Georgetown's Place to Work, Gather & Play

The Summit at Rivery Park is Georgetown, Texas' first high-end mixed use development. BWM has recently completed the master planning of the 32 acre development. The area will include a new regional Conference and Performing Arts Center, hotels, living spaces and specialty retail shopping - anchored with the sparkling North San Gabriel River and it's Rivery Park.

Riverside Grove Open House April 29th

Renaissance Properties is opening the doors to Riverside Grove Thursday April 29th at 6:00 pm. Be one of the first to see the urban renewal project at the Open House. The project is remarkable. Seven units have sold, two more are earmarked, and the first buyer has already settled in. Riverside Grover is unlike other urban infill developments that bulldoze existing buildings to make way for something bigger and not necessarily better. The multi-family renovation saved oodles of cubic yards from the landfill. Thus, BWM introduces the term "urban refill" rather than infill.

Riverside Grove is a shining example of a great place:

• Starting at $129,00 the units are affordable.
• The site is conveniently located in the dense Riverside corridor on the bus line.
• The architect selected sustainable materials that are better for insulating purposes, long lasting, and low maintenance.
  

The urban refill project is a step towards solving Austin's transportation and affordability problems - plus it looks great. Thanks Renaissance Properties!

Click here to learn more about the project: Riverside Grove

ARRA paves the way in Hutto

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has given Hutto a new safe way to school. BWM’s Brian Binkowski recently signed off (no small task with Brian’s punch list!) on Chasco’s completion of Cottonwood Trail. BWM has been involved with the planned sidewalk improvements since 2003. Initially, BWM group helped Hutto prepare a TEA-21 TXDoT grant to fund the design of a 10' wide 1.5 mile concrete trail linking downtown Hutto to Hutto area schools. BWM planners identified the most feasible accessible route to provide a safe and cost effective route for its youth. The finished trail provides safe passage under US 79 to school, after school activities, as well as historic downtown Hutto and its surrounding parks. The ARRA made the linkage a reality in 2009 by funding the construction of the trail with $545,478 accompanied by a $284,522 match from Hutto.

Tell us what you think about Onion Creek

Travis County is hosting two public meetings to receive input on the Onion Creek Concept Plan the first week of March, 2010.

The first meeting is March 1, 2010 from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. in the Travis County Administration Building at 314 W. 11th Street in the Commissioners Courtroom on the first floor. The second meeting is March 3, 2010 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. at the East Service Center (near ABIA) at 6011 Blue Bluff Road.

Please come and share your thoughts on the future of Onion Creek. Contact Wendy Scaperotta at wendy.saperotta@co.travis.tx.us or 512/854-7655 if you have any questions about the events.

Take a Hike

On April 10th, 2010, be one of the first to explore Williamson County’s newest park, the Williams Tract. The property is more than 1,000 acres of meadows, wetlands and rolling hills with planned features including hiking trails, campgrounds, equestrian trails, and a visitor/heritage center.

Join representatives from Williamson County and BWM Group for the following activities:

• Hike along 1K, 3K and 5K trails with park staff, native plant guides and Audubon Society members.
• Ride your horse (Riders must be at the park by 10am for 10:30am start, no late riders. Please call to reserve your spot)
• Snap some photos of the native grasses, the San Gabriel River, or wildlife on the trail photo shoot out (10:30 am or 12:30 pm, please call to reserve your tour)

Williams Tract Park is located just south of Liberty Hill. Take Hwy 29 west to Liberty Hill and turn left on RR 1869. Then turn left on CR 282 and the park is on the left just south of CR 284.
For more information or to make a reservation, please call 512-260-4283 or visit wilco.org.

Smart Phones, Smart Cars ... Smart Squares?

Is this an impressionist version of a NASCAR flag or maybe what Yin Yang looks like after one too many margaritas? Not quite. It is a Quick Response (QR) Code. Wikipedia defines a QR code as " a two-dimensional bar code created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994 ." QR Codes are common in Japan. When you think of Japan what do you think of next? Manor, Texas, of course.

In addition to hospitality, QR Codes are something Japan and the City of Manor share. In a cost savings effort, Manor implemented QR Codes internally for data management. City staff saw the benefit for sharing information with the same vehicle externally to engage citizens, businesses and tourists as well. Assistant City Manger, Dustin Haisler, and City Manager, Phil Tate, gave me a tour and demonstration Tuesday January 12th. After installing i-ngma on my phone I waved the phone with the camera engaged over the square which directed me to the specific website. This simple square links the person to an organic and more robust data source than available in printed media. The virtue is limitless. A public entity can communicate bond improvement status, cultural marker background material, native vegetation data, next bus stop arrival, etc. In addition to providing information, the entity also can collect data of the visitors. This aspect has the same advantages for private enterprise, an extremely valuable tool for target marketing efforts.

Dustin Haisler has grabbed the attention of the white house and folks from Italy to Brazil. It is wonderful to have his innovative bright mind in our region. I hope to be a part of implementing the QR Codes along some of our State's trails and greenways to better disseminate the virtues of watershed protection and connectivity.

I downloaded the viewer for my Samsung Blackjack at http://www.i-nigma.mobi. Go to http://www.block5.com/iphone for the iphone.

- Sallie Burchett, BWM Group

University of Texas makes the top 10 of Architecture Schools

"Love ‘em or hate ‘em, school rankings are influencing prospective students’ decisions on where to apply, and architecture firms’ decisions on whom to employ. RECORD looks at this year’s survey and asks people in academia and the profession what it all means."

Hook em'