UT'S BRACKENRIDGE COULD HOST NEIGHBORHOOD

(Austin American-Statesman) – Two plans to reconstruct the University of Texas’ 350-acre Brackenridge tract into a living, working and playing space were presented Wednesday to the UT System Board of Regents by New York–based Cooper, Robertson & Partners LLP.
The first, the Village Plan, would add 15 million sf of residential, office and other space, including 8,698 housing units, to the green canvas. The university’s 82-acre biological field laboratory would be relocated to the Lower Colorado River Authority’s McKinney Roughs site in Bastrop County.
This option, preferred by Cooper, would cost $3.2 billion and include $130 million for streets, parks and other infrastructure.
The Park Plan, estimated at $2.6 billion, would retain but downsize the field lab and add 12 million sf and 6,645 housing units.
Both of the architectural and urban planning firm’s plans would erase the 141-acre Lions Municipal Golf Course and two student apartment complexes, and a university-owned apartment complex off Sixth St. would be enlarged.
The report will be reviewed by a special committee of regents established in August, and a public comment session will be held between now and the end of the academic year.
James Huffines, chairman of the regents, has stated that it could be months, or even years, before the board decides how to proceed, and he has emphasized that Cooper's recommendations are just that and are subject to modification.