Urban LMC – Discussion Highlights

2023

  • December 2023 Meta Tour with Lincoln Property Company and Gensler
  • October 2023 Shop Talk online – members update the group with current work.
  • August 2023 Hyatt Centric tour with development team
  • June 2023 River South Project Tour w/ Stream Realty and Beck Group
  • April 2023 UT Austin Impact – Dell Medical, Innovation District, Housing expansion east I-35
  • February 2023 2023 Overview: Resource allocation for tours, new member intros, review of current policies, member updates

2022

  • December 2022 Joint year Happy Hour with ULI ATX Resilience and Sustainability LMC
  • October 2022 Huston – Tillotson Discussion – Councilmember Harper-Madison, Vice President Lynda Jackson (Huston Tillotson), Chair Manuel Escobar of the Urban Renewal Board, and CXO Anne Gatling Haynes of Austin Economic Development Corporation discussed the future of Blocks 16 and 18 in an upcoming RFP.
  • August 2022 Capitol Complex Tour with Texas Facilities Commission – Ryan Losch of Page discussed the new office complex and design in an on-site tour.
  • June 2022 Stream Realty’s Plan for “Dirty Sixth” – Caitlyn Ryan of Stream Realty discussed their plan for reinventing the Sixth Street entertainment district. Discussed the public approval for a master planned project by a property developer including property tax reduction, successful acquisition for urban infill, and urban revitalization without a public policy-led process
  • April 2022 Tour of Indeed Tower – Page (Architect) & Kilroy (owner) provided tour and commentary of the new Kilroy Tower.
  • February 2022 Plaza Saltillo with Guest Speakers: Andy Lantz / Rios and Kristin Heaney / East Cesar Chavez Neighborhood Plan provided commentary on current and past barriers regarding development in the Plaza Saltillo TOD.

2020

  • July 2020 Cap & Stitch of I-35 with Guest Speaker: Casey Burack, Dowtown Austin Alliance
  • May 2020 Impact of COVID on the Urban Core with Guest Speaker: Molly Alexander, Downtown Austin Alliance
    • Shared studies & survey results taken from retail businesses who are feeling the largest economic impact resulting from the shutdown
    • Outlined concerns surrounding low hotel occupancy rates and the potential loss of cultural class and music venues
    • Explained the numerous steps the city has taken during the pandemic to reduce the spread of the virus (ex. handwashing stations
    • DAA’s “Triple R” plan and stressed the importance of an Economic Development Corporation’s role in the future of Austin in the post-pandemic state.
  • March 2020 Highland Mall Redevelopment with Guest Speakers: Matt Whalen & Bryan Kaminski of RedLeaf Properties and Jay Barnes & Todd Kaiser of BGK Architects
    • RedLeaf teamed with Austin Community College to transform the existing mall into a new campus for the college through a Private Public Partnership
    • This arrangement allowed the aging mall to be transformed into a new facility serving a current need and allowed revitalization of the surrounding areas.
    • Overview on the history of what led to the P3 opportunity, the challenges of repurposing the existing mall, the current state of the college & surrounding mixed-use developments and the future development plans for the remaining open spaces
  • January 2020 Planning meeting for future sessions.

2019

  • November 2019 Urban Sustainability with  Guest Speaker: Lucia Athens, City Sustainability Officer
    • Discussed future sustainability initiatives within the City
    • A 5 year plan is currently being developed that focuses on the carbon footprint. Key components of this plan will address the following areas: alternative systems, natural systems, electric vehicles, and building materials.
    • The new plan will consider policies established by comparable municipalities.
  • September 2019 Homeless Issue in Downtown Austin  with Guest Speaker: Victoria Briseño, Economic Development Officer, City of Austin
    • The City’s efforts to address homelessness focus on creating pathways that effectively move people through the system to long-term solutions, as opposed to providing permanent housing solutions.
    • Policies are continuing to be reviewed and discussed, including the camping ordinance that took effect 7/1/19. This ordinance has created some challenges for downtown residents and businesses.
    • The City is trying to move quickly but thoughtfully with limited resources to put the best solution forward.

