10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 4 - Staff Report — original pdf

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NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN AMENDMENT REVIEW SHEET NEIGHORHOOD PLAN: North Burnet/Gateway 2035 Master Plan CASE#: NPA-2025-0024.01 DATE FILED: April 30, 2025 PROJECT NAME: 9400 Metric Boulevard PC DATE: October 28, 2025 ADDRESS/ES: 9318 and 9400 Metric Boulevard; 2105 and 2107 W. Rundberg Lane DISTRICT AREA: 4 SITE AREA: 3.013 acres OWNER/APPLICANT: Metric BD, LLC AGENT: Drenner Group, PC (Leah M. Bojo, AICP) CASE MANAGER: Maureen Meredith PHONE: (512) 974-2695 STAFF EMAIL: Maureen.Meredith@austintexas.gov TYPE OF AMENDMENT: Change in Future Land Use Designation From: Industry To: High Density Mixed Use Base District Zoning Change Related Zoning Case: C14-2025-0052 From: NBG-NP (CI Subdistrict) To: NBG-NP (WMU Subdistrict) NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN ADOPTION DATE: November 1, 2007 CITY COUNCIL DATE: TBD ACTION: PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: October 28, 2025 – (action pending) 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 41 of 25 STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff supports the applicant’s request for High Density Mixed Use. BASIS FOR STAFF’S RECOMMENDATION: Staff supports the applicant’s request for High Density Mixed Use because it will provide more housing in the planning area and the city. The area has been growing over the years with the Q2 Stadium and the McKalla Rail Station. Council signed resolution 20230504-020 which directed staff to initiate amendments to the North Burnet/Gateway Vision Plan recognizing the area’s growth. Transitioning the property to High Density Mixed Use is consistent with the development of the area. Below are some of the North Burnet/Gateway Plan Goals that staff believes supports the applicant’s request: ONE: Transform the aging, auto-oriented commercial and industrial uses into a livelier mixed-use neighborhod that is more pedestrian- and transit-friendly and can accommodate a significant number of new residents. a. Create a dense and vibrant “town center” with an urban form and uses less reliant on the automobile. This means creating a concentration of interrelated uses that provide for a range of activities to occur in close proximity to transit. b. b. Achieve a balance of jobs, houses, retail, open space and community facilities. The essence of a mixed-use area is that it allows for opportunities to live, work, and play within the same area. c. Enable opportunities for transit- oriented development based on the presence of both the Capital Metro and the potential Austin-San Antonio Inter-municipal Rail District (currently Union Pacific) commuter rail line. d. Enable redevelopment and adaptive reuse while accommodating existing uses. Recognize that the auto-oriented uses will be less appropriate and could be reformatted to more local neighborhood-oriented uses. e. Include significant higher density residential uses in the mix to accommodate some of the region’s expected population growth. f. f. Provide for a variety of housing options and affordability, so that people of all income levels can live and work in the area. Encourage housing to be developed in close proximity to potential jobsites as well as public transit so that residents may reduce their dependency on personal vehicles and save on transportation costs. 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 42 of 25 LAND USE DESCRIPTIONS: EXISTING LAND USE: Industry- Areas reserved for manufacturing and related uses that provide employment but are generally not compatible with other areas with lower intensity use. Industry includes general warehousing, manufacturing, research and development, and storage of hazardous materials. Purpose 1. To confine potentially hazardous or nuisance‐creating activities to defined districts; 2. To preserve areas within the city to increase employment opportunities and increased tax base; 3. To protect the City’s strategic advantage as a high tech job center; and 4. To promote manufacturing and distribution activities in areas with access to major transportation systems. Application 1. Make non‐industrial properties in areas with a dominant industrial character compatible with the prevailing land use scheme; 2. Where needed, require a buffer area for industrial property that abuts residentially used land; 3. Industry should be applied to areas that are not appropriate for residential or mixed use development, such as land within the Airport Overlay; 4. In general, mixed use and permanent residential activities are not appropriate in industrial areas. An exception may be the edge of an industrial area along the interface with an area in which residential activities are appropriate. Such exceptions should be considered case by case, with careful attention to both land use compatibility and design; 5. Industry should not be either adjacent to or across the road from single family residential or schools; 6. Use roadways and/or commercial or office uses as a buffer between residential and industry; and 7. Smaller scale “local manufacturing” districts may be appropriate in some locations to preserve employment opportunities and cottage industries of local artisans. In these areas, hazardous industrial uses (i.e. basic industry, recycling centers, and scrap yards) should be prohibited. 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 43 of 25 PROPOSED LAND USE: High Density Mixed Use - An area that is appropriate for a mix of residential and non‐residential uses with floor‐to‐area ratios of 3.0 or higher. Purpose 1. Encourage dense, pedestrian‐ oriented development in downtown, areas near downtown, and sites with exceptional transportation access; 2. Provide a transition between the central core and surrounding districts; and 3. Encourage redevelopment of sites in or near the center city. Application 1. Applicable to most mixed‐use/commercial sites in the Central Business District; 2. May be applied to other central areas, such as the Central Urban Redevelopment Area, where existing population and infrastructure can support higher‐density development; 3. May also be applied to areas outside of the central core where higher densities can be supported and neighborhood impacts are minimal; and 4. Can be used to accommodate Transit‐Oriented Development at existing or proposed transit stations. Yes Yes Imagine Austin Decision Guidelines Complete Community Measures Imagine Austin Growth Concept Map: Located within or adjacent to an Imagine Austin Activity