Big TAX problem for House Corps
 

The Univeristy of Texas and the City of Austin worked together to re-zone land where the Greek houses are located. Most tracts are zoned Multi-Family BUT the city applied an "overlay zoning" they call the University Overlay Ordinance. This ordinance allows property to be developed as condos and mixed use up to 120 feet tall.

The Sigma Chi property taxes went from $12,000 to more than $61,000 in a two year period. Obviously we cannot pay these taxes for long.

So, we are faced with 1. selling the property, 2. getting the city to let us opt-out of the overlay or 3. getting the state legislature to step in.

All Greeks everywhere need to wake up and address this strategy ASAP.

The problem is that your county appraiser appriases your land based on its development potential, NOT the use. This could happen anywhere if Austin gets away with it. It is a slick way to push Greeks off of their property and make their location much less pedestrian oriented.

So, we all need to work on this wherever you are.

WOW! This is above and beyond the call of appraisals as I get raised yearly!

I hate to say it, but sounds like a way to grub on property.:mad:

I am not sure if there is a way to get a re appraisal on this type of property.

This could be a death knell for may GLOs.:o

Let us know what is happening here and good luck!!!!!

Texas Sig,

PM me if you would like to discuss further, but I am painfully aware of the situation in West Campus as an advisor and Housing Board officer for my chapter.

Just so you know, the UNO is part of a city-wide initiative that will impact all of Austin in the coming years. The rationale, and a wise one I must admit, is that if you re-zone certain areas of the city to allow very dense population then you will make it easier to preserve the integrity and affordability of many in-town neighborhoods.

All over Austin, re-zoning is permitting and encouraging the development of high rise buildings with a residential-commercial mix along major city streets and highways. This not only makes it easier to keep more people close to the city, but it also focuses the concentration of population growth along major roads where rail and other environmentally friendly mass-transit planning can be used to greatest effect.

And to be honest, West Campus is long overdue for re-zoning. And I do not forsee any situation, regardless of the political prowess of the alumni, where a Greek House in West Campus can get an exemption from the UNO going forward. ATO is the only house right now that is in West Campus and outside of the UNO, and I think that is how it is going to be forever.

Personally, I hate it. West Campus as I remember it will never be the same.

But keep in mind that under existing zoning laws, even moderate growth was not possible. What is happening now was inevitable, but the speed with which it is taking place is due to the fact that West Campus was prevented from a more gradual redevelopment for far too long. And many Greek chapters are being caught in this. I just found out today that yet another fraternity is planning to sell their house.

The University has grown the student body in recent years. In addition, massive growth in Austin in general (stronger and more sustainable now than during the tech bubble) has created a lot of competition for housing outside of West Campus.

Areas like Riverside, Far West and Hyde Park that used to be largely populated by students are now unaffordable because there has been a huge influx of professionals competing for that real estate.

And despite UT's student body growth, the University still only provides on-campus housing for a single digit percentage of the student body.

This creates enormous pressure to redevelop West Campus so that more students can live nearby. And the scary reality is that there is so much demand for West Campus housing that even as the number of new complexes and apartments rises dramatically, rents are still going up.

Let me give you an example. In December a newly build complex at 27th and Rio Grande- very close to the Sigma Chi house- was up for sale for $21 million, or just over $360,000 per apartment.

Just 10 blocks away at 35th and Duval another newly built (2003) apartment complex of similar caliber is on the market right now for about $77,000 per apartment.

Property taxes are bad now, but they will get worse. I have seen detailed market reports on many properties in West Campus and in the past 3 years many have had their appraised values double or worse.

Texas might be reducing property tax rates to keep the voters happy, but the downside is that properties are more frequently and aggressively re-appraised to make up for the loss of revenue due to reduced rates. In most areas this does not have an impact, but in West Campus the impact is quite noticeable.

