Mueller Redevelopment (old Mueller airport)

Jessica Renyolds, Marketing Director shared a wealth of information about the project and its many amenities.  Catellus Development Group has a master development agreement with the City of Austin and one of the unique terms of the contract is they take down the land as needed thus not having the tax burden of the entire property and closes on the property simultaneously with the City and the new purchaser and takes a 15% fee.  Here are some of the facts I found out about the Development.


The development was formerly a brownfield and boasts 711-acres with visions of having 10,000 people, 10,000 permanent employees, 10,000 construction jobs, more than 1,100 affordable homes and approximately 140 acres of public open space, a town center with cafes, shops, plazas and live/work spaces planned to include at least 30 percent locally-owned businesses and all designed according to New Urbanist principles.

They designed a park system and lakes that reduce off-site flooding and to filter pollutants from storm water. They planted over 15,000 trees; including over 500 rescued pecan trees lessen the urban heat island effect. A reclaimed water system provides irrigation for the most of the development. An Austin Energy hybrid plant provides off-the-grid support to the hospital and nearby commercial development.


Below are the first buildings at Mueller to achieve ratings from either USGBC's LEED rating system or Austin Energy's star rating system:


Mueller Central - LEED Gold and 4-star
Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas - LEED Platinum submitted
Ronald McDonald House - LEED Platinum submitted and the first "House" to go solar
Regional Retail - 3-star submitted
Residential Homes - 3- to 5- star submitted


Below are some other facts about the development:
-A market value of $1.3 billion at completion
-4.2 million square feet of anticipated non-residential development, including office, retail and major employment uses
-220,000 vehicle trips along I-35 passing the Mueller regional retail center
-10,000 new residents at completion; 10,000 employees at completion, along with more than 11,000 construction jobs during build-out
-4,600 residential units, including: - 2,200 apartments and condominiums - 1,500 single-family detached homes (“yard houses”) - 900 row houses, shop houses and Mueller Houses
-Approximately 1,150 affordable housing units (25% of the total housing at Mueller)

Considering I used to fly in and out of this airport on a regular basis, what a transformation it has taken on.  Very well done in my opinion.

J2M