Center, Imagine Austin Activity Corridor, or Imagine Austin Job Center as identified the Growth Concept Map. Name(s) of Activity Center/Activity Corridor/Job Center: • Within the North Burnet/Gateway Regional Center • Adjacent to West Rundberg Lane, and activity corridor Yes Mobility and Public Transit: Located within 0.25 miles of public transit stop and/or light rail station. Yes Mobility and Bike/Ped Access: Adjoins a public sidewalk, shared path, and/or bike lane. • Bus routes near the property • 1.4 miles from McKalla Rail Station Yes Connectivity, Good and Services, Employment: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles to goods and services, and/or employment center. No Connectivity and Food Access: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles of a grocery store/farmers market. • 0.9 miles from Tienda Mexicana 2, 1925 Rutland Dr # B, Austin, TX 78758 • 1.0 miles from AIVIN & YORDY, 9505 Burnet Rd, Yes Connectivity and Education: Located within 0.50 miles from a public school or university. 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 44 of 25 • 0.2 miles from Padrón Elementary School, 2011 W Rundberg Ln, Austin, TX 78758 No Connectivity and Healthy Living: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles from a recreation area, park or walking trail. No Connectivity and Health: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles of health facility (ex: hospital, urgent care, doctor’s office, drugstore clinic, and/or specialized outpatient care.) • Concentra Urgent Care, 8868 Research Blvd SUITE 601, Austin, TX 78758 Yes Housing Affordability: Provides a minimum of 10% of units for workforce housing (80% MFI or less) and/or fee in lieu for affordable housing. • Applicant proposes to use the Density Bonus program in the plan that would create approximatley 27 affordable units. Yes Housing Choice: Expands the number of units and housing choice that suits a variety of household sizes, incomes, and lifestyle needs of a diverse population (ex: apartments, triplex, granny flat, live/work units, cottage homes, and townhomes) in support of Imagine Austin and the Strategic Housing Blueprint. • The applicant proposes to build a residential apartment complex. Yes Mixed use: Provides a mix of residential and non-industrial uses. • The Warehouse Mixed Use (WMU) subdistrict the applicant proposes would allow for a mixed use development. No Culture and Creative Economy: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles of a cultural resource (ex: library, theater, museum, cultural center). No Culture and Historic Preservation: Preserves or enhances a historically and/or culturally significant site. No Creative Economy: Expands Austin’s creative economy (ex: live music venue, art studio, film, digital, theater.) No Workforce Development, the Economy and Education: Expands the economic base by creating permanent jobs, especially in industries that are currently not represented in particular area or that promotes a new technology, and/or promotes educational opportunities and workforce development training. Industrial Land: Preserves or enhances industrial land. No • The applicant is proposing a change in the future land use map from Industry to High Density Mixed Use. 8 Number of “Yeses” 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 45 of 25 Proximity to Imagine Austin Activity Centers and Corridors 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 46 of 25 Proximity to Public Parks 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 47 of 25 Proximity to Public Transportation Property in Proximity to the Proposed Urban Trails Map 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 48 of 25 IMAGINE AUSTIN GROWTH CONCEPT MAP Definitions Neighborhood Centers - The smallest and least intense of the three mixed-use centers are neighborhood centers. As with the regional and town centers, neighborhood centers are walkable, bikable, and supported by transit. The greatest density of people and activities in neighborhood centers will likely be concentrated on several blocks or around one or two intersections. However, depending on localized conditions, different neighborhood centers can be very different places. If a neighborhood center is designated on an existing commercial area, such as a shopping center or mall, it could represent redevelopment or the addition of housing. A new neighborhood center may be focused on a dense, mixed-use core surrounded by a mix of housing. In other instances, new or redevelopment may occur incrementally and concentrate people and activities along several blocks or around one or two intersections. Neighborhood centers will be more locally focused than either a regional or a town center. Businesses and services—grocery and department stores, doctors and dentists, shops, branch libraries, dry cleaners, hair salons, schools, restaurants, and other small and local businesses—will generally serve the center and surrounding neighborhoods. Town Centers - Although less intense than regional centers, town centers are also where many people will live and work. Town centers will have large and small employers, although fewer than in regional centers. These employers will have regional customer and employee bases, and provide goods and services for the center as well as the surrounding areas. The buildings found in a town center will range in size from one-to three-story houses, duplexes, townhouses, and rowhouses, to low-to midrise apartments, mixed use buildings, and office buildings. These centers will also be important hubs in the transit system. Regional Centers - Regional centers are the most urban places in the region. These centers are and will become the retail, cultural, recreational, and entertainment destinations for Central Texas. These are the places where the greatest density of people and jobs and the tallest buildings in the region will be located. Housing in regional centers will mostly consist of low to high-rise apartments, mixed use buildings, row houses, and townhouses. However, other housing types, such as single-family units, may be included depending on the location and character of the center. The densities, buildings heights, and overall character of a center will depend on its location. Activity Centers for Redevelopment in Sensitive Environmental Areas - Five centers are located over the recharge or contributing zones of the Barton Springs Zone of the Edwards Aquifer or within water-supply watersheds. These centers are located on already developed areas and, in some instances, provide opportunities to address long-standing water quality issues and provide walkable areas in and near existing neighborhoods. State-of-the-art development practices will be required of any redevelopment to improve stormwater retention and the water quality flowing into the aquifer or other drinking water sources. These centers should also be carefully evaluated to fit within their infrastructural and environmental context. 