Austin | UT Dell Campus for Advanced Research

[ATX2030]

Austin's MD Anderson Cancer Center all but certain to rise near The Domain

The old Frank Erwin Center site has big drawbacks, UT leaders say — they need to go bigger

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/...as-share-more-medical-center-austin.html

The expansion of MD Anderson Cancer Center to Austin is a massive win — but where will it rise? The university had initially said it was only considering building the medical center at the site of the former Frank Erwin Center next to I-35, but that land just won't do, UT leaders said.

[LiveattheOasis]

I'm a bit disappointed that the MD Anderson Hospital won't be central. I'd like to know what they'll end up doing with that area (sounds like growing the Dell Hospital).

[GoldenBoot]

I'm really excited about this move. It's going to end up being a boon for Austin. And, once they began discussing the overall scope of the project, there was no way they could use the old Erwin Center site.

As for the potential uses of the Erwin Center site...the article states the following:

"Some real estate experts have said due to the site's acreage it could be well suited to host a variety of academic uses like research-based projects or could accommodate more public facing uses including a museum or other sports and entertainment projects."

[Syndic]

Oh wow. I wonder if it will be on the JJ Pickle site or across Mopac near Braker Ln & Stonelake Blvd?

Also, what did the article say is wrong with the Erwin Center site? Too small? Too hard to access?

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by Syndic

Oh wow. I wonder if it will be on the JJ Pickle site or across Mopac near Braker Ln & Stonelake Blvd?

Also, what did the article say is wrong with the Erwin Center site? Too small? Too hard to access?

At the scale of which UT & MD Anderson are planning, the Erwin site was always going to be far too small. They realized that late last summer. Additionally, with all the vehicle trips this new medical district is going to have, there was also no way Erwin would work - especially when one considers traffic due to home games and more importantly - the 10+ year redevelopment of IH-35. What a nightmare scenario.

My guess is the MCC site. It's mostly a greenfield site versus brown (with Pickle). Remember, all of that undeveloped land on either side of Stonelake is UT's.

[lonewolf]

the old ibm campus is an ideal spot for the md anderson center i just don't see how it would work out

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by lonewolf

the old ibm campus is an ideal spot for the md anderson center i just don't see how it would work out

It won't - as UT does not own that property. The district will be constructed on land owned by UT.

[Armybrat]

Don’t forget that UT still owns the Brackenridge Tract down on LBL (Town Lake).
80+ acres that front on the lake can be developed, same for the 140+ acres of the municipal golf course.
https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/f...kenridge/VolumeOne/VolumeOneTOCIntro.pdf

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by Armybrat

Don’t forget that UT still owns the Brackenridge Tract down on LBL (Town Lake).
80+ acres that front on the lake can be developed, same for the 140+ acres of the municipal golf course.
https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/f...kenridge/VolumeOne/VolumeOneTOCIntro.pdf

That will not occur. As it's already been made clear, this project is huge. And, it's not the type of project that can be dropped in the middle of a single family residential area - no matter the acreage. The roads cannot handle the traffic.

As for the JJ Pickle campus - I'm not sure that would be viable too. Are they going to move all the engineering labs? Also, there is a live nuclear reactor there that has been in operation for almost 34 years. And, they are developing a "Molten Salt" reactor - which will com online soon.

These are small reactors. But, reactors nonetheless. And, I'm not sure it's wise to build a cancer hospital and research center next to a reactor (no matter how well it is shielded).

[urbancore]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

That will not occur. As it's already been made clear, this project is huge. And, it's not the type of project that can be dropped in the middle of a single family residential area - no matter the acreage. The roads cannot handle the traffic.

As for the JJ Pickle campus - I'm not sure that would be viable too. Are they going to move all the engineering labs? Also, there is a live nuclear reactor there that has been in operation for almost 34 years. And, they are developing a "Molten Salt" reactor - which will com online soon.

These are small reactors. But, reactors nonetheless. And, I'm not sure it's wise to build a cancer hospital and research center next to a reactor (no matter how well it is shielded).

this is the info that keeps me coming back to this site everyday. Thanks for that.

