The Allandale Reporter

This is not over!

submitted by Tom Linehan and Steven Zettner

It was standing room only by the time everyone finished filing in at tonight's Responsible Growth for Northcross meeting. The message was simple: Wal-Mart is not a done deal.

The  meeting lasted a little over an hour and in that time organizers provided a background on the project, gave a status on where things stand, took questions, and laid out the plan for mobilizing oppostion. It concluded with people directed to one of 8 committee tables to volunteer. A petition was signed and donations taken.

Northcross Redevelopment in the News

Today's Austin American-Statesman has a front-page article in the Business section on the the Northcross Redevelopment. The article talks about the formation of the Responsible Growth for Northcross, a group that has organized to oppose Wal-Mart in the development (info on upcoming meeting). It mentions the outcome of our survey, includes a quote from ANA's president, Gretchen Vaden, interviewed a resident who supports having the Wal-Mart, and a store owner who is opposed to it. Here's a link to the article.

Why Isn't ANA Doing Anything to Stop Wal-Mart?

submitted by Linda Huff

After observing that the survey produced by the ANA shows a significant majority of Allandale residents oppose the Wal-Mart, I felt compelled to write and express my concern as to why the ANA is not taking a lead in opposing the Wal-Mart based on the reasons in the the ANA charter: " to protect the neighborhood quality of life, safety, residential characteristics and property values."

Northcross, I believe, should have a grocery store but not a 220,000 square foot behemoth that will be unleasable if the store is later abandoned by Wal-Mart. In researching past Lincoln  Property/Wal-Mart deals I became aware that these companies initially give a very low traffic flow impact, then, after they are in place and operating, they petition cities to expand the arterial roads to their complexes.

Wal-Mart - Not in Our Neighborhood

submitted by Tom Linehan

Area residents don't want Wal-Mart as an anchor tenant in the planned Northcross redevelopment according to our online survey. Of the 260 responses, 69% or 180 people are against it, 17% (45 people) are for it, and 13.5% (35 people) are undecided. (Click on image to see full graph). 
 

Here's a link to the full results (when the image appears, click on it to enlarge). The following are links to the "Other" responses for Questions two, three, and four.

The purpose of the survey was to get an idea of what residents thought about Lincoln Properties' plans for the redevelopment of Northcross Mall which includes a 2-story Wal-Mart.

How to Make Northcross a Huge Success

submitted by Steven Zettner

Wham. Here comes Wal-Mart. And this being central Austin, the anti-Wal-Mart folks aren’t far behind. I’ve also heard from a few folks, many of them 40+ year residents of the neighborhood, who welcome Wal-Mart’s convenience and low prices with open arms. I think they are a minority, but one we should certainly respect.

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Like everything in life all good things must come to an end, so last Friday night at Burger Stadium the McCallum Knights 2006 football season came to that end. The Knights hosted the Montgomery Bears from District 18 in a first round playoff game, and when the final siren whined the Knights were on the short end of the score 28 to 21. (Continue reading "All Things Must Come...)

Allandale Neighborhood Association meeting with Lincoln Property & Wal-Mart Nov 15 2006

submitted by Kay Newell

Lincoln Property Co. represented by Robert Dozier and Wes Babb
Wal-Mart represented by Richard Suttle and Mark Aflatooni

In the past Lincoln Property Co and MRO N Cross Inc bid on Northcross Mall - MRO had the winning bid. Then came the tech bust and the downturn for Northcross Mall. In 2006 Lincoln bid on Northcross Mall again and this time had the winning bid.

Lincoln ran a Retail Void Analysis - the results show the area is massively undersized for grocery. Two of the companies contacted by Lincoln about locating in Northcross were Whole Foods and HEB, both declined the site. Lincoln hired an architect and engineer, and continued with their development plans to remodel the existing mall. Lincoln began the City of Austin site plan process in Jan 2006, the site plan was approved by the City of Austin in August 2006. Wal-Mart expressed an interest in becoming a tenant in Northcross this summer and signed a lease in Nov 2006.

Northcross Redevelopment - 1st Look

Here's the elevation of the Northcross redevelopment that was shown to the Allanddale neighborhood at last night's meeting with representatives from Lincoln Properties. The development will  include a 200,000 foot Wal-Mart, a Walgreens, a new Chaparral Ice Rink along with many of the existing stores. The Wal-Mart will go in where the current Sports Authority is. Many of the existing tenants of the mall will be moved to a redeveloped mall on the east side where Beall's currently is. Walgreens will  sit out in front facing Anderson Ln. The Wal-Mart multi-level  parking lot is the building facing Anderson Lane at the bottom of the elevation. Wal-Mart sits behind it. We will provide you with a full report on what we learned from last night's meeting later.

Shoal Creek Sidewalk Update

an email from Darryl Haba, the City's project manager on the Shoal Creek sidewalk project:

From: "Haba, Darryl" <darryl.haba@ci.austin.tx.us

Date: November 15, 2006 7:48:33 AM CST

Just wanted to provide you with an update.  All work along Shoal Creek from 38th Street to Allandale is now complete.  We have two sections of railing to install once they come in from the fabrication plant but all sidewalk, ramps, and retaining wall work is complete.  The remainder of this week we will clean up our staging areas south of Allandale and resod them if needed and do a general “once over” of the area to make sure we have all our construction debris cleaned up.

