Urban Renewal Board Regular Meeting of the Urban Renewal Board - Permitting and Development Center, 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Dr, Austin, TX 78752. See details on agenda.
1. REGULAR CALLED MEETING of the URBAN RENEWAL BOARD MARCH 18, 2024, 6:00 P.M. PERMITTING AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER, ROOM 1407 6310 WILHELMINA DELCO DR. AUSTIN, TEXAS 78752 *NOTE: The Urban Renewal Board no longer meets at the Street-Jones Building. Some members of the Urban Renewal Board may be participating by videoconference and a quorum will be present at the location identified above. Public comment will be allowed in-person or remotely via telephone. Speakers may only register to speak on an item once, either in-person or remotely, and will be allowed up to three minutes to provide their comments. Registration no later than noon the day before the meeting is required for remote participation by telephone. To register to speak remotely, call or email Courtney Banker, (512) 974-3114 or courtney.banker@austintexas.gov. The Urban Renewal Board reserves the right to go into closed session to discuss any of the items on this agenda as permitted by the Texas Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code. CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS/COMMISSIONERS: Manuel Escobar, Chair Darrell W, Pierce, Vice Chair Amit Motwani Jacqueline Watson Kobla Tetey Tam Hawkins CALL TO ORDER PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL AGENDA The first 10 speakers who registered to speak no later than noon the day before the meeting, if speaking virtually, will each be allowed a three-minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approve the minutes of the URB’s special-called meeting on January 29, 2024 1 of 2 DISCUSSION ITEMS Discussion related to updates on future development of Blocks 16 & 18 from Austin Economic Development Corporation, including the Request for Proposals process underway and the teams under consideration (Austin Revitalization Authority and Legacy Real Estate Developers; Servitas and Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corporation, AKA Pleasant Hill Collaborative) (Anne Gatling Haynes and Jose Lopez, AEDC) Presentation by Team One regarding their response to the Request for Proposals for Blocks 16 & 18 Presentation by Team Two regarding their response to the Request for Proposals for Blocks 16 & 18 DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS Approve a recommendation to City Council related to the FY 2024-25 annual budget for the Urban Renewal Board EXECUTIVE SESSION Discuss legal matters related to the purchase, exchange, lease, or value of an interest in Blocks 16 and 18 located on East 11th Street in Austin (Private consultation with legal counsel - Section 551.071 of the Texas Government Code) …
URBAN RENEWAL BOARD MEETING DRAFT SPECIAL CALLED MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 2024 The URBAN RENEWAL BOARD convened in a SPECIAL CALLED MEETING on MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 2024, at the Permitting and Development Center - 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Dr. in Austin, Texas. Chair Manuel Escobar called the Urban Renewal Board meeting to order at 6:04 p.m. Board Members/Commissioners in Attendance: Chair Manuel Escobar, Vice Chair Darrell Pierce, Commissioners Kobla Tetey, Jacqueline Watson and Amit Motwani were present. Board Members/Commissioners in Attendance Remotely: Commissioner Danielle Skidmore attended remotely. Board Members Absent/off the dais at call to order: Commissioner Tam Hawkins was absent. PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL No speakers signed up to speak. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the amended minutes of the URB’s regular meeting on December 18, 2023. On Commissioner Tetey’s motion, Commissioner Motwani’s second, the January 22, 2023, minutes were approved with the following amendment, on a 6-0-0 vote. The amendment was to correct the spelling of Vice Chair Pierce’s first name. 1 2. 3. 5. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS Discussion and possible action related to updates on future development of Blocks 16 & 18 from Austin Economic Development Corporation, including the Request for Proposals process focused on the evaluation criteria and program requirements related to Phase Two of the Request for Proposals (Anne Gatling Haynes, Theresa Alvarez, and Jose Lopez, AEDC) Anne Gatling Haynes gave the update. Discussion and possible action on amending the Memorandum of Understanding between the Urban Renewal Agency and Austin Economic Development Corporation to add the Project fee schedule as an exhibit in relation to the development of Blocks 16 & 18 (Anne Gatling Haynes Theresa Alvarez, and Jose Lopez, AEDC) Anne Gatling Haynes gave the update. Commissioner Motwani requested that the minutes include confirmation from staff from the Housing Department that AEDC’s fees are reasonable and in-line with the market. Mandy DeMayo, Interim Director of the Housing Department, confirmed. On Commissioner Motwani’s motion, Commissioner Tetey’s second, the amended Memorandum of Understanding with Austin Economic Development Corporation was approved with the fee structures discussed on a 6-0-0 vote. Chair Escobar recessed the meeting for Executive Session at 6:11 p.m. 4. Discuss legal matters related to the purchase, exchange, lease, or value of an interest in Blocks 16 and 18 located on East 11th Street in Austin (Private consultation with legal counsel - Section 551.071 of the Texas Government Code) Discuss real estate matters related to …
AUSTIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION URBAN RENEWAL BOARD DEVELOPMENT PARTNER FOR BLOCKS 16 & 18 • A proposal by : • Austin Revitalization Authority • Legacy Real Estate Development • Monge Capital Vision for Urban Design • This project, a vibrant mixed-use complex, is set to redefine East Austin's Blocks 16 and 18. Orchestrated by a collaboration between the Austin Revitalization Authority, Legacy Real Estate Development, and Monge Capital, urban transformation. is poised to be a beacon of this development • On Block 18, our plan includes the creation of affordable housing, a retail, and ample hub, modern office spaces, dynamic cultural parking facilities. • On Block 16, we will feature a blend of affordable housing, retail spaces, and convenient parking solutions. • Our mission is anchored in the principle of equitable development. We envision this project as a transformative addition to East Austin, creating a dynamic campus that fosters living, working, and recreational activities in a cohesive community environment. • ARA will be the operator of the commercial components of the Project. ARA is a leader in commercial property management in East Austin for over 3 decades. • The development will feature public spaces designed to be welcoming for both the greater East Austin community and the development's residents, fostering an inclusive and vibrant communal environment. Community Impact • Community Impact Initiatives: • Community Responsive Retail • Attract health-focused retail tenants for community well-being. • Attract and promote local small businesses Pursue sustainability with LEED Certification and a minimal carbon footprint. • • Offer diverse community courses in finance, homebuying, mental health, and physical fitness • Offer creative equity ownership alternatives • Local Engagement and Diversity: • Collaborate with The Greater Austin Black Chamber of Commerce and • Actively engage local businesses, share bid opportunities, and organize events. Project goal of 33% MWBE participation. • Host quarterly community meetings on campus to maintain community McKissack engagement • Equitable Development Vision Goal: • Work with Six Square for community engagement and programming. Contracting opportunities for local creatives. Project Team Structure and Experience • Developers - Legacy/Austin Revitalization Authority/Monge Capital • Principal-In-Charge - Legacy • Local Partner - ARA • Architects - Architecture in Formation/Mark Odom Studio & McKissack • Developer Senior Project Manager - McKissack • Design Project Manager - Mark Odom Studio • Planner/Urban Designer - MakeMake | Sekou Cooke Studio • General Contractor – Andres • CM – OHLA+Journey …
Harold McMillan Cultural Advisor PLEASANT HILL COLLABORATIVE Block 16 and 18 VISION TO REALITY PLEASANT HILL COLLABORATIVE – BLOCK 16 & 18 PROPOSAL Harold McMillan Cultural Advisor Sean Garretson Project Manager EXECUTE THE PROPOSED VISION Garrett Scharton Lead Developer $1B HOUSING PROJECTS DEVELOPED 7,500+ HOUSING UNITS DEVELOPED PLEASANT HILL COLLABORATIVE – BLOCK 16 & 18 PROPOSAL MAINTAIN A PROACTIVE PARTNERSHIP THROUGH FINANCIAL OR MARKET CHALLENGES Keep the project in bounds and on target • Units on par with like product • Reduce reliance on private capital and private • gain Tension between code-minimum parking vs lease-up best practices • Ground Lease term that extends beyond the debt term COLLINS PARK PREVIOUS PROJECT Garrett Scharton Lead Developer Gap Financing Utilize to reduce need for public financial support FORTIFY SUBORDINATE DEBT BACKED BY THE PUBLIC ENTITY PURCHASED BY THE DEVELOPER TARGET EMPLOYERS IN NEED PLEASANT HILL COLLABORATIVE – BLOCK 16 & 18 PROPOSAL MAINTAIN A PROACTIVE PARTNERSHIP THROUGH FINANCIAL OR MARKET CHALLENGES Rents Should Cast a Wide Net • • Offer relief on maximum income for breathing room Target whomever YOU want to target on block 18; block 16 conforms with HUD regulations (for example, target lower rents, but allow incomes at higher levels) • Offer that new leases could temporarily reset at higher AMIs, if it cannot maintain debt service • Resident Eligibility is a priority, not a prohibition (be inclusive of the broader community at the bottom of the waterfall) Garrett Scharton Lead Developer o Right to Return & Displaced o HBCU o African American Creatives o Small Businesses, poised for growth o Folks with generational ties to East Austin o Arts / Culture / Music o Any other workers employed within East Austin with priority for income-eligible workers 1 2 3 PLEASANT HILL COLLABORATIVE – BLOCK 16 & 18 PROPOSAL COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS 2 Years of curating a list of potential tenants with confirmed LOIs Arts and Culture Projects and Nonprofits Texas Music Museum Kenny Dorham Mini-museum and Listening Room East Austin Black History Project Austin Black Music Archive East Austin Creative Coalition DiverseArts Austin Professional Musicans (ATX Music Pros) Women In Jazz Association Others TBA for Co-working Space Commercial Cultural/Creative Professionals Deborah Roberts Rejina Thomas—GraphicGlass Marcellus Sapenter Runway Underground/Design Works! Studio DM Profits Monks Jazz Lounge Jon Deas/Gary Clark,jr. Band, et. Al. (structure TBA) Commercial—Ethnic/Culture-based F&B Hoover's Good Eats Nissi Veggie Mex Tony's Jamaican Food PLEASANT HILL COLLABORATIVE – …
