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Old Posted Nov 13, 2007, 6:30 AM
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'New Urbanism' leader to lend his expertise to land surrounding Windsor Park Mall

For those not familiar, this is the $500 million dollar Windcrest mixed-use development planned for the land adjacent to the south of Windsor Park Mall/future HQ of Rackspace.

Quote:
'New Urbanism' leader to lend his expertise to land surrounding Windsor Park Mall

http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sa...ml?jst=b_ln_hl

San Antonio Business Journal - by Tricia Lynn Silva

The man behind a nationally recognized plan to tackle suburban sprawl has turned his attention to several hundred acres of land in proximity to the former Windsor Park Mall.

Andrés Duany, founding principal of architectural firm Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co. (DPZ) in Miami, will meet with officials from the cities of Windcrest and San Antonio on Nov. 13 to discuss his plans for a charette planning process next month.

A charrette is a brainstorming session where people discuss possibilities for future development. The upcoming charrette led by Duany is expected to last one week, and will be held in early December.

The goal of this charrette will be to come up with a detailed design for 303 acres of land within the boundaries of both Windcrest and San Antonio. The acreage is located along Interstate Highway 35, between Walzem and Eisenhauer roads.

The land lies adjacent to former retail center Windsor Park Mall. The mall is being redeveloped as the new headquarters for Rackspace Managed Hosting.

All of the land, including the Windsor Park Mall property, is owned by the Windcrest Economic Development Co. LLC.

DPZ is a co-founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism. The architectural movement works with architects, developers, planners, politicians and others to create walkable, neighborhood-based properties. The organization works to revitalize forgotten and degenerating areas, and promotes alternatives to suburban sprawl.
The land in blue:


Last edited by sirkingwilliam; Nov 14, 2007 at 7:24 AM.
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Old Posted Nov 14, 2007, 7:25 AM
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http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/met...m.2ad942e.html

Quote:
Planning sessions set for Walzem Road area

Web Posted: 11/13/2007 11:09 PM CST

Elaine Ayo
Express-News

City staff from San Antonio and Windcrest heard from urban planner Andres Duany on Tuesday about their role in the coming planning charrette for two properties in the Walzem Road area.

"(Plans) are normally done in private off in a backroom, but then you get it wrong and make everybody angry to boot," Duany said.

A leader in the New Urbanism movement, Duany and Miami-based Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co. will oversee planning sessions that will culminate with a concept for 137 acres along Eisenhauer Road on the southern edge of Windcrest and 166 acres between Walzem Road and Eisenhauer in San Antonio.

"My goal is to create a sustainable neighborhood," said Gary Cain of the Windcrest Economic Development Corp., which hired Duany to plan the developments. New Urbanism promotes pedestrian-friendly communities where business and residential uses are mixed.

In urban planning, a charrette brings together all stakeholders in the new development over a short time for input in the final design. Duany and his staff hope to include city staff from Windcrest and San Antonio, area business owners and residents in the process.

Although it involves consulting with public officials, the process doesn't bypass the regular permitting process, Duany said.

"The reason I thought the project was interesting was it contained so many typical situations," Duany said of the once-vibrant Walzem Road corridor, which slowly declined as retailers left Windsor Park Mall.

Paid for by the private Windcrest Economic Development Corp., the developments are another cog in a multimillion-dollar revitalization plan for the Walzem Road corridor, which will also bring Rackspace Managed Hosting into Windcrest as the new tenant for the old mall site.

"We talked about six years ago about what was happening on the Northeast Side, and, frankly, nothing was happening," Windcrest Mayor Jack Leonhardt said.

The development corporation's Cain said that after meeting several times with Leonhardt and his own brother, City Manager Ronnie Cain, to discuss the decline of Windsor Park Mall, the three realized that they would need to secure a tenant to go forward and began looking into how to acquire the mall.

Windcrest made a deal with San Antonio to take over 229 acres of the city in exchange for a portion of sales and property tax revenues for the next 30 years.

Windcrest Economic Development Corp. is looking into hiring another planner to design a concept for the rest of the corridor between the two developments Duany's firm is designing, said Ray Watson, executive director of the Windcrest company.

"It's innovative in that it's something not seen in San Antonio today," Watson said of Cain's idea for the area.

The charrette is scheduled for Dec. 4 to 10, with a meeting at which residents can offer their opinions set for Dec. 7. A final schedule and Web site for the charrette are expected within a few weeks, said Ben Brown, spokesman for Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co.
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Old Posted Nov 14, 2007, 9:59 AM
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Windcrest is also being proactive in getting business that's don't fit their model out. They are in the middle of shutting down a flea market, that is in an old wal-mart building that is in that blue shaded area. Not to mention windcrest has gotten TXDOT to reconfigure the entrance and exit ramps. That should have alreaded started.
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Old Posted Nov 28, 2007, 5:48 AM
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This is the land they're going to have a charrette on.



The left parcel, which belongs to Windcrest, is 137 acres and the right parcel, which belongs to San Antonio, is 166 acres.

Image courtesy of www.whatsnextforwindsorpark.com
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Old Posted Nov 28, 2007, 7:47 AM
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I'm excited that this is the same firm that designed Legacy in Plano, home to EDS, Frito-lay and JCPenney as well as the highly sucessful Legacy Town Center with it mixed use configuration of office, residential and high-end retail. One of the project participants says that he wants windcrest to not only be what it was in it's heyday but to rise to a even further level.
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Old Posted Nov 28, 2007, 2:26 PM
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Quote:
I'm excited that this is the same firm that designed Legacy in Plano, home to EDS, Frito-lay and JCPenney ...
I didn't realize that. My cousin works for the JCPenney office as an artist/designer, and we drove through that whole office park area
on our visit to the Dallas area last summer.

I remember passing by the Windcrest/Windsor Mall area on my trip to San Antonio last month. Anyone recall which interstate exit that is ?
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Old Posted Nov 28, 2007, 6:01 PM
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Walzem is exit 165, and Eisenhauer is 164.
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Old Posted Nov 28, 2007, 6:12 PM
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I like that the city of San Antonio (COSA) is getting in on this. This is really going to change the Walzem corridor. I also like what TXDot has planned for Walzem Road itself.
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Old Posted Nov 28, 2007, 9:37 PM
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Maybe the city and Windcrest can think of something to do with those big warehouse stores (Carpet World, Bargain Barn) on the other side of 35. There's great potential there.
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Old Posted Nov 29, 2007, 6:41 AM
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Until the train tracks are removed from the west side of i-35 you are going to see that kind of development there I am afraid.
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Old Posted Nov 29, 2007, 7:09 PM
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When the yard on Dignowity Hill on the east side is gone, that tracking might be a viable rail ROW. Let's not get rid of it quite yet.
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Old Posted Nov 29, 2007, 10:53 PM
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Maybe get light rail from downtown SA to New Braunfels or the very least Schertz/Cibolo.
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Old Posted Nov 29, 2007, 11:00 PM
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Alexjon, when do you think the Dignowity Hill UP yard will close?
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