In 2012, the Seaholm District was selected as one of ten projects in North America to participate in EcoDistricts’1 Pilot Program. To further advance this work, the City of Austin’s Office of Sustainability contracted the Center to engage with diverse public, private, and non-profit sector stakeholders with an objective to identify quantitative and qualitative opportunities and benefits, articulate the project’s sustainability vision, goals, and process, develop an action agenda, and explore how emerging tools such as ecoBalance and Visible Green can add value to the EcoDistrict framework. Underscoring the assessment was the congruence between EcoDistricts’ eight key performance areas and the action areas of the Imagine Austin Vision Plan and the Office of Sustainability’s Rethink/Austin Plan.

Sustainability is a central organizing principle of the Seaholm Development District. The 65-acre District is anchored by three distinct parcels: to the west, the Southwest Strategies/Seaholm Power LLC mixed-use redevelopment on the former Seaholm Power Plant site; in the middle, the new Austin Central Library; and to the east, the Trammell Crow mixed-used redevelopment on the former Green Water Treatment Plant site.

The Center's report included recommended action areas acknowledging the Seaholm EcoDistrict’s unique opportunity to emerge as an exemplar of cohesive, healthy green building and urban design, ecological and social mindfulness, resilient infrastructure, and extraordinary innovation.

CLIENT:
City of Austin Office of Sustainability

PROJECT TEAM:
Gail Vittori; Pliny Fisk III; Brendan Wittstruck