Mueller Redevelopment Captures Developers' Interest

AUSTIN-The redevelopment of the 709-acre Robert Mueller Municipal Airport is further down the runway as the city staff reviews six proposals to carry out the mixed-use plans.

The review will be done by early August, at which time the city staff will ask several companies to submit requests for business. The city already has determined the general outline of development of the former airport and is seeking a master developer. The project could last as long as 20 years and cost up to $100 million.

“We want a business plan to see how each entity proposes to do phasing and implementation,” says Pam Hefner of the city’s redevelopment serviced department. “Basically, how they would carry out the plan.”

Proposals came from Workplace USA, based in Dallas; Catellus Corp., based in Dallas; Bryan Properties Inc., based in Holly Spring, NC; Lennar Corp., based in Miami; Staubach Co., based in Dallas; and the Mueller Redevelopment Team, based in Austin.

The Mueller Redevelopment Team is composed of development companies with strong Austin ties. They are D.R. Horton, the Arlington, TX-based parent company of Austin’s Milburn Homes; JPI, a multifamily developer based in Irving; Cousins Stone, a commercial property developer based in Atlanta; the developers of Austin’s Avery Ranch, Robert Wunsch and Dick Rathgeber; and Cencor Urban, a division of Cencor Realty Services and the Weitzman Group based in Dallas. All have operations in Austin.

The city wants to issue the request for a business plan by Sept. 1 and receive proposals by Nov. 30. It is hoped recommendations can be before city council by late winter or early spring.

The city wants a pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use community of commercial and residential components. The target mix is five million sf of office space and 300,000 sf of retail space with 4,000 apartments, condominiums and homes. The master developer, once picked, would lead other developers in the revitalization of the former airport site. Austin closed Mueller Airport in April 2000 when it opened Austin Bergstrom International Airport, the site of the former Bergstrom Air Force Base in southeast Austin.