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Big Wal-Mart planned for aquifer zone
Big Wal-Mart planned for aquifer zone
Developers claim corner of Slaughter Lane and MoPac is exempt from Save Our Springs rules
Austin American Statesman
March 26, 2003
Wal-Mart plans to build a 24-hour Supercenter over the environmentally sensitive Edwards Aquifer recharge zone in Southwest Austin as part of a larger $30 million retail project.
The store would be on 29 acres studded with cedar and hardwood trees at the northeast corner of MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) and Slaughter Lane.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. would buy the land from Austin-based Endeavor Real Estate Group, which controls 43 acres at the northeast corner of the intersection and seven more at the southeast corner.
Endeavor plans to develop up to 260,000 square feet of retail space on the two tracts. The other sites would house restaurants, banks and other services that developers say are needed in the rapidly growing residential area, home to thousands of residents in Circle C, Shady Hollow and other subdivisions.
Endeavor also is teaming with Austin-based Stratus Properties Inc. to develop more than 110,000 square feet of retail space on 45 acres on the west side of MoPac at Slaughter Lane.
For developers and retailers, the Wal-Mart site is prime real estate because, they say, the project wouldn't be restricted by the city's Save Our Spring Ordinance, which limits the amount of development in the environmentally sensitive area.
The ordinance restricts the amount of land covered by buildings and parking lots to 15 percent of a total tract. However, a 1996 settlement between the city and the former owner of the proposed Wal-Mart tract would allow up to 65 percent of the land to be developed, according to Chris Ellis, a principal with Endeavor, and Richard Suttle Jr., Wal-Mart's zoning lawyer in Austin.
Ellis and Suttle say zoning for the retail development is already in place. And, pending City Council approval of a site plan, construction could begin early next year.
The Save Our Springs Alliance, an environmental group, said it has major concerns about a big-box retail development over the aquifer.
Colin Clark, communications director for the Save Our Springs Alliance, said a Wal-Mart would "generate huge amounts of polluted stormwater runoff" and spawn more urban development in the area.
"The Barton Springs watershed is an inappropriate location for a project the size of a Wal-Mart Supercenter," Clark said. "We're going to research the details of what the city agreed to and also talk with the developers and see if they can find a site in a less sensitive watershed."
Ellis said Endeavor would essentially comply with the city's impervious cover requirement by not building to the 65 percent allowed and by purchasing 50 to 125 acres of sensitive land elsewhere that would remain largely or totally undeveloped.
"We would mitigate down to 15 percent impervious cover on this site," Ellis said. "We're going way above and beyond what's permitted in that agreement and we're going to go to great lengths to develop the site in a sensitive manner."
Patrick Murphy, the city's environmental officer, said the city will check the developer's claims that the land doesn't fall under the SOS ordinance.
Murphy said that while the city may not be excited about a Wal-Mart at that site, he is encouraged that the developer plans to offset the environmental impact.
"If you're faced with something awful, then something better than awful would be great," he said. "Certainly we'd be very interested in hearing what Wal-Mart would be willing to do on this tract to mitigate our concerns about the environment, growth and traffic."
Wal-Mart representatives and their local consultants briefed other city officials on their plans this week.
Mayor Gus Garcia, who was an Austin City Council member when the development agreement for the land was struck in 1996, said the project "looks OK to me."
"We looked at the situation at the time and figured it was in our best interest to do the agreement," Garcia said. "Whether I would vote the same way today I don't know. . . . What's encouraging is that Wal-Mart is willing to look at complying with SOS funda- mentally."
Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is rapidly expanding its Supercenters nationwide. Local retail brokers have said the chain plans to more than double the number of Supercenters in Central Texas during the next two years.
Wal-Mart currently has four Supercenters in Central Texas and plans to open three more this year.
In Austin, the company has three traditional stores and two Sam's Club warehouse stores. The five stores employed a total of 1,367 people and generated $5 million in city sales tax revenue in 2002. The company also paid nearly $2 million in property taxes on the five store.
Daphne Davis Moore, community affairs manager for Wal-Mart, said the company wants more stores within Austin's city limits.
"Conservatively, we will be pursuing three to four sites over the next 18 to 20 months," she said, adding that the market is growing and profitable.
The stores have combined a traditional Wal-Mart with a supermarket, making Wal-Mart one of the nation's largest grocers. The Austin-area expansion will pit Wal-Mart against the area's market leader, H-E-B.
The San Antonio-based grocery chain has its own expansion plans, with seven more stores slated to open in Central Texas this year, including two that will replace existing stores.
Although Wal-Mart has not yet taken a serious share of the market in Central Texas, H-E-B spokeswoman Kate Brown said, "They're a very large company and we don't take that for granted."
