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'

A look at why Cedar Park is more eventful

The Austin Business Journal recognized two of BWM Group's commercial projects at the Williamson County Growth Summit. The Cedar Park Event's Center holds up to 9,000 persons and will generate up to $200,000 in sales tax.


The 1890 Ranch shopping center is not just another retail center. In addition to generating payroll in excess of $10 million, BWM designed a great place. Visitors can splash in the sundial while waiting for their movie to start and park their car in one of many shaded spots from the existing oak trees saved.

New park for Pflugerville

Lake Pflugerville Park lands on the front page of the Statesman Metro Section this weekend. BWM developed the master plan and design for the City of Pflugerville. Working with HDR engineering, the team developed a loop trail around the City’s new regional storm water lake. This trail was a crucial component to the city-wide trail system by connecting the newly developed residences around this lake to the rest of the community by linking the loop trail to the City’s existing network of trails. Through a multitude of stakeholder meetings, BWM was able to span residential surface drainage and develop a congruous and durable trail system that was pleasing to the eye, accessible to all and an asset to the cities entire trail system. Photo by Deborah Cannon.

Contractor of the Year Award

The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) awarded T.A. Todd Construction the Contractor of the Year Award for the Georgetown residential remodel designed by David Rothenberg.

Notice how the remodel adds a new 300 square foot sunny family room by moving the mechanical equipment to the attic and consolidating the corridor spaces to the center.

The Georgetown town home was a part of the NARI tour of homes on October 24th and 25th.

Texas Tubing at Zedler Mills

Luling Texas has just purchased a 38 acre parcel of land immediately south of their historic Zedler Mill site. Luling purchased the property to serve as an open space for play. The site will also serve as a put in and take out for a short float down the San Marcos River through the park or part of a larger ride on the official Texas Paddling Trail. Tim Bargainer, Brandon Hay, and Sallie Burchett will be presenting the draft master plan of the site to the Zedler Mills committee this evening. The plan ties the open space park and historic site together and also links them to the adjacent Southside Park and other community spaces.

Let's get started already - in downtown New Braunfels

In hopes that the downtown New Braunfels master plan does more than sit on the shelf, resident Sofia Baltadano de Wilbert said it best. “Let’s get started already. There are so many things that we can improve.” Torti Gallas, Capital Market Research, TND Engineering and BWM Group are pleased to have drafted the plan and hope to see it implemented as well. The picture above shows the current pedestrian environment that links their charming downtown square to the beautiful Comal River. Guess which phase we suggest for the W. San Antonio Street pedestrian improvements? Read the full article about the community's response here.

Texas Counties Award Brushy Creek Regional Trail

The Brushy Creek Regional Trail has done it again. Williamson County has received its fifth major award: an Innovative Best Practices Award from the Texas Association of Counties. In addition to its aesthetic and recreational appeal, the unseen virtue is that six public entities were able to work together and come up with a plan that benefits the entire region. BWM congratulates Williamson County and Jim Rodgers on a job well done. As master planner and designer, we are honored to have participated in this valuable community asset.

Seaholm Power Plant is a Great Place

We didn't create this place -- but recognize one when we see it. The developers for the reuse of Seaholm Power Plant and the City of Austin hosted ACL after parties at the future mixed use development this weekend. The organizers used the smoke stacks as an architectural canvas painting with lights and hues that pulsed along with the music. It was a fantastic artistic display for downtown Austin. It was also a wonderful reminder about the great places that are created with the right lighting.

Reduce - Reuse - Recycle [your old college apartment]

BWM Group has had the pleasure of working with the Renaissance Properties to design the renovation of the Townhomes @ Riverside Grove. Originally built in the early 1970's the interior layouts were dated and not code compliant. The exterior was deteriorated and aesthetically uninspiring. BWM identified major updates for the facility with extreme respect to the budget. Renaissance is able to offer an affordable housing product with units starting at $130k. Take a peek yourself at the before and after images. Wow.

Park(ing) Day

The City of Round Rock and BWM Group are celebrating Park(ing) day on historic main street. We transformed two parking spaces into a miniature park for the day. Why? To celebrate the virtues of green space: social, environmental, and economic. Come by for some lemonade.

Texas Baked Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ta dah! Here is the finished product. It took 4 hours of dashboard baking, instead of the 2.5 to 3 hours as suggested. I think that was because ours cookies were big. (We are in Texas after all where everything is bigger.) The only negative I found was they didn't really brown. But they were crispy, fully cooked, yummy and gooey. What is the moral of the story? Don't leave your Chanel lipstick or labrador in the car, but feel free to bake cookies in it....oh, and ask your City Council Members, County Commissioners, Governor, and President for more tree shaded sidewalks.

Heat Index

I read an article last night about baking chocolate chip cookies in your car when outside temperatures are above 100. Well, shoot, I thought. My black car tells me it is 107 when I pull out of downtown Round Rock at the end of the day. So, we are baking chocolate chip cookies in my car this afternoon! I put them in at noon and they should be ready in 3 hours. Come on by 102 E. Main Street in Round Rock after 3:00 for a taste test. Talk about passive energy use. Who needs solar panels? Wind farms, schwind farms.

Worst drought since 1872

According to the River Systems Institute, Texas is experiencing one of the worst droughts on record and described as the worst drought conditions in the country. These conditions have not been seen since 1872! Please conserve your water use - and those of us in development need to think about the implications of our planning (or lack of) ranging from vegetation type to land use decisions.

Guggenheim was not meant to be white

:: Photo: Daniel Wolf and Mathew Wolf in memory of Diane R. Wolf, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation via The New York Times

I know how he felt. One holiday season I was driving through Cedar Park and was struck by the monotony of white holiday lights...everywhere. Where was the color? How about some red, green, or even purple? I made it home and declared only colored lights at our house from now on. My moderate - yet leaning right when it comes to aesthetics - husband quickly stomped out my declaration of hue. http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/06/24/realestate/0628-scape