AUSTIN – The University of Texas System Board of Regents today (December 6) authorized the initiation of a process to retain a master planner to develop conceptual master plans for the redevelopment of land in West Austin known as the Brackenridge Tract.
“We are tremendously grateful for the outstanding work done by the Task Force and pleased to authorize this important process,” Regents’ Chairman H. Scott Caven, Jr., said. “Additionally, we want to express our thanks to the many individuals who took time to share their views with both the Task Force and the Board.
“The Board shares the Task Force members’ strongly held belief that our fiduciary responsibility to UT Austin requires us to undertake a more detailed review of the tract’s uses and its greater potential to support the educational mission of the university. As a result, we will begin the process of retaining a master planner who will advise us in these matters and, as an important part of the process, provide opportunities for members of the Austin and university communities, the neighborhood, civic and governmental leaders, other stakeholders, and the general public to give input,” Caven said.
“The work of the master planner will be the foundation on which all of the other recommendations of the task force can be studied and evaluated,” Caven added.
The Brackenridge Tract Task Force submitted its report to the board for review on Oct. 12. As the Board considered the report, Regents heard public comment on the report at a meeting on Nov. 9 in addition to receiving written comments. The Brackenridge Tract Task Force Report and recommendations may be found online.
In authorizing the master planning process, the Board called for redevelopment plans of the tract that would lead to optimal uses for the land and assist the Board in meeting its fiduciary and legal obligations in the spirit of Colonel Brackenridge’s wishes for the use of his gift to the university. In doing so, the board also:
- Directed the UT System Office of Real Estate to issue a request for qualifications (RFQ) to begin the process to select a master planner to prepare a comprehensive analysis of the Brackenridge Tract, resulting in a conceptual planning document that identifies the possibilities and constraints of the tract and that can serve as a guide for the near- and long-term use of the tract;
- Appointed a selection advisory committee consisting of Executive Vice Chancellor Scott Kelley, Executive Director of Real Estate Florence Mayne, UT Austin Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Kevin Hegarty, and UT Austin Vice President for Employee and Campus Services Pat Clubb to review the qualifications and recommend the best qualified firms to be interviewed by the UT System Board of Regents; and
- Directed the General Counsel to the Board of Regents to develop a timetable for the process that would allow the planner to begin work no later than April 2008, with a goal that the integrated planning document be delivered to the Board of Regents between March and June 2009.
Approximately 503 acres of land along the Colorado River were donated in 1910 by Colonel George W. Brackenridge of San Antonio, a former UT System regent, for the benefit of The University of Texas at Austin. Since that time, some acreage was conveyed for streets and similar public purposes and for residential development. Today, the tract consists of approximately 345 acres of undeveloped and developed land that includes a municipal golf course, UT Austin student housing, a biological field laboratory for the campus, a youth sports complex, and various commercial buildings and enterprises on property leased from the board.
About The University of Texas System
The University of Texas System is one of the nation’s largest higher education systems, with nine academic campuses and six health institutions. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $10.7 billion (FY 2008) including $2.3 billion in research funded by federal, state, local and private sources. Student enrollment exceeded 190,000 in the 2006 academic year. The UT System confers more than one-third of the state's undergraduate degrees and educates nearly three-fourths of the state's health care professionals annually. With more than 80,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.