MEMORANDUM TO: Boards and Commissions FROM: Kerri Lang, FSD - Budget Officer DATE: January 29, 2024 SUBJECT: FY 2024-25 Budget Process and Calendar ______ The City remains committed to an inclusive annual budget process. Resident and stakeholder feedback, including the various boards and commissions recommendations, guide City leadership during budget deliberations. The FY 2023-24 budget contained investments that aligned to boards and commissions recommendations, budget priority survey results and community conversations. These enhancements included funding to improve maintenance and security at parks, expand the Enhanced Library Card program, continue emergency shelter operations, bolster the capacity of the Downtown Austin Community Court, and renovate Zilker Park restrooms to be more inclusive with an adult-sized changing table. The Financial Services Department’s Budget and Performance Division will continue to coordinate with City departments to review recommendations passed by boards and commissions. To ensure the recommendations are voted and approved by the full commission, please post the approved recommendation to the respective board and commission website, under meeting documents. The deadline for submitting recommendations is March 31, 2024, allowing staff the necessary time to review the recommendations. For your information, the proposed calendar for the FY 2024-25 budget is shown below: • March 31 • May 3 • July 12 • July 24 • August 1 • August 14 Board and Commission recommendations due to the Budget and Performance Division Department budgets due to the Budget and Performance Division Presentation of the FY 2024-25 Proposed Budget to City Council Community Input Sessions at 10am Community Input Session at 3pm Budget Adoption Additional information can be found at www.austintexas.gov/budget. Should you have any questions, please contact our office at BudgetQA@austintexas.gov. cc: Ed Van Eenoo, Chief Financial Officer, Financial Services Department
URBAN RENEWAL BOARD RECOMMENDATION 20240318-005 Commissioner Watson FY25 Budget Recommendation Seconded By: Commissioner Motwani Date: March 26, 2024 Subject: Motioned By: Recommendation Approve the base budget for the Urban Renewal Board (the “Board”) consistent with the approved FY 2023-24 budget, including a 5% increase for inflation, and providing an additional $100,000 to support an initial year of strategic planning initiatives, additional planning, engagement and outreach relating to the African American Cultural Heritage District, for a total FY 2024-25 budget of $152,000. Description of Recommendation to Council The Board’s budget for FY 2023-2024 is $47,956. For FY 2024-2025, the Board requests this base funding amount be increased for inflation and supplemented with funds to support strategic planning initiatives for the Board as well as additional planning, engagement and outreach related to activation and implementation of district specific improvements within the Urban Renewal Plan area related to and supportive of the African American Cultural Heritage District (the “District”) and the vibrancy of a commercial corridor that reflects the heritage and future of the District, building upon the initial engagement accomplished and programs that have been identified for the multi-use project proposed for Blocks 16 and 18. Rationale: Strategic Planning The Board has diligently pursued the tasks assigned to it by City Council when the Urban Renewal Plan (the “Plan”) was renewed in 2018, and has completed its work on the updates to the Plan and the neighborhood conservation combining district documents relating to the Plan area. As the Board has already launched and continues to progress through the RFP process for the development of Blocks 16 and 18 – the final item assigned to it by City Council – the Board desires to explore how it may best support the Plan area and the City of Austin in the future. Many similarly situated urban renewal agencies and boards across the country have transitioned over time into other district support organizations once the goals of their original urban renewal plans have been accomplished. The Board would like to build on the engagement accomplished in the work to date and potentially help transition the momentum into a longer-term district support organization as has been done by similar bodies nationwide. The Urban Renewal Board would like to engage in a strategic planning process to determine its best path forward, from district support specific activities/purposes to potential governance models and requests funding to engage with consultants …
