What, exactly, are we trying to do with the New Mueller? Here are the goals identified by the Process and Goals Task Force back in 1996:

  • Fiscal responsibility. It must pay for itself and increase the city’s tax base.
  • Economic development. It must include “a wide range of employment opportunities for a diversity of the community’s citizens.”
  • East Austin revitalization. It must give “local residents a direct stake in development.”
  • Compatibility with surrounding neighborhoods. It must “maintain and enhance quality of life” with “complementary linkages, land uses, and transportation patterns.”
  • Diversity. It must have a wide range of housing choices to promote cultural and economic diversity.
  • Sustainability. It must be green, energy-efficient, and transit-oriented.

In the current RMMA Redevelopment and Reuse Plan, Roma Design Group has followed on these with a set of planning principles:

  • Open space. Parks and greenways that both connect elements within the site and link to the surrounding neighborhoods.
  • Streets. Designed to minimize traffic impact on surrounding neighborhoods and reinforce the pedestrian greenway system.
  • Transit. Essential to the viability of a dense and compact project — and vice versa.
  • Town Center. The “social, cultural and commercial focus” for both the New Mueller and the surrounding neighborhoods.
  • State of Texas site. Should be “an integral part of the RMMA community.”

And… the city-appointed RMMA Advisory Groupis poised to make its own recommendations, many of which echo the Roma plan, but some of which go beyond it. They say the council should address:

  • Off-airport properties. Ensure a “smooth and expedient transition” for the property used by airport-related businesses that will close when Bergstrom opens.
  • Interim uses. Only allow uses compatible with the final vision for the site.
  • Traffic impact. In addition to the major improvements to I-35, Airport Boulevard, and 51st Street, invest in traffic calming measures in surrounding neighborhoods.
  • Affordable housing. In particular, work to create housing attractive to the state’s employees.
  • Fiscal security. Do not use the proceeds from the state’s land acquisition to fund projects elsewhere in town. –M.C.M.

This article appears in February 19 • 1999 and February 19 • 1999 (Cover).

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