How to Make Northcross a Huge Success

submitted by Steven Zettner

Wham. Here comes Wal-Mart. And this being central Austin, the anti-Wal-Mart folks aren’t far behind. I’ve also heard from a few folks, many of them 40+ year residents of the neighborhood, who welcome Wal-Mart’s convenience and low prices with open arms. I think they are a minority, but one we should certainly respect.

Me, I’m not fond of Wal-Mart, but I’ll admit to making the occasional pilgrimage. I have a young family, so another grocery store doesn’t sound too bad. But we’re also part of Wal-Mart’s growing “urban” target demographic with household income over $60,000, which means we can ignore Wal-Mart if we choose to.

Will we ignore Wal-Mart? Wal-Mart may assume, as it has in other cities, that any anger stirred up by the initial entry will die down, and that the store will be profitable in 3-5 years. That may very well be true. Or not. The company’s recent ignominious retreat from Germany gives pause. Like Central Austin, Germans tend to have more disposable income than average and thus can afford to be a little picky in where they spend their shopping time. The traditional Wal-Mart shopper asks, “What do we need from Wal-Mart?” The slightly more affluent younger Allandale family asks, “Where do we want to go hang out with the kids while we do some shopping?” And that raises the critical question that Wal-Mart should be asking: Is Northcross Mall a place consumers like my family will want to go to?

From the plans they’ve presented, the answer is no. I’ve studied the site map for Northcross carefully. I’ll be blunt – it’s a mess of compromises and leaves me cold. It feels like Plano, not Austin.  Other than the ice rink, there’s nothing much there that would make me say, “Hey, let’s grab the kids and head down to Northcross.”

The irony is that if Wal-Mart wanted to know what people in Allandale like, the Allandale Neighborhood Association could answer the question. We’ve just finished a neighborhood survey. The preliminary results tell us that nine in ten residents are concerned about preserving green spaces and an even bigger number say that green spaces are an attractive part of the neighborhood. People like to take walks in the park. They feel strongly about the sense of community. “Keeping the feel of the neighborhood” ranks high too, and I interpret that in part to mean keeping businesses that make the area unique.

In my mind, the commercial center that best reflects these values is the Central Market on 38^th, followed by the new Triangle center at Lamar and Guadalupe, and the Arboretum. All do an excellent job of buffering parking lots from the street and integrating commercial space with green space. There are lots of places for people to walk and gather, and for children to play. In Allandale, the same can be said of Amy’s Ice Cream, which is always busy even on a Thursday afternoon, where mothers relax while their children work the giant outdoor shuffleboard.
Northcross, by contrast, is one big ugly parking lot. The proposed redesign is still one big ugly parking lot, plus a Wal-Mart.

The new plan replaces three parking lots with a three-level parking garage, but these lots will be swapped for additional retail space, not greenery. The parking lots on the eastern half of the site closest to the intersection of Burnet and Anderson are left pretty much as is, including one big parking lot directly on Burnet.

The only serious green space contemplated for the redevelopment is a water treatment pond at the far western end of the site. This feature will be landscaped but is not designed for recreation.

The plan includes a narrow pedestrian zone between the Wal-Mart and the remaining part of the mall, but this zone is also a parking lot that permits vehicular traffic.

Lincoln Property has valid reasons for the design it came up with. Several of the properties at the fringes of the mall belong to other owners. Also, Robert Dozier of Lincoln Property told us that they decided to keep the existing eastern part of the mall instead of demolishing it to reduce the downtime faced by existing tenants. And of course, any land given up to greenery or pedestrian areas is land that is not generating revenue. That’s a valid point and Allandale needs to address it in any alternative solution we work towards.

There are alternatives. For example, rearranging the mall design to accommodate a more pedestrian friendly layout might require leaving the current tenants where they are for a longer period than was intended, but the new buildings that go up could have more stories, for additional retail or office space. The more attractive environment would make it easier to sell these slots, and to attract local businesses that have broader appeal to area residents. A bookstore comes to mind. More kid-friendly restaurants too.

The required modifications might delay the Wal-Mart, but Wal-Mart still wins. It gets a location that people actually want to go to. It addresses concerns about its impact on local business by helping local businesses to thrive. It proves that it is a good neighbor with an urban sensitivity to urban consumers. Take this approach, and Wal-Mart’s returns will exceed its expectations.

Comments

[Jennifer]

To help our elderly neighbors get access to what they ask, could we arrange for a weekly van trip to a Walmart or a Target? Maybe we could compromise with them because their needs are important. But so are ours.

[Alex Keller]

Other than Wal-Mart's well-known unethical business practices, and the cultural homogenization that it is bringing, my main concerns have not been addressed by the company yet.
1. How will Wal-Mart impact traffic on Anderson and Burnet, and through the neighborhood?
2. How will 24x7 retail impact the neighborhood?

[John Keohane]

Thanks to Steve for an articulate and thought provoking article.

The article mentions results of the recent surveys which we in Allandale took. When will these results be posted?

--John Keohane
(512) 371-3853
keohane@prodigy.net