2018

  • January 2018 Shoal Creek Conservancy with  Guest Speaker: Ted Siff
    • Plans for lower Shoal Creek, between 15th Street and Lady Bird Lake
    • Because of this meeting, the SCC is now developing a plan to work with several condo associations in downtown to create a new ‘neighborhood association’ to combine efforts for security and event programming along Shoal Creek in Downtown.  
    • Serious discussions and meetings are taking place with SCC and representatives from the Seaholm and Independent condos.  Further meetings are in the works for 5th & West and the Austin Proper.
  • March 2018 General Meeting – Members enjoyed lunch and discussion over the current market trends, etc., as well as ideas for specific discussion topics in the future.
  • May 2018 Central Business District Parking & Transportation Issues with Guest Speakers: Molly Alexander, Downtown Austin Alliance and Casey Burack, Downtown Austin Alliance
    • Discussion of current parking situation in CBD.
    • Parking is there, but not accessible to all.
    • Working on a solution to open up private garages to public.

Central Business District Parking & Transportation Issues
Guest Speaker: Meg Merrit, Nelson/Nygard

Emerging Mobility

  • Analyzing Mode Split
  • Performance measured by the commute – problems occur at peak hours (not off-peak)

Technology dominated future

  • Further integration of software and hardware, from your phone to the mode of transit
  • Transit moving to autonomous & electric

Commute Mode-Split

  • Overall, America will become less auto dependent
  • Austin’s current economic competitors – Seattle (75% non-auto), Denver (40% non-auto)
  • Austin is the exact inverse of Seattle – 83% by car! – cultural divide
    • Bird scooters are great – for first/last mile – but they’re not moving the needle on traffic
    • Highest possible goal is likely 50%
  • Austin is comparable to Houston or Dallas (roughly)
    • Houston has highest ridership of commuter buses in the country
    • DART is successful by transit metrics, but not keeping pace with population growth
  • Every public transit system in the US has declining ridership right now, except Houston, Seattle, and Phoenix
    • Urbanization is creating suburbanization!

Mobility Service Providers – where are we going?

  • Transportation Network Companies (TNCs)
  • Car companies/Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)
  • Micro transit (think Chariot – fixed route example; Pickup in LA)
  • Car share / Bike share (dockless & docked) / Electric scooters

Three Futures: Low, Medium, and High Occupancy options

  • Medium – (12-passenger) “micro transit” is rising in the US
  • Low – Ubar/Lyft are part of traffic increases; also losing money until cars are driverless
    • “Dead heading” – the time that the driver is driving with no rider
    • Ex: Aloft didn’t have to do a Transportation Impact Analysis because no parking but of course there are still trips by Uber & Lyft!
    • Predictive technology will help
    • Policy would help
      • example: delivery drivers not allowed to make trips during peak hours
      • ex: Finland: drivers pay more to drive during peak hours
    • Potential adoption models
      • “Mobility as a Service” Model – OEMs own autonomous
      • Traditional private ownership

Cities

  • Even with alternate modes of transit, we can only move so many through an intersection at any time
  • Biggest investor in autonomous vehicles is Google, who relies on ads – so will autonomous vehicles inundate riders with ads unless they can pay to turn them off?

Austin: Are we on the fast track to Detroit?

  • Why build all this wealth for our kids if they won’t want to live here?
  • Geometry – technology never changes geometry
    • “Park-itecture” – if we don’t have a need for more parking, why are we building it? Th development it in the demands short-term and bank financing requires it.
    • Driveways – Austin has so many driveways downtown – we can’t add high speed lanes
    • American traffic engineers are trained to “design” gigantic streets (“level of service”) – California has dropped level of service from TIA requirements

Traffic won’t be solved from technology alone