Sigma Chi is somewhat lucky since you guys are in the 75 foot maximum building height zone of the overlay (I think- you might be in the 60 foot zone depending on which tract you have on your block, the map in front of me is not clear on that), but you are also basically across the street from campus. If you were one block away in the 3 block wide belt where zoning is 175 feet, you would be in far worse shape.

But there is no doubt that property taxes and decreasing (now nearly non-existent) availability of existing Greek houses or places to build such a home in the traditional manner are going to threaten the ability of all of us to live as we have in decades prior.

And just so you know, the current going rate for a piece of land in West Campus in a 50-75 foot zone is close to double the appraised value for tax purposes. So chapters in West Campus in those zones would be wise to do their long term housing cost planning with the expectation of property taxes doubling from current rates in the next few years.

Taxes on not for profit owners
 

It sounds like EE-BO knows quite a lot about what is going on.

Let me add this information:

I have contacted Greg Guernsey at the city to ask his staff to re-evaluate the unintended consequences of the overlay zoning. See below:

"Dear Greg:

Hope you had a wonderful Spring Break.

I sent you a map and addresses of the primary properties affected and an Excel chart showing the amount of tax increase at 2701 Nueces. Did you get these?

Art Cory (Travis County Appraiser) explained that he looks at the restrictions to help determine the value. Unfortunately, the UNO granted rights which we do not need. And when evaluated in the context of the Sorority-Fraternity Houses and I believe conflict with some of the "Top Ten Priorities".

Some conflicts are Items:
2. Historical protection - Sigma Chi Fraternity (2701 Nueces) has been at UT since 1881 and would soon cease to exist due to the taxes
4. Force us further from the campus - doing away with our pedestrian oriented functions. Moving is not an option.
5. Conflict with the buffering of project size. MF-4 zoning is more in scale with single family and town houses.
8. New housing should be of similar scale and massing. However, 75' to 120' tall condos are much taller and more massive than the existing development on the subject tracts.

As I see it, we need some options:
1. Opt-out of the UNO, which would revert us to our underlying zoning.
2. Possibly, create a Restrictive Covenant on each tract.
3. Possibly use the MF-4, CO Club or Lodge classification.
4. Since, the not-for-profit House Corporations hold title to the land, align tax status with the IRS classification 501 (c) 2

Meanwhile we property owners are getting organized so we can improve our communications, etc."

We have also begun conversations at the legislative level with Kirk Watson's office and plan to involve other legislators if we can.

We must take the position that the Greek's property is an asset to campus life. Food services and housing located near enough to campus to actually walk. Selling the property will not make the situation better... The city has also passed a specific ban on Greeks moving to the north campus area. So we cannot move north, east is too remote, south is not pedestrian and west of Lamar is high priced residential.

So, if you sell you have no feasible location to move to.

Some have suggested developing a high rise with a chapter house on the ground floor--this is obviously incompatible with other functions.

A single high rise Greek tower is a possibilty, but who controls the street level. I suppose we could work that out.

Maybe we could develop a Greek Street somewhere, but where? We would need about an acre for each house.

It seems to me we must not sell unless we intend to dramatically shrink into not much more than a campus club that would meet in the Student Union.

This is like WWII, we did not pick this fight, but the anti-Greeks are on a mission to get us off campus. We must get off our butts and wage a smart war to survive.

If all else fails, we may need to take serious legal action. This overlay zoning is essentially a condemnation and the remedy is NOT simply MONEY.

FYI: I am an architect, planner, development consultant, project manager. I have acted as an expert witness on about 20 right of way cases.

Regarding the first piece of your post that I have quoted above- I think that is the ultimate solution for many chapters down the road. Buy a small piece of land, put in a level or two of parking, have common areas on floor 2 or 3, and then either bedrooms or apartments for 3-4 floors more.

As for the second part- don't sell that house if you can help it. You will never again have a property like that if you do.

The zoning between the Drag and San Antonio and going back to Rio Grande beyond 26th is mostly 60-75 feet max. height. This gives you and 4 of the major sororities the best protection you have against an increase in the speculative and appraised value of your land.

