The now abandoned Robert Mueller Municipal

The now abandoned Robert Mueller Municipal Airport in Austin, Texas, lies only three miles from downtown and has been the focus of a redevelopment effort since 1996. A master plan was recently completed by Roma Design Group of San Francisco for the 709-acre site. The regulating plan breaks down the site into three interconnected districts with a variety of building types. An employment district on the northwestern edge of the project would include three- to five-story office and other special use buildings with large foot prints. The mixed-use town center would have retail, office and residential uses in multistory buildings, with a residential density of 30-60 units/acre. Larger streets in the residential district would be lined with attached townhouses, live/work units, and apartment buildings of two to four stories. The maximum lot size for single-family homes in the remainder of the district would be 4,500 square feet. The planned Capital Metro Light Rail Service would run through the center of the airport development. The city is currently seeking a master developer, and the adoption of TND zoning and other reviews will continue through the fall and summer. Roma Design’s plan estimates that 4,000 dwelling units, 300,000 square feet of retail, and 5 million square feet of offices will be built. Las Colinas, a well-known edge city outside of Dallas, recently hired new urbanist planner Andres Duany to design approximately 600 acres on the northeast end of the city. The site, stretching from the city’s east side to the LBJ Freeway, is one of the last undeveloped portions of Las Colinas. Plans include high-density commercial, residential and retail.