Land buy in 1949: UT to lease 109 acres

AUSTIN – University of Texas System regents agreed to lease 109 acres of university-owned land in Northwest Austin for commercial development expected to include apartments, offices and limited retail.

The tract, at the southwest corner of West Braker Ln. and MoPac Blvd. (Loop 1), is largely undeveloped.

UT-Austin plans to work with Hines Interests LP which will function as a master developer for the tract. The agreement with Hines runs for ten years with an option to extend it five years.

The university acquired the various properties in 1949 from the federal government with the help of Lyndon B. Johnson, then a member of the U.S. Senate. The land had been used for a federally owned magnesium plant during World War II.

The university already leases a parcel at the southeast corner of the intersection to the Simon Property Group for a mixed-use development known as the Shops at Arbor Walk, which sits next to the university’s J.J. Pickle Research Campus.

Read more at the Austin American-Statesman.