Beyond that zone is pretty much 4 solid blocks of 90-175 foot zones which is being torn up daily to make room for new apartments. So if you sell where you are now, your only shot at another piece of land is to go way to the back of West Campus along Lamar- and even back in there already there are many new high rises.

When it comes to large Greek Houses with big yards like Sigma Chi, I think within 20 years there will be 2-3 such houses left- if that- in West Campus.

It is a hard reality, but we have to fundamentally rethink our long term housing at Texas.

And it's not just about property values- but noise ordinances and privacy. A 2 story fraternity house with a fenced in yard that is surrounded by high rise condos is just going to have trouble existing. Already in the wake of a lot of citations last fall, fraternities (and other campus organizations which have been targeted) are learning that loud music and parties have to happen indoors now.

In the past, West Campus was small and expensive enough that a significant number of the residents- especially right around the fraternity houses- were either Greek or Greek-friendly. With a larger and more diverse population coming in, that is going to change.

Greeks used to essentially rule West Campus. It was our playground. That is just not the case anymore.

From A Poster who knows his stuff, heed and listen!

Land is dirt, well, dirt is getting expensive as I know and EE-OB know only to well!

If your school and many others like mine were built near campus with no problem, but, schools expand and where do they look? Not to upset the local Citizens so, then where next? Greeks!:(

If you do not own a site now you point of view is skewed
 

If your fraternity no long owns property or you are trying to buy property near campus your issues are not the same as those of us who now own property.

I think this is the Beta's situation and will be yours if you sell your property.

You won't be able to afford the purchase or the taxes that go with it.

I am not going to discuss our current situation on a message board, but the property tax issue affects us all.

As you surely have sorted out- it makes occupancy more expensive and diverts rent revenues towards taxes that need to be saved for repairs and renovations over time.

Well, the thing is as EE-OB said The owning of a house paying all of the bills falls on the House Corporation, of course it also falls on the chapter. They have to pay the bills to the HC?

If the House is owned, the appraisesel will still go up!

But, taxes are a small part of the toatal outlay. While it may seem small, it is still a cost.

The costs of repairs or fix ups that are need are extreemly expensive.

If you have a H C they get bunt out. They then get tired of seeing Chapters act silly and tear things up! They then leave and then the chapter wonders why?:mad:

Too will offer you to PM me!

Cost of taxes per member
 

Divide $61,000 by your active bill payers over 9 months.
What do you get for your APO chapter?:eek:

No doubt- it is a scary cost.

For any non-UT folks reading this- it is important to note that West Campus has always been very expensive. When a fraternity buys a large house on a decent sized piece of land, it is almost always necessary to raise the entire purchase price since it is not economically feasible to carry a mortgage. This is not only true now- but it was true 20 years ago.

Guys living in the house paying rent are not paying off a mortgage- they are paying property taxes, maintenance, utilities and- sometimes- money towards a fund for periodic major renovations.

So a 400% jump in property taxes can easily double or triple the rent you would have to charge residents in a Greek house in West Campus. And good luck getting guys to pay $500-600 a month to share a bedroom and be in the house when that would be the going rate for your own room in a 2 bedroom apartment. This is what makes this whole situation scary.

Looking over your earlier posts Texas Sig- I like the idea of somehow aiming for relief under a different IRS tax setup if possible as you noted. There is legislation somewhere in Congress that could potentially allow capital donations to Greek organizations to be tax deductible. Do you see a way a positive outcome there could be used to our advantage in dealing with property tax?

I am a CPA, but not a tax expert- so I am not sure what kinds of property tax concessions, if any, are available to IRS-exempt organizations.

You cannot figure over a 9 month period as the cost of the house runs for 12 months.
Yes, the payment still continues and the bed cost still goes on , along with utilities, along with insurance, taxes, rent or house payments!

But, the members forget about the summer months.:( Do the H Corp. not have to worry about that? Hell Yes!:o

$$$ Oh Yes!

