 "Photo: John Lee/The Daily Texan")
A New York-based architecture firm recently introduced plans that would drastically change student housing in the UT-owned Brackenridge tract.
Late last month, Cooper, Robertson & Partners introduced its first two design proposals for the 345-acre site, including the consolidation and relocation of graduate student housing and the addition of two access ramps at Cesar Chavez Street and MoPac Boulevard to relieve traffic congestion in the area.
There are three student housing sites on the tract: the Brackenridge, Colorado and Gateway apartment complexes. Beverly Silas, a spokeswoman for the firm, said they will demolish the three sites and build a new complex where Gateway Apartments stand.
On June 18, the firm will hold a public meeting with the UT System Board of Regents to introduce two complete master plans for the tract. The changes to student housing and the addition of the access ramps are common to both proposals.
Silas said that while the three sites account for 715 apartment units, the firm hopes to increase that number to 825 units with the construction of the consolidated site, should the Board of Regents approve their proposal. Silas said the firm expects the new complex to be ready for occupancy by fall 2012.
“Conceptually speaking, I was very pleased with the outcome of the presentation,” said Daniel Spikes, president of the Graduate Student Assembly, who attended last month’s meeting with the architecture firm. “[However], there are still lots of areas that need to be explored.”
Spikes said that while he was not speaking for the graduate student body as a whole, the issues that need to be addressed before any proposal is approved are housing affordability, green space in and around the complex, parking options and the relocation of graduate students to the new Gateway site.
On Sunday, the GSA and the Brackenridge Tenant Advisory Board will hold a public meeting at the Gateway Community Center at 5 p.m., where residents will be able to speak before the firm presents its two master plans to the Board of Regents.
Debby Kalk, a member of the tenant advisory board and resident of the Colorado complex, said affordability is her biggest concern. Kalk is working on her doctorate in education and has a daughter attending college.
“Many of us have these expenses,” Kalk said. “[Living affordably] really makes a difference for me so I can get my degree in a timely way.”
Be the first to comment on this article!