3M lists Four Points campus for sale

The Four Points 3M campus, 6801 River Place Blvd., Austin, is for sale, spokesperson Lori Anderson said.

“3M is looking for a new workspace in the Austin, Texas, area to foster collaboration and innovation,” she said. “At the same time, we are exploring opportunities for a potential buyer of 3M’s Austin site.”

Although the company maintains a manufacturing facility in Northwest Austin that is not included in the sale, the Four Points location largely staffs 3M’s electronics and energy business group, Anderson said. About 800 employees work at the site and will be moved to the new space, she said.

The Four Points Traffic Committee—whose focus is to protect the local community by planning and building a secondary access road from adjacent Vandegrift High and Four Points Middle schools to Riverplace Boulevard—posted notice of the 3M offering on its Facebook page Aug. 30.

For years, the group has pursued creating an emergency access road from the neighboring Leander ISD schools that have only one way out in an emergency, including RR 2222, which is frequently congested. Much of the property surrounding the schools is within the Balcones Canyonland Preserve, an area protected for endangered wildlife habitat and not available for access.

An easement with 3M was previously secured over part of the 3M tract off Tech Trail for the access road, said Pam Waggoner, vice president of the LISD board of trustees.

“We must at a minimum make sure that [the easement] is secure,” she said. “I can’t help but feel excited that this [sale] gives us additional options, and I look forward to continuing to find out exactly what those are. I realize money will be a factor, and I have no idea if 3M will negotiate anything with us.”