Tom,

Just to clarify- he is talking about something most of us do here. People living in the house get the room for 12 months, but the total cost for the year is spread over 9 months so that everything gets paid up before the guys go home for the summer. It can be very difficult to track down 30-50 rent checks each month during summer break.

Excellent post and while we would love to do that, the cost of our new house would really add on costs as we are below house full.

When we get the beds full, I am sure that will change as you and I have discussed this.

Parlor fees do not cover the full costs as it would take away from so many other parts of the budget.

While one would think each school is different, I guess it really isnt in the big picture.

But, as long as Greeks have houses near campus and the school wants to buy them, we are in the squeeze.:o

Here's A Thought
 

... to the whole zoning issue.

How are other not-for-profit organizations dealt with regarding zoning and property taxes? Are the Salvation Army, YMCA, various social/country clubs, with housing units taxed? What about churches?

Fraternal organizations are generally considered not-for-profit groups, and housing is not generally considered something that is not part of the core business of the group (if you had a bookstore or coffee shop, that would be a taxable enterprise, for example). We church leaders face this all the time, as folks want to take our tax exemptions away, or make it cost-prohibitive to build new churches because of greedy zoning rules.

Just a thought...

Art Hebbeler
Chapter Advisor, Phi-Delta Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha
AA 1038 (Butler '82 -- Go Dawgs!)

Good point, but even as a non-profit organization when it comes to land especially for the expansion of a school that really makes no difference or if for some kind of sity wide expansion, he wiuth the most $$ wins. It may be challenged for appraisal. If you do, then have a certified appraiser to give a true estimate as it is usually much different than the County.

We own our house and land. As a non-profit organization we do not pay property tax.

That is interesting as most GLOs are counted as NOT for profit Organizations and as to now, the only monies goe only to Educational areas.

There are two bills in commettee, one in RThe Senate and House have one giving donations that are Tax deductable period.

WE need that or one of those Bills passed! One will lead to the other.

If I am in error, please let me know.

Zoning and (property) taxation can vary all over the country. Some places just don't zone property for tax-free uses. For example, Highland Park, Texas, does not have any churches. They are all in Dallas or University Park. Highland Park Methodist actually has its water and sewer hookup in University Park.

YMCA's often get flak from commercial health clubs, since they pay taxes and the YMCA often doesn't. Many times, the YMCA has to do extra community service stuff, to get permission to expand, remodel, etc.

It always helps to separate out the commercial part (like a church bookstore) from the non-commercial part. My college (Rensselaer) had a huge ice skating school, that ran as a tax-exempt for years, until the IRS made them pay income taxes, and the school pay the city for taxable use.

A lot of this stuff boils down to how good a lawyer you have. So, don't skimp. Many cities - Colorado Springs is an example - have lots of non-profit organizations, and the officers of those orgs get tax-free housing. There's about a thousand tax-free houses in Colorado Springs, and this is a serious hit on the city budget.

Could someone describe the greek housing/neighborhood at U-Texas for me? and the method for determining property taxes? (Never been there, I know nothing about Austin.) Somebody once described the houses there to me as "lodges" but from the few pics I've seen, they look more like traditional houses or modified apt buildings. To me a lodge is a meeting room with a kitchen/bath, an office, and maybe a house dir's room.

That is not UT housing!:D

No dirt floors either with log siding!:)

The person I was talking to must have had the wrong school in Texas. A friend of mine was in a fraternity at Texas Austin, Sigma Nu maybe? but I don't think he lived in the house because he worked for Oakwood Apts and got a free apt. I remember him talking about the shortage of student housing. Are the greek houses all in one neighborhood like a row or spread out around the campus?

I was under the impression that in Texas the method for determining property taxes is very different from California and because of the way taxes are determined, there is a lot of inequality in funding for public school districts from neighborhood to neighborhood. If anybody has any knowledge, I'm just curious.

