City Council Resolution

The Austin City Council adopted a resolution on December 12, 2005 initiating the Downtown Austin Plan and calling for the search for a national consultant to lead the process. A team led by ROMA Design Group was selected in October 2006.

Issues highlighted in the City Council resolution include:

• Modernizing the city's development codes governing height and density
• Developing new funding mechanisms to support Downtown infrastructure
• Planning for rail and bus transit routes and stations and integrating Downtown planning with the Transit-Oriented Development planning area established around the Convention Center
• Establishing programs and procedures for making government-owned land available for private of joint development
• Identifying strategies to increase the viability of affordable/workforce housing in the Downtown residential mix
• Working with a broad range of stakeholders, including public- and private-sector landowners and employers, neighborhood associations, parks and environmental advocates, historic preservationists, and affordable housing advocates and providers.

City Council resolution
Request for Qualifications—Downtown Austin Plan

Scope of Work

A final agreement between the City of Austin and ROMA Design Group, as lead consultant, was approved in April 2007. This contract identifies a two-phase strategy for the Downtown Austin Plan:

Phase One: Framework
Analyzing baseline information, interviewing key stakeholders, articulating a vision for Downtown, assessing opportunities and challenges to achieving that vision, and crafting a strategic framework with clearly prioritized actions aimed at implementing the Downtown vision

Phase Two: Implementation
Crafting strategies and processes to implement the identified high-priority components of the plan

Phase One of the DAP, which began in mid-May 2007, includes the following seven tasks.

• Task One: Analysis of Baseline Conditions, Challenges and Opportunities, including fiscal, economic and demographic data; land use and development capacity; urban design issues and trends; political and organizational dynamics; and review of prior Downtown plans and studies.
• Task Two: Project Website (this site) and Community Survey
• Task Three: Stakeholder Interviews, First Round
• Task Four: Preliminary Statement of Challenges, Opportunities and Strategies (first draft of report)
• Task Five: Stakeholder Interviews, Second Round
• Task Six: Town Hall Workshop
• Task Seven: Final Report and Action Plan (which will determine the scope of work for Phase Two)

Deliverables and Timeline

The seven tasks in Phase One of the DAP will culminate in a final report that will include:

• A vision for Downtown Austin
• Challenges and opportunities for achieving that vision, with an action plan for each
• Prioritizing those challenges to set the direction for Phase Two and future efforts.

The first three tasks in Phase One - baseline analysis, this Web site and the upcoming community survey, and stakeholder interviews - commenced in May 2007 and are expected to be completed this summer, in advance of the issuing of the preliminary report. Second-round stakeholder interviews and the Town Hall Workshop will follow in the fall, with the Phase One final report being complete and presented to the City of Austin before the end of 2007.