Austin Triangle

Triangle plan approved by state board:
Future neighbors cheer Central Austin development they fought to change

Austin, October 13, 1998

About 100 Central Austin residents stood and cheered Monday night when the State Board of Review gave its final approval to a once-controversial plan for developing 22 acres of land known as the Triangle.

Their enthusiastic reaction marked a dramatic departure from the fierce opposition they displayed only three months ago -- opposition that had the project's architect wondering whether consensus on the commercial and residential development was even possible.

``With this project, people will start to realize that density is not a four-letter word if design is used correctly,'' said Mayor Kirk Watson, one of six members on the state board. ``This raises the bar for all projects we will see in the future."
After the board's unanimous decision, Susan Moffat, co-president of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association, said she and her fellow residents were headed to a local tavern to celebrate the saga's conclusion with beer and margaritas.

``Given the constraints we were handed, the plan that has emerged is just short of miraculous,'' she said.

Monday's approval caps more than two years of debate and four years of planning over the state-owned Triangle land, which is bounded by Lamar Boulevard and West Guadalupe and 45th streets in North Central Austin. Originally planned as primarily a suburban-style shopping center, with about 40 loft apartments, the project drew strong criticism from residents who complained that it was inappropriately suburban in design and would flood the area with traffic.

The neighborhood activists won a reprieve in July when the state review board, headed by Land Commissioner Garry Mauro, sent the entire project back to the drawing board, giving residents, developers and the state 90 days to reach consensus on a new plan.

At Watson's suggestion, the state brought in California-based Calthorpe Associates to work with the developers, Cencor Realty Services and Post Properties, to help find a middle ground with residents. Over three months, the Calthorpe architects and the stakeholders held three public workshops and met individually.

``I honestly left that first meeting thinking there is no way we can do this,'' said Joseph Scanga, a Calthorpe associate who presented the final plan to the board Monday night.

The final proposal calls for nearly half as much retail development and adds more than 600,000 square feet of residential space -- a mixture of about 650 apartment units and townhomes. By changing the proportion of commercial space to residential, the new development is expected to hold traffic to about 19,000 trips per day, about 6,500 fewer than the original plan.

Although residents and officials agree some long-range work still needs to be done to resolve traffic congestion, most hailed the effort.

``There were so many times over the last few months that if those involved had thought small or conventionally, this project would have died or the neighborhood residents would have been abused,'' Mauro said.

(From Box)
Plans for the Triangle

After more than two years of controversy, the State Board of Review approved plans Monday for the 22-acre tract of state land known as the Triangle. At the request of the board, developers, residents, government officials and an architect spent three months reaching consensus on how to develop the area in North Central Austin.

Tara Trower, Triangle plan approved by state board: Future neighbors cheer Central Austin development they fought to change., 10-13-1998.