Austinist: It's Official: Villa Muse Is Dead in Austin

seth

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:45:51 -0600

Another developer has been trying to pull the same land-lock-up maneuver up in Leander. It's masquerading as the Texas X-Park. The scheme: 1. Convince investors to buy into this extreme sports country club concept. 2. Purchase 140 acres of Leander property at today's market value. 3. Burn through $60 million of investors' money in this implausible money pit. 4. Wait for the investors to beg to cash out at a substantial loss. 5. Developer owns 140 acres of property that has appreciated thanks to suburban sprawl. 6. Profit $$$$!

Jamess

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:42:16 -0600

I heard the same story about the developer sending out emails. But, it was when his "boy" was elected mayor. It was referring to Mcracken, who was a strong supporter of this terrible idea.

txtoast

Tue, 06 May 2008 14:45:17 -0600

I like how that drawing shows the space between Villa Muse and downtown as grey emptiness. They erased my whole neighborhood!

Slickshu

Tue, 06 May 2008 14:40:57 -0600

Council did the right thing here -- beware the rogue who offers you a deal that you must take now or never. If a deal is so good, it will still be good after the public has had a chance to chew on it a bit. A little sunshine should never spoil a development deal. Interesting that the Villa Muse developer, in a petulent fit, is sending e-mails around town pushing hard for Galindo's election, implying that he'll pitch this bad deal again when his "boy" gets on Council. Scary.

heyzeus

Tue, 06 May 2008 14:10:10 -0600

Last I heard, Villa Muse is now in talks with Bastrop. That way they can take advantage of Austin's creative capital without having to deal w/ the City of Austin and its ETJ. http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/cityhall/entries/2008/04/22/city_of_bastrop_courts_villa_m.html

Unprofitable

Tue, 06 May 2008 13:05:16 -0600

As a musician who rehearses and performs 4-5 nights a week in or near downtown, the idea of moving that far outside the city seemed preposterous to me. I can't say that a single one of my peers expressed anything different when the subject of Villa Muse came up.

Jamess

Tue, 06 May 2008 11:44:07 -0600

This was such a flop from start to finish. It was never going to happen, and by giving away potential tax-able land wasn't going to make it happen. What was going to happen was the land would be given for Villa Muse, and then commercial property would have been built - but without the creative complex. Thereby giving a developer a free ride on non-annexed land. And, most of the City Council understood that.

JohnM

Tue, 06 May 2008 11:15:19 -0600

Beyond the debate of "would this even work," where else could this possibly work in Texas other than Austin? Wasn't half the point of Villa Muse to interact with Austin's creative capital?