Dallas-based Spire Realty Group LP is proposing to turn a 31-acre office complex located at MoPac and Spicewood Springs Road into a mixed-use development, spawning opposition from many nearby residents who argue the project is not compatible with the neighborhood's culture.
As of Oct. 17, Spire's plans include building 100,000 square feet of retail, 850,000 square feet of offices, and 610 apartments and townhomes, said attorney Stephen Drenner with The Drenner Group PC, the law firm hired by Spire to assist with the planning. The office complex, called Austin Oaks, is located off Executive Center Drive.
The Austin Oaks redevelopment is one of at least four projects considered by Austin City Council on Spicewood Springs Road in the past year. In August, City Council denied a rezoning request to turn the undeveloped site at 4920 Spicewood Springs Road into commercial office space. Construction is also underway on Spicewood Springs on a residential property as well as the new headquarters for the Austin Board of Realtors.
Live, work, play density
To create strategic density in areas outside of downtown, Drenner said plans at the Austin Oaks site call for low-rise housing and high-rise office buildings, the tallest of which is proposed for 17 stories, or 225 feet high, in an attempt to lessen the number of buildings and parking structures and to protect more trees.
"If not here, where? That is a difficult choice," Drenner said. "Imagine Austin was supposed to help us answer that question. The fundamentals are that you can't just have density downtown. This is intended to be a mixed-use project—the live, work, play idea, which I think is sound planning. Where is there a better place to put it?"
Imagine Austin is the city's comprehensive plan approved by City Council in 2012. The plan outlines the vision for the city's development and growth.
Austin Oaks was built in the late 1970s and early 1980s and comprises 12 office buildings. The property sits on 31.37 acres of land and is the 11th-largest multitenant office complex in Austin, with 445,322 square feet of office space, according to Spire.
To achieve Spire's vision, the site would need to be rezoned from general office to a planned unit development, or PUD, which has a unique set of rules negotiated between the city and the developer, the city's Planning Manager Jerry Rusthoven said.
A PUD, Rusthoven said, gives developers more flexibility in what can be done with a property. In exchange for City Council granting PUD zoning, the developer must provide "superior development," or significant benefits to the area where the new development is proposed, he said.
For example, Spire could provide several improvements to help mitigate traffic in the Spicewood Springs and MoPac area by adding a new traffic light, changing the timing of an existing traffic light or adding a turn lane.
If the project is approved by City Council and traffic improvements are made by the developer, intersections in the area could function better in the future than if the project is rejected, Drenner said, citing the proposed development's traffic impact analysis.
Responsible development
However, increased traffic and the city's lack of a traffic plan for Spicewood Springs Road concerns some residents.
Spicewood Springs–area resident Russell Zears said he has no problem with redevelopment as long as it is responsible. Protecting cultures of neighborhoods, as well as creating infrastructure to support the increase in traffic, he said, should be the developer's responsibility. Citizens should create plans for the future of their neighborhoods, and City Council should use the plans to aid their decisions, he said.
"A city is dead if it isn't changing. But I want it to be responsible change," Zears said.
At an Aug. 19 Northwest Austin Civic Association meeting, representatives from the city of Austin and Drenner Group provided information about the redevelopment to residents, who offered feedback.
"I don't think I've ever seen so much anger in my life at a neighborhood meeting," said Ann Denkler, a Northwest Austin resident of 18 years who attended the meeting. "I've never dealt with so much opposition to a project—ever."
Residents in the North Shoal Creek, Balcones Civic Association and Allandale neighborhoods submitted statements containing their opinions about the PUD to City Council. NWACA emailed a survey to its residents that included questions about the PUD and other types of developments appropriate for the neighborhood. NWACA President Joyce Statz and said she would like to see the area used for senior housing because it is an area need that would not add as much traffic.
The NWACA survey went to more than 1,200 households and received more than 600 responses, said Shannon Meroney, co-chairwoman of the NWACA committee responsible for assessing the PUD proposal and overall redevelopment of the NWACA neighborhood. About 85 percent of respondents said they opposed the PUD as proposed, she said.
The survey revealed that many residents would support redevelopment such as parks, restaurants and playgrounds, Meroney said.
Zoning to redevelop Austin Oaks
Drenner said PUD zoning is the best for Austin Oaks because the city does not have many zoning options for these types of projects with high density and tall buildings outside downtown. To comply with the city's compatibility rules, he said the proposal pushes the tallest and densest buildings closer to MoPac, creating a buffer for existing single-family homes.
Pending approval by City Council, construction could begin in 2020, after leases of existing Austin Oaks tenants have expired. Drenner said he plans to continue seeking neighborhood input for the development, and the city will host at least three public hearings, which will be held after the city's Planning Department makes a project recommendation to Drenner.
"How you provide the density is very site-specific," he said. "I think we've done this in a very thoughtful way that doesn't have a negative impact on neighbors. It maximizes open space, green space, tree preservation [and] less impervious cover."
Debra Bailey, president of the Balcones Civic Association, said she is concerned that if approved, the project will set precedence for future development along MoPac. The Austin Oaks PUD would strain the neighborhood's resources because of overcrowded schools and not enough police and fire stations, she said.
Imagine Northwest Austin
Some residents argue the project does not align with the Imagine Austin comprehensive plan. Statz said the project is unfit for Austin Oaks because the area is identified as a neighborhood center in the plan.
"They have aspects of their plan that fit a neighborhood center, things like the retail and restaurants; some of that fits, but 17- and 14-story office buildings, no," Statz said. "We need to be careful when we think about how Imagine Austin can be applied to our neighborhood."
Drenner said Imagine Austin has served his firm as a guide for where high-density projects such as Austin Oaks should be located, including near high-capacity transit, existing businesses and roadways. Imagine Austin highlights a plan for a high-capacity transit stop on Anderson Lane near MoPac.
Jim Duncan, a Northwest Austin resident and former city of Austin planning director, said the project does not match up with what should be near low-intensity neighborhoods. Duncan is also a member of CodeNEXT's Land Development Code Advisory Group assisting the city with rewriting its development code.
Spire could have a mixed-use project with the existing zoning on the property, he said, without the proposed tall buildings. The PUD changes the area from a neighborhood center with low density to a high-capacity regional center, which does not align with Imagine Austin, he said.