[drummer]

How much of the land around the West Pickle Research Building do they own? Looking at the land bordered by Braker, Stonelake, Mopac, and Capital of Texas Hwy.

Not sure if that's the name of the building or not, but according to Google Maps it is, so I'm sticking with it.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by drummer

How much of the land around the West Pickle Research Building do they own? Looking at the land bordered by Braker, Stonelake, Mopac, and Capital of Texas Hwy.

Not sure if that's the name of the building or not, but according to Google Maps it is, so I'm sticking with it.

109 acres. This is going to Pickle West, so not much to debate about the location.

[ATX2030]

Austin looking to rezone UT-owned land near The Domain
The land already holds the J.J. Pickle Research Campus

--Austin is considering rezoning 374 acres of UT-owned land in North Austin to support life sciences development and a planned medical center....

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/...ying-rezone-land-ut-near-the-domain.html

With both Ascension Seton Northwest Hospital and St. David's North Austin Medical Center close by plus all the associated medical offices already in that area seems like a logical location. With the addition of UT Med Center and MD Anderson were looking at massive medical hub for Central Texas.

[ILUVSAT]

Looks like the JJ Pickle research campus (across Burnet from Q2) is on the same "tract" of land as MCC and the undeveloped area around it on Stonelake Blvd. Interesting. I always thought those might be different tracts. I also didn't realize that the shopping center along the northbound frontage of MoPac (between 360 and Braker) is on UT land.

[Croon]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

Looks like the JJ Pickle research campus (across Burnet from Q2) is on the same "tract" of land as MCC and the undeveloped area around it on Stonelake Blvd. Interesting. I always thought those might be different tracts. I also didn't realize that the shopping center along the northbound frontage of MoPac (between 360 and Braker) is on UT land.

Shopping center you mention is The Shops at Arbor Walk. UT used to have a driving (golf) range there. Can be funky as westbound Braker Ln traffic likes to hang a U turn there at Mopac frontage so they can enter the shopping center entrance on the eastbound side. There's no gap in the median for left turns.

[ATX2030]

UT scraps plans for medical center at Erwin Center site, moves to North Austin

https://www.kut.org/health/2026-02-18/un...rson-cancer-hospital-erwin-center-domain

The University of Texas at Austin’s planned academic medical complex, which includes an MD Anderson Cancer Center location, will no longer be built at the site of the former Frank Erwin Center. It will instead be built at a site near the Domain in North Austin, UT Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife announced Wednesday.

“It became apparent that the proposed Erwin Center location would not be as conducive to the fully-integrated, patient centered approach that was being envisioned, and there would be limits to future growth on that site,” Eltife said at a board meeting.

He said the new site, located west of UT’s J.J. Pickle Research Campus, “makes all the sense in the world” for the medical complex.

Eltife first indicated late last year that UT Austin and MD Anderson leaders were considering moving the project. He said there is currently no concrete plan for the Erwin Center site, but that UT Austin President Jim Davis would announce an alternative direction for the site in the future.

“We couldn't be more excited about bringing this project forward, uniting UT MD Anderson's renowned cancer care with UT Austin's academic medical center and world class research enterprise,” Eltife said, calling the project “a once in a generation opportunity to define the future health care of Texas.”

The medical center complex is set to be complete by 2030.

[drummer]

Looking forward to seeing some plans on this for the area.

I'm also curious to see what then is done with the former Erwin Center site. I assume it will just be used for the medical school expansion - wasn't that the original plan before the hospital announcements?

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by drummer

Looking forward to seeing some plans on this for the area.

I'm also curious to see what then is done with the former Erwin Center site. I assume it will just be used for the medical school expansion - wasn't that the original plan before the hospital announcements?

Yeah, UT needs room to expand their main campus. It won't be empty for too long, and I suspect they have some internal plans that they are not ready to announce.

[The ATX]

I just realized that I never posted this on SSP.

UT had an active site plan for Pickle West going through the approval process prior to the Med Center announcement. The project is/was quite extensive:

1850 RUs
4.4M Sq Ft of office space
165K Sq Ft of retail.

From the site plan:

https://x.com/TheATX1/status/2001065075545923686

[gillynova]

Jesus, 1850 residential units in that area is HUGE