I thought more Californians hated Wal-Mart per capita than locals, but Wal-mart has Allandale residents up in arms. Allandale is the nice, peaceful community in North Austin. City Council is on the hotseat because residents are saying they weren’t made aware of Wal-mart’s plans to revitalize the aging Northcross Shopping Center.

Wal-mart actually followed all proper notification procedures, but residents thought this wasn’t enough. They want a redeveloped area, but were looking for more of a mixed-use, upscale project.

Per the Austin Statesman:

Responsible Growth for Northcross is having a community meeting
Thursday to organize what it says is significant opposition by some
residents and nearby store owners to the plan. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says the new mall will draw more traffic for
nearby stores and says its 219,000-square-foot store will have a more
upscale design than its typical format.
         

But the protest group says a 24-hour Wal-Mart has no place in a
neighborhood of single-family homes. They say it will bring increased
traffic that area roads aren’t equipped to handle and will hurt
independently owned businesses.

The Austin Business Journal Reported–

In a letter to City Council Member Mike Martinez, Wal-Mart
committed to a 60-day self-imposed moratorium on development of the
site and filing permit applications with the city.

Martinez and other members of the council praised the decision,
calling it a first step toward working together with community
stakeholders. "The mayor and council members worked together on this deal, and I
want the residents of those neighborhoods to know that we hear their
concerns loud and clear," Martinez says.

According to the Statesman, work was slated to start in January on the redevelopment.
Construction of the Wal-Mart would begin in late 2007. The entire
project, to be renamed Northcross Center, is scheduled to be completed
in late 2008.

"City Council Member Brewster McCracken said he plans to talk to
Lincoln officials to see whether they would consider revising the
project to meet standards that offer incentives to encourage mixed-use,
pedestrian-oriented projects along major city roads".

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This entry was posted on Thursday, December 14th, 2006 at 6:29 am and is filed under Commercial and International Real Estate. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.