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 49 of 25 Job Centers - Job centers accommodate those businesses not well-suited for residential or environmentally- sensitive areas. These centers take advantage of existing transportation infrastructure such as arterial roadways, freeways, or the Austin-Bergstrom International airport. Job centers will mostly contain office parks, manufacturing, warehouses, logistics, and other businesses with similar demands and operating characteristics. They should nevertheless become more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, in part by better accommodating services for the people who work in those centers. While many of these centers are currently best served by car, the growth Concept map offers transportation choices such as light rail and bus rapid transit to increase commuter options. Corridors - Activity corridors have a dual nature. They are the connections that link activity centers and other key destinations to one another and allow people to travel throughout the city and region by bicycle, transit, or automobile. Corridors are also characterized by a variety of activities and types of buildings located along the roadway — shopping, restaurants and cafés, parks, schools, single-family houses, apartments, public buildings, houses of worship, mixed-use buildings, and offices. Along many corridors, there will be both large and small redevelopment sites. These redevelopment opportunities may be continuous along stretches of the corridor. There may also be a series of small neighborhood centers, connected by the roadway. Other corridors may have fewer redevelopment opportunities, but already have a mixture of uses, and could provide critical transportation connections. As a corridor evolves, sites that do not redevelop may transition from one use to another, such as a service station becoming a restaurant or a large retail space being divided into several storefronts. To improve mobility along an activity corridor, new and redevelopment should reduce per capita car use and increase walking, bicycling, and transit use. Intensity of land use should correspond to the availability of quality transit, public space, and walkable destinations. Site design should use building arrangement and open space to reduce walking distance to transit and destinations, achieve safety and comfort, and draw people outdoors. BACKGROUND: The applicant proposes to change the land use on the future land use map (FLUM) from Industry to Mixed Use. The applicant proposes to change the zoning on the property from NBG-NP (North Burnet/Gateway – Neighborhood Plan) with a subdistrict of CI- Commercial Industrial) to NBG-NP (North Burnet/Gateway – Neighborhood Plan) with a subdistrict of WMU – Warehouse Mixed Use to build an apartment complex PUBLIC MEETINGS: The ordinance-required community meeting was virtually held on June 18, 2025. The recorded meeting can be found here: https://publicinput.com/neighborhoodplanamendmentcases. Approximately 50 meeting notices were mailed to people with utility accounts and property owners within 500 feet of the property, in addition to neighborhood and environmental groups who requested notices on the Community Registry. Two Austin Planning staff members attended the meeting, Maureen Meredith and Mark Walters; in addition to Leah Bojo and Temaria Davis, the applicant’s agents from Drenner Group. One person from the neighborhood attended. 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 410 of 25 Below are highlights from Leah M. Bojo’s presentation: It’s about three acres. • There are two properties of the site. They are warehouse sites. • • There is some public transportation neared the property • Have Commercial Industrial subdistrict and are requesting WMU Subdistrict which allows for residential, and we can use the density bonus. • North Burnet Gateway is considered an transition area where redevelopment is anticipated. • There are some residential uses nearby, about 300 feet from the property. • The industrial site that are in the area, has a lot of office and wholesalers. There is not • a high intensity industrial area. In the Warehouse Mixed Use (WMU) subdistrict, the maximum building height is 60 feet by-right. However, using the Density Bonus program, the maximum building height could go up to 120 feet, requiring 10% of the units to be affordable, which would be about 27 residential units. Comment: This tract is important to the Red Line. The property is near this is the Capital Metro yard, so he trail alignment will have to be on the side of this property. The trail is important for the school children and will be important to an underserved community. It will be a great route, especially for this site, for the people who live in this area. I would like to work with the City and Developer to think about what could happen to make sure it makes it into the plan. Response from Leah: We can certainly talk to you about this. 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 411 of 25 Applicant Summary Letter from Application 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 412 of 25 Letter of Recommendation from the Neighborhood Plan Contact Team (NPCT) (There is no neighborhood plan contact team in the North Burnet/Gateway Planning Area) 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 413 of 25 Site 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 414 of 25 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 415 of 25 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 416 of 25 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 417 of 25 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 418 of 25 Leah Bojo’s Presentation at the Virtual Community Meeting 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 419 of 25 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 420 of 25 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 421 of 25 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 422 of 25 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 423 of 25 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 424 of 25 Correspondence Received (No correspondence received) 10 NPA-2025-0024.01 - 9400 Metric Boulevard; District 425 of 25