under Highland Mall. Businesses operating on the mall's land are expected to continue operations as determined by its ground tenant's sublease.