The Allandale Reporter

The Latest on Wal-Mart at Northcross

Tom Linehan

Construction on the new Wal-Mart at Northcross will get underway by end of year and completed in late summer 2010. According to Trey Salinas, spokesperson for Wal-Mart in Austin, it will be the first of its kind in Texas. What follows is a Q&A I had with Trey via email:

TL: Last I heard, the Wal-Mart going in at Northcross was going to be 99,000 sf. Is that still the plan?

Trey: The Northcross store will be 97,915 sf‬.

TL: Do you have an elevation of the planned store you can share with us?

Trey: We should have a final rendering/elevation in the next couple of weeks. As soon as it is ready I will get it to you.

TL: Can you tell me how the allocation of the space will be split between grocery and general merchandise?

Trey: The current design has the grocery at around 23,800 sf. 24% of total building.‬

TL: What will the hours of operation be?‬

Trey: Open every day except between the hours of 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. Extended store hours during seasonal events such as Thanksgiving – Christmas holiday season and sales tax-free weekend. Option to offer extended hours to match store hours of retail competitors over 45,000sf within 2 mile radius of Store. ‬

Become a Habitat Steward

Join the National Wildlife Federation's (NWF) nationwide team of volunteers who serve their communities as Habitat Stewards(tm).
The City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department and NWF, in partnership with the Travis Audubon Society, are offering a specialized training to teach you how to help others create and restore wildlife habitat in backyards, schoolyards, and other private and public areas. This training is offered through the Parks and Recreation Department's Wildlife Austin program, which spearheaded the certification of Austin as a NWF Community Wildlife Habitat.

Training Topics Include:

- Native Plants for Wildlife
- Attracting Birds & Butterflies
- Landscape Design Principles
- Invasive Plants & Habitat Restoration

The 5350 Burnet Rd Mixed Use Development

Tom Linehan

The development at 5350 Burnet Rd is quickly taking shape. It is the project under construction just south of Arby's, on Burnet Road, formerly the location of the Antique Mall.  The Antique Mall is now in the HEB Shopping Center, next to Hang Town Grill. The mixed-used development, called 5350 Burnet Road, will be the first of its kind on Burnet Road. It's not something area residents are accustomed to. The Allandale Neighborhood Association's unsuccessfully tried to have it scaled back to minimize impact on traffic flow in the area when it went before the city council in 2007. One of the concerns is traffic backing up for people driving north while residents and shoppers of the development wait to turn left into it.

Allandale Neighborhood Association Meeting, Thursday, July 23rd

The July Meeting will be this Thursday, July 23, at 6:30PM at the Yarborough Library, 2200 Hancock Drive. Meetings are open to the public. Allandale residents are welcome and encouraged to attend. We will have Allandale t-shirts available for sale.
 
Agenda
 
Call the Meeting to Order
Read  and approve the Minutes
Treasurer's Report
Review the proposal to settle the lawsuit against the City of Austin over the Discount Center at Northcross
Vote on funding attorney's fees
Vote on new members of the ANA Executive Committee
Committee Reports
Old Business
New Business
Adjourn
 

Allan McMurtry

President, Allandale Neighborhood Association

Hatcreek Burger replacing Arby's on Burnet Rd.

Arby's has closed and Hat Creek Burger is moving in. According to Drew Gressett, owner of Hat Creek, the Burnet Rd location will be its first drive thru. Their flagship store is a burger stand on 6th street adjacent to Star Bar. According to Drew, they will offer the same menu at both locations (see menu here).  They expect to open sometime in late September or early  October. This won't be the first time Burnet Rd has landed a trailer vendor. Hey Cupcake just up the road started the trend. You can learn more about Hat Creek here and read a review of their 6th Street location by the Austin Chronicle here. Drew promises to share designs of the new site soon.

Restaurant Review: Madam Mam’s Noodles and More

Jen Welch

My coworkers and I celebrated the much-anticipated opening of Madam Mam’s newest location on Anderson Lane with a lunchtime visit during opening week. Despite continuing construction at The Village Shopping Center that made for tricky parking, the interior of the restaurant was peaceful and cool. We were all impressed with the updated interior – stained concrete flooring, Asian-themed artwork, and dozens of brightly colored parasols hanging from the ceiling make the transformation from the old Shanghai River complete. Although there was a lunch rush, we were seated immediately, and each of us was presented with a stack of menus – a multi-page bound menu, a laminated one-page menu, and a small paper special menu. Because we had a limited time for lunch, we all ordered from the simple single-page menu. One of my coworkers, who is a regular at the other Madam Mam’s locations, warned us to take the menu’s chili pepper rating system seriously; remarking that even items with a one-pepper rating would be spicy. I soon found out he was right, as my order of Yum Green Bean, which was rated two peppers, was right at the threshold of my tolerance level. Luckily, a glass of sweet and frothy Thai iced tea helped to cut the hot pepper burn. The food itself was delicious; a mix of fresh, crisp, steamed green beans, boiled egg, shredded coconut meat, and a tasty sauce of lime juice, honey, and seasonings. It was so good that I brought my husband back for supper just a few days later. 

City Outreach

The following is a note posted to the Austin Neighborhoods Council listserve:

Yesterday, the City of Austin launched several new initiatives to continue our effort to expand outreach and interaction with all of our residents. This includes a new e-mail listserve system, City Manager updates and a City Twitter account. I encourage all of you to check them out, sign up, and encourage your neighbors to do so as well.

Over the coming months, we'll continue to refine these tools and introduce new ones, and I look forward to hearing your feedback as they evolve. See the link below for information and links to these new resources. Thanks!

http://www.cityofaustin.org/news/cnews.cfm?nwsid=1193

Doug Matthews, Chief Communications Director

City of Austin

DPS warns of summer door-to-door alarm scams

The Texas Department of Public Safety is urging Texas residents to make
sure that any alarm salesperson, company or alarm installer that they
hire is licensed by the Private Security Bureau.

The Private Security Bureau has initiated investigations in Houston, San
Antonio, Dallas and Austin following reports that numerous unlicensed
salespersons, installers and companies have been aggressively marketing
their services to residents in those cities-primarily going door to door
in neighborhoods. DPS is working with the alarm industry trade
associations to investigate these claims, which generally increase in
the summertime.

Update on Great Northern Detention Pond Project

Here is a project update from Darryl Haba, project manager of the detention pond project:

To date we are approximately 50% complete with the project. We have completed the new maintenance road and associated retaining walls. We are about 50% complete with the new spillway using the stamp pattern selected by the Neighborhood. The retaining walls completed also have the patterns selected by the Neighborhood.

We will continue working at the spillway which will take another two to three weeks. The new sidewalk is also being constructed and the seating area we presented to the Neighborhood will be constructed off this new sidewalk.

We are on schedule to complete this project within it’s timeframe and enjoy the area residents walking by watching us construct the spillway.

Darryl Haba – City of Austin

Photos from the 2009 Allandale Parade