Knights Cap Off Outstanding District Season

The McCallum Knights finished their regular season last Friday night at House Park when they played host to the Crockett Cougars. When the final whistle sounded the Knights walked away with a 41 to 13 victory, and an undefeated district season. (Continue reading Knights Cap Off...)

Summary of Wooten NA Meeting With Wal-Mart Representative

submitted by Kay Newell

Wooten NA meeting
Nov 13 2006
Richard Suttle of the law firm Armbrust & Brown - real estate lawyer for Wal-Mart

Per Richard, Wal-Mart is a tenant in Northcross Mall. The site plan went through all the normal city processes and has been issued. Wal-Mart will be leasing from Lincoln Properties. The lease was signed in the last month or two. In the last two weeks they have talked to City Council about the lease and the plans Lincoln & Wal-Mart have for Northcross. City Council members are the ones that said Lincoln/Wal-Mart had met with neighbors - this information is wrong. Tonight is the first meeting with neighbors.

Meeting with Walmart and Lincoln Properties

Representatives from both Lincoln Properties and Walmart are available to meet with Allandale Neighborhood this Wednesday, November 15. Covenant Presbyterian Church (Northland Drive next to NW Recreation Center) worked with ANA to secure the necessary rooms for the meetings that evening.

Survey Deadline November 20th

Thanks to those of you who have filled out the Allandale Neighborhood Survey. We have over 300 completed surveys, but that's not everyone so if you have not filled it out yet, please do. We will be accepting surveys through Monday, November 20th.

ALLANDALE, It's where you LIVE!

It's Official - Wal Mart is Coming

Front page of the business section of today's Austin American-Statesman says it all: "Wal-Mart part of Northcross plans." According to the article, the new 2-story supercenter will replace Sports Authority in the mall. It will follow the new urban store format the company has begun building in large cities around the country. According the article, these new stores don't follow the large sprawling box design and make an effort to "tailor to local tastes and aesthetics." ANA's president Gretchen Vaden is quoted in the article. The article also talks about what Lincoln Properties, the new owner of the mall, has in the works for the rest of Northcross mall, soon to be Northcross Center. Please read it and feel free to leave your comments here.

Walmart Coming to Northcross

This was posted to the Brentwood listserve which came from the Austin Neighborhood Planning Group:

Dear all,

I had a meeting with an Austin City Council Member this afternoon to discuss the proposed big box ordinance that would ensure a public process for future large-scale retail development in Austin.

In the course of that meeting, the Council Member asked what we thought about the new 180,000 square-foot Wal-Mart supercenter slated for Northcross. I asked if he was sure it was a Wal-Mart because that had not been the case the last time I'd heard. In fact, I vividly recall on-camera denials from Northcross representatives in a local TV news spot earlier this year.

The Council Member said the project was definitely a Wal-Mart and that he had been briefed about this project several times by Wal-Mart representatives (he also told me he believed these briefings were public information, so I am not breaching any confidences in
relaying this information). He seemed to believe the project had already been publicly announced and was surprised to learn that it had not. He also said that Wal-Mart representatives had told him they had already "talked to the neighbors" about it.

I checked with several very active neighbors this afternoon, including a Crestview group that has been trying hard to track this project. None of them had heard this news or seen anything about it on their neighborhood listservs and expressed shock that the project is now apparently a done deal. A friend who is a reporter in the Crestview neighborhood and is well-informed on these issues had also heard nothing about this.

I realize neighborhood communications are not perfect and that sometimes things slip through the cracks, which may simply be the case here. Of course, there is no required public process for these massive projects under the current code so even if neighbors had
been notified and had specific objections to the proposal, there is no existing mechanism to express or address these concerns at this time.

I've included some information below about the proposed big box ordinance, which would ensure a public process for future projects of this kind. The proposed ordinance received an 8-0 vote of support at Planning Commission two weeks ago, but has yet to be scheduled for a City Council hearing. If you are concerned about this issue, I strongly encourage you to contact your city council members and request a prompt public hearing on the proposed big box ordinance.

Best,
Susan Moffat
barbaro@...

Propostion 2 Will Benefit Allandale

submitted by Katie Hansen

Did you know that a proportion of Proposition 2 will directly benefit Allandale? This proposition addresses flooding issues with in the City of Austin. In Allandale, the intersection of Bull   Creek Rd and White Rock is the number 5 priority of the bond issue.

The photo above is a view of White Rock Road (in the foreground) and the Drainage ditch in the background) that runs parallel to Bull Creek Road.  Side walk that leads to Lamar Middle School is next to telephone pole (by the rapids).

McCallum Rolls Through The Rebels

Takes District Crown

The McCallum Knights rolled into Burger Stadium last Friday night to take on old time rivals, the Travis High Rebels. When all was said and done, the Knights came back north victorious with a 42 to 6 win. Not only did they win the battle, but also the Knights brought home the District Title for the third year in a row. (Continue reading McCallum Rolls Through...)

Northwest Pony League Field under construction

For those of you wondering what's going on with the Northwest Pony League field, a post to the neighborhood listserv generated the following response from Tom Seay:

I talked with Russ McElrath today. He is the person in charge of managing the NW Pony League field. They are rebuilding the field in preparation for it's becoming a baseball field for AISD. McCallum HS will be playing their baseball games there instead of at Nelson Field. The NW Pony League will continue using the field as usual. The renovations are apparently part of an AISD bond program.

Tom