INNOVATION DISTRICT OVERHAUL Over more than a decade, city leadership kicked off a plan to redevelop Northeast downtown around the Frank Erwin Center—then University Medical Center Brackenridge—as a health care hub. The Innovation District is now home to a new teaching hospital, medical school, park and entertainment space.
MOODY CENTER
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The multi-purpose arena replaced the long-standing Frank Erwin Center as a venue for concerts and the home court for UT basketball.
SOURCES: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN DELL MEDICAL SCHOOL, WATERLOO GREENWAY CONSERVANCY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
MOVING FORWARD
NORTHEAST DOWNTOWN AUSTIN
COURTESY DANIEL CHASE
Seeds of innovation In 2011, then-state Sen. Kirk Watson created his “10 goals in 10 years” initiative, which included building a modern teaching hospital and a medical school. One of the main reasons these institutions were able to take space in the area was because of the work that was happening around that time at Waterloo Greenway, said John Rigdon, direc- tor of planning and design for Waterloo Greenway Conservancy. Before Waterloo became the plant-filled green space it is today, it was a flood- prone park that had fallen into disrepair, said Rigdon. Initially, the city sought to address critical erosion and flooding issues along Waller Creek with funding and development of a flood-con- trol tunnel. However, with 30 acres of downtown soon going to be out of the flood plain because of those efforts, the area became prime real estate for the development of a flourishing public space and an innova- tion district, Rigdon said. Austin City Council approved the design vision for Waterloo in 2013 and raised $98 million for the
project, Rigdon said. The University of Texas Dell Medical School opened in 2014. Then in 2017, the Dell Seton Medical Center opened, which is owned and operated by Ascension Seton. The center is one of several teaching hospitals affiliated with Dell Medical School. As of June, Dell Medical School has helped to attract 415 new doctors to the Aus- tin area, totaling approxi- mately 10% of physicians in Travis County, according to the Travis County Medical Society—a subsidiary of the Texas Medical Association. Of the 664 graduates from Dell Medical’s residency pro- grams, just under half chose to practice in Central Texas. Ascension Seton and UT Health Austin—Dell Med’s clinical practice—collabo- rated to add 30 new adult complex care programs and seven specialty pedi- atric programs to the area, including the Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease, which per- formed the first infant heart transplant surgery in Central Texas in 2020. Stephanie McDonald, President of Capital City Innovation—one of the five founding partners of the
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
Development of Austin’s Innovation District gained momentum over the last decade. 2011 Then-state Sen. Kirk Watson announced the "10 goals in 10 years" initiative to improve health care and the economy 2012 Central Health voters approve a tax increase to build Dell Medical School
Moody Center
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Dell Medical School
UT Health Austin
Frank Erwin Center (planned demolition)
2013-15 An innovation zone working group is assigned to start building the district
Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas
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Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park
2014 Dell Medical School opens
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UMC Brackenridge Hospital (former site)
Innovation Tower
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2017 Dell Seton Medical Center opens Capital City Innovation is launched UMC Brackenridge closes 2020 UT Health Austin helps develop COVID-19 vaccine
Aspen Heights including affordable housing (future project)
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“Harnessing the strong tech economy, the very innovative spirit of the busi- ness community of Austin, rallying around this new medical school and this vision to transform health care delivery is the big vision of the innovation district,” said Michele Van Hyfte, vice president of urban planning for DAA.
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What used to be an area that Austin City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison has publicly described as “largely lifeless” was transformed through partnerships with the Downtown Austin Alliance, Capital City Innovation, Cen- tral Health, Ascension Seton and UT.
2021 Waterloo Park Phase 1 is completed
2022 Innovation Tower is completed Moody Center opens 2023 Waterloo Park begins construction on Phase 2
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