BrykerWoods Neighborhood

Vulture investors flipping their way to big profits

The real estate market is beginning to heat up once again. Kiplinger named Austin the best city for small businesses in 2010 and Business Journals named Austin the number one city for small business vitality for two years in a row. Two articles below make explicit reference to Austin.

Vulture investors flipping their way to big profits - http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/13/real_estate/vulture_investors_profits/index.htm

Austin is the 2^nd fastest growing city in the south - http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/news/1104/gallery.growing_southern_cities.fortune/2.html

For those concerned about the character of the Bryker Woods Neighborhood and inappropriate redevelopment, please note that *every* home contributing to the Old West Austin Historic District is vulnerable to either demolition or massive/insensitive remolding. These Bryker Woods homes are with rare exception smaller homes. Apart from purchasing a property of concern, the only thing that can be done to prevent such inappropriate redevelopment is to create with your neighbors a City of Austin ‘Local Historic District.’ Such historic districts acknowledge and respect existing SF-3 zoning while implementing design guidelines created by the neighborhood. Learn more at http://www.txinfo.com/brykerwoods/News/LocalHistoricDistrict.html

City of Austin responds to the "McMansion" phenomena!

The Mayor and City Council recently unanimously passed an emergency ordinance establishing interim development regulations for single family uses that will put temporary measures in place while the new regulations are being developed. The Council has also requested that residential compatibility standards and/or new development regulations be prepared to limit scale of new homes and avoid having scraped lots sprout super-sized McMansions that are happening all around Central Austin. See city website for ordinance details http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/zoning/sf_regs.htm

Contrary to initial public reports, these regulations do not prevent homeowners from expanding their homes by remodeling or new construction (see link above). Instead, the interim regulations are intended to provide a flexible allowance for new construction and remodeling, while at the same time temporarily preventing excessively large structures from being grandfathered prior to enactment of any permanent residential standards. The purpose of these interim development regulations is to preserve the status quo while the residential compatibility regulations are prepared, and as such, these temporary rules are a critical tool that would check the rush of building applications that want to beat the new standards that are being drafted. (copy courtesy of WANG)

Taming The Teardown Trend (copy courtesy of WANG)

Across the nation and throughout our neighborhood, there are growing concerns that teardown trends are irreparably changing historic neighborhoods as fine historic homes are demolished to make way for much larger, new houses. Too often, these oversized structures disrupt the architectural and historic character of the existing neighborhood, diminishing livability and destroying the amenities that originally made the neighborhood an attractive place to live.

For this reason, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has released “Protecting America's Historic Neighborhoods: Taming the Teardown Trend,” a comprehensive report on strategies and best practice solutions being used in communities today to control teardowns. This booklet, which is available by clicking here , empowers property owners, once defenseless against the changes sweeping through their neighborhoods, with necessary preventative tools to combat teardowns. The report also offers viable alternatives for preservationists and local governments seeking to limit the teardown trend.

Read the comprehensive report ! > Teardowns.pdf
Click > here < to read more about inappropriate redevelopment in BrykerWoods and what you can do to help preserve our neighborhood's quality of life!

Intrusive Development within the Neighborhood

Resources available to help neighborhood residents preserve BrykerWoods

The BrykerWoods neighborhood continues to experience the construction of new homes, the remodeling and sometimes removal of older ones. While our neighborhood fully respects the right of property owners to do what ever is permitted within the SF-3 zoning restrictions, our neighborhood will see to it that builders and individuals desiring to remodel remain honest and true to the SF-3 restrictions. The BrykerWoods neighborhood has become extremely “sensitive” to developers coming into the neighborhood and flagrantly violating SF-3 building restrictions. Of particular concern are some developers purchasing properties and scraping the homes (i.e. tearing the home down) without a city permit. The goal of the BWNA (BrykerWoods Neighborhood Association) is to protect and preserve aspects of our neighborhood which make the BrykerWoods neighborhood such a desirable place to live.

For more information, please see the BrykerWoods neighborhood development webpage.