Work is already underway on the early phases to transform the IBM Broadmoor Campus into a 6 million-square-foot mixed-use development.

The existing 1 million-square-foot campus was built in the early 1990s, and on June 28, Austin City Council approved the zoning change to allow for more uses on the site, including retail, residential and hospitality.

About half of the space could be new office space in an additional seven to 10 buildings, adding to the existing seven buildings on the site located on 66 acres at 11501 Burnet Road.

“Retail will play a big role in trying to tie the blocks together,” said Bill Redd, executive vice president and senior managing partner of Brandywine Realty Trust, which wholly owns the campus. “If you think about Second Street in downtown, we’re trying to achieve that neighborhood feel on the first level and additional uses above.”

Ideally, build-out of the master plan would take five to 10 years, Redd said, but in reality it will depend on the demands of the market to dictate when construction of other uses will take place.

Some construction is already underway to renovate one building with more modern features, and a second building is undergoing renovations to become an amenities center for the entire campus. Work will be completed in mid-2019.

Because IBM occupies about 800,000 square feet on the campus, Redd said a lot of what Brandywine will do on-site will depend on IBM’s needs.

“We’re working with them now to understand their long-term needs and incorporate those needs into what we do next,” he said. “They could come back and want to stay in those [existing] buildings or they could want more modern, denser, more vertical buildings.”

Nine of the 66 acres will be reserved for park space sprinkled throughout the campus, which will also have trails connecting to the Northern Walnut Creek Trail. Brandywine is also working with Capital Metro to relocate the Kramer MetroRail station to the campus and build a 400-space parking garage.

“What we want to achieve [at Broadmoor] is a project that is cohesive and thoughtful and world-class and something that differentiates it from other projects,” Redd said.

Because green space is vital to Austin residents, he said that is why Brandywine included a big focus on the park space being open to the public.

“We see it as not giving up anything but making our project more distinctive and unique and different,” Redd said.