Copyright (c) 2003 Austin American-Statesman
Developers claim corner of Slaughter Lane and MoPac is exempt from Save Our Springs rules
Austin American Statesman
March 26, 2003
Wal-Mart plans to build a 24-hour Supercenter over the environmentally sensitive Edwards Aquifer recharge zone in Southwest Austin as part of a larger $30 million retail project.
The store would be on 29 acres studded with cedar and hardwood trees at the northeast corner of MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) and Slaughter Lane.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. would buy the land from Austin-based Endeavor Real Estate Group, which controls 43 acres at the northeast corner of the intersection and seven more at the southeast corner.
Endeavor plans to develop up to 260,000 square feet of retail space on the two tracts. The other sites would house restaurants, banks and other services that developers say are needed in the rapidly growing residential area, home to thousands of residents in Circle C, Shady Hollow and other subdivisions.
Endeavor also is teaming with Austin-based Stratus Properties Inc. to develop more than 110,000 square feet of retail space on 45 acres on the west side of MoPac at Slaughter Lane.
For developers and retailers, the Wal-Mart site is prime real estate because, they say, the project wouldn't be restricted by the city's Save Our Spring Ordinance, which limits the amount of development in the environmentally sensitive area.
The ordinance restricts the amount of land covered by buildings and parking lots to 15 percent of a total tract. However, a 1996 settlement between the city and the former owner of the proposed Wal-Mart tract would allow up to 65 percent of the land to be developed, according to Chris Ellis, a principal with Endeavor, and Richard Suttle Jr., Wal-Mart's zoning lawyer in Austin.
Ellis and Suttle say zoning for the retail development is already in place. And, pending City Council approval of a site plan, construction could begin early next year.
The Save Our Springs Alliance, an environmental group, said it has major concerns about a big-box retail development over the aquifer.
Colin Clark, communications director for the Save Our Springs Alliance, said a Wal-Mart would "generate huge amounts of polluted stormwater runoff" and spawn more urban development in the area.
"The Barton Springs watershed is an inappropriate location for a project the size of a Wal-Mart Supercenter," Clark said. "We're going to research the details of what the city agreed to and also talk with the developers and see if they can find a site in a less sensitive watershed."
Ellis said Endeavor would essentially comply with the city's impervious cover requirement by not building to the 65 percent allowed and by purchasing 50 to 125 acres of sensitive land elsewhere that would remain largely or totally undeveloped.
"We would mitigate down to 15 percent impervious cover on this site," Ellis said. "We're going way above and beyond what's permitted in that agreement and we're going to go to great lengths to develop the site in a sensitive manner."
Patrick Murphy, the city's environmental officer, said the city will check the developer's claims that the land doesn't fall under the SOS ordinance.
Murphy said that while the city may not be excited about a Wal-Mart at that site, he is encouraged that the developer plans to offset the environmental impact.
"If you're faced with something awful, then something better than awful would be great," he said. "Certainly we'd be very interested in hearing what Wal-Mart would be willing to do on this tract to mitigate our concerns about the environment, growth and traffic."
Wal-Mart representatives and their local consultants briefed other city officials on their plans this week.
Mayor Gus Garcia, who was an Austin City Council member when the development agreement for the land was struck in 1996, said the project "looks OK to me."
"We looked at the situation at the time and figured it was in our best interest to do the agreement," Garcia said. "Whether I would vote the same way today I don't know. . . . What's encouraging is that Wal-Mart is willing to look at complying with SOS funda- mentally."
Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is rapidly expanding its Supercenters nationwide. Local retail brokers have said the chain plans to more than double the number of Supercenters in Central Texas during the next two years.
Wal-Mart currently has four Supercenters in Central Texas and plans to open three more this year.
In Austin, the company has three traditional stores and two Sam's Club warehouse stores. The five stores employed a total of 1,367 people and generated $5 million in city sales tax revenue in 2002. The company also paid nearly $2 million in property taxes on the five store.
Daphne Davis Moore, community affairs manager for Wal-Mart, said the company wants more stores within Austin's city limits.
"Conservatively, we will be pursuing three to four sites over the next 18 to 20 months," she said, adding that the market is growing and profitable.
The stores have combined a traditional Wal-Mart with a supermarket, making Wal-Mart one of the nation's largest grocers. The Austin-area expansion will pit Wal-Mart against the area's market leader, H-E-B.
The San Antonio-based grocery chain has its own expansion plans, with seven more stores slated to open in Central Texas this year, including two that will replace existing stores.
Although Wal-Mart has not yet taken a serious share of the market in Central Texas, H-E-B spokeswoman Kate Brown said, "They're a very large company and we don't take that for granted."
Copyright (c) 2003 Austin American-Statesman