Harold McMillan Cultural Advisor PLEASANT HILL COLLABORATIVE Block 16 and 18 VISION TO REALITY PLEASANT HILL COLLABORATIVE – BLOCK 16 & 18 PROPOSAL Harold McMillan Cultural Advisor Sean Garretson Project Manager VISION TO REALITY Sean Garretson Project Manager Things that keep us up at night • Cost vs source • Demand • Parking • Community PLEASANT HILL COLLABORATIVE – BLOCK 16 & 18 PROPOSAL PARTNERSHIP WITH URB/CITY/COMMUNITY Lessons learned make us a better partner to you, bringing best practices in design, construction, financing and legal structure. 44 PUBLIC PARTNERS SERVED NEW TO THE TEAM Garrett Scharton Lead Developer TERESA BOWYER LIHTC CONSULTANT PLEASANT HILL COLLABORATIVE – BLOCK 16 & 18 PROPOSAL EXECUTE THE PROPOSED VISION Garrett Scharton Lead Developer $1B HOUSING PROJECTS DEVELOPED 7,500+ HOUSING UNITS DEVELOPED PLEASANT HILL COLLABORATIVE – BLOCK 16 & 18 PROPOSAL MAINTAIN A PROACTIVE PARTNERSHIP THROUGH FINANCIAL OR MARKET CHALLENGES Garrett Scharton Lead Developer Keep the project in bounds and on target • Units on par with like product • Student Housing • Affordable Housing • Missing Middle Housing • Affordable, creative commercial • Reduce reliance on private capital and private gain • Gap financing is a tool, not a crutch • • Diverse methods of finance means a diverse neighborhood • Ground Lease term that extends beyond the debt term, but not longer Tension between code-minimum parking vs lease-up best practices PLEASANT HILL COLLABORATIVE – BLOCK 16 & 18 PROPOSAL Rachel Stone Block 16 Developer MAINTAIN A PROACTIVE PARTNERSHIP THROUGH FINANCIAL OR MARKET CHALLENGES Rents Should Cast a Wide Net • Block 16: residential will be 100% affordable housing prioritizing people with generational ties to the neighborhood GNDC waitlist has over 900 people from East Austin trying to return to/remain in their community o o Majority seeking 2- and 3- bedrooms, 50% MFI o Experience in low-income housing tax credit financing and filling gaps with fundraising Block 18: Target whomever YOU want to target on block 18 (arts, culture, music, Huston Tillotson) Offer relief on maximum income for breathing room • • • (for example, target lower rents, but allow incomes at higher levels) Offer that new leases could temporarily reset at higher AMIs, if it cannot maintain debt service Resident Eligibility is a priority, not a prohibition (be inclusive of the broader community at the bottom of the waterfall) • • o Right to Return & Displaced o HBCU o African American Creatives …
1. URBAN RENEWAL BOARD MEETING MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, MARCH 18, 2024 The URBAN RENEWAL BOARD convened on MONDAY, MARCH 18, 2024, at the Permitting and Development Center - 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Dr. in Austin, Texas. CALL TO ORDER Chair Manuel Escobar called the Urban Renewal Board meeting to order at 6:09 p.m. with six members present. Board Members/Commissioners in Attendance: Chair Manuel Escobar, Vice Chair Darrell W. Pierce, and Commissioners Kobla Tetey, Jacqueline Watson and Amit Motwani were present. Board Members/Commissioners in Attendance Remotely: No commissioners attended remotely Board Members Absent/off the dais at call to order: Commissioner Tam Hawkins joined the dais at 6:40pm. Since the last meeting, Commissioner Danielle Skidmore resigned from the board. PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL Nook Turner of Jump On It (BAC) addressed the board regarding the future development of Blocks 16 and 18. Bill Wallace of Tomorrow’s Promise addressed the board regarding the future development of Blocks 16 and 18. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approve the minutes of the URB’s special-called meeting on January 29, 2024 On Commissioner Watson’s motion, Commissioner Motwani’s second, the January 29, 2024, minutes were approved, on a 5-0-0 vote. Commissioner Hawkins was off the dais. 1 DISCUSSION ITEMS Discussion related to updates on future development of Blocks 16 & 18 from Austin Economic Development Corporation, including the Request for Proposals process underway and the teams under consideration (Austin Revitalization Authority and Legacy Real Estate Developers; Servitas and Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corporation, AKA Pleasant Hill Collaborative) (Anne Gatling Haynes and Jose Lopez, AEDC) Anne Gatling Haynes and Jose Lopez, Austin Economic Development Association (AEDC), addressed the board. Presentation by Team One regarding their response to the Request for Proposals for Blocks 16 & 18 Team One, (Austin Revitalization Authority and Legacy Real Estate Developers) presented. Following the Team One presentation, Chair Escobar called a recess at 7:10pm. Presentation by Team Two regarding their response to the Request for Proposals for Blocks 16 & 18 Chair Escobar reconvened the meeting at 7:17pm. Team Two, (Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corporation, AKA Pleasant Hill Collaborative) presented. Following the Team Two presentation, Chair Escobar called a recess at 8:08pm. The Chair reconvened the meeting at 8:26pm. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS Approve a recommendation to City Council related to the FY 2024-25 annual budget for the Urban Renewal Board The motion to approve the recommendation to increase the URB’s FY 2024-25 budget from $52,000 to $152,000 was approved …