Texas has Independent School Districts (ISD). I'm not sure how the boundaries were drawn many years ago. The tax colector is housed in school board officies and may be an employee of the school board. I never asked that when I lived in TX. 100% of property tax goes to the school district. I don't know the formula used to determine tax rate, but I'm sure the state regulates it somehow. But certainly there are inequities as the value of property varies by ISD such as in the Houston area where there are projects in some areas and the neighborhood called River Oaks where George and Barbara Bush use to live before he was elected President. There is an ISD in east TX who had many oil wells which made them so rich they chose not to accept any state/federal money for their schools! I've seen some of the Greek houses at UT Austin and I'm sure they could have a rather heafty property tax bill. I'll see if I can find out about that.

Here at Texas there really are not any lodges per se. A couple of chapters have tried something like that but in today's market it does not work out.

Real estate is so expensive here that you have to house as many students as possible since chapter dues cannot possibly pay the costs for a house. Plus as time goes on there is more pressure (and I think this is a good thing) for fraternities to have more of their formally organized social functions offsite since it prevents damage and also- by virtue of a cleaner and less noisy environment- encourages more people to live in the house.

In 2004 a big chunk of West Campus- including most of the major Greek houses- was rezoned to allow for more skyward and dense development. This is a city-wide initiative targeted at several highly desireable areas close to downtown, not just West Campus. And in West Campus in particular it was important since the zoning was so outdated (meaning the # of residents per acre permitted was so low) that it was pretty much not worthwhile to build anything new.

The average Travis County property valuation up until 2004 for a UT fraternity house hovered around $800,000. As of 2006 the average is now just a few thousand dollars shy of $2.0 million. And SAE is the only property that underwent major improvements in that time. This increase is all about land value.

Property tax rates for the West Campus area were 2.5254% last year- so you can do the math from there and see just how bad property taxes are (prior to 2006 they ran around 2.75%.)

The bottom line is that most fraternity houses are located on land which is now zoned for 4-17 story high rise apartment buildings- and the value of the land reflects that potential development, not the fact that the land currently holds a single house making very inefficient use of the space.

In 2006, the most valuable fraternity house at UT was valued at $5.3 million. The lowest was about $663,000, and most fall in the $1.2-2.5 million range. In 2004, the most valuable fraternity house in West Campus came in at $1.26 million. It has changed that much that fast!

The larger chapters can afford this- but it has driven rent costs up strongly- plus it makes it harder for alumni to hold on to a house for future use if a chapter gets suspended or kicked off for a period of time.

Quite frankly, unless things change dramatically in the world of UT student housing- I think there is a good chance that fraternity houses as they exist today will be gone within 20 years. Already there are easily half as many of these houses as there were 15 years ago.

The future is more high-rise type chapter houses with individual apartments and a few common area rooms that can be readily coverted to rental use for the general student population if a chapter has trouble with numbers or probation for any period of time.

The basic costs to run these properties is just too high for alumni to cover the costs for a house to sit partially unoccupied when chapters go through natural low membership numbers at various times.

Thanks for the background info. So it sounds like this was not a plan to rid the campus of greek housing, but an unintended consequence of re-zoning for higher density residential or mixed use commercial/res that would generate more tax dollars. is that more or less correct?

hmmm. sounds familiar! In Calif, your property tax is based on 1% of the assessed value at the time you purchased it. Prop 13 prevents your property taxes from being increased more than 2% per year, unless you make a major renovation/addition, in which case your property can be re-assessed to include the value of the improvements. But, I'm aware of at least one case where a public university, through its foundation, has been trying to get private property through eminent domain in order to build a hotel/conference center complex and mixed use commercial/residential. It's not necessarily intended to generate tax dollars or get rid of the greek housing (which just happens to be sitting in the area the univ mosts wants) but it would generate income for the university foundation.

so what happened to the fraternity houses at Texas that did close? were they able to sell? were the properties bulldozed for new construction?

You are correct- it was not any kind of attempt to get rid of the Greeks. The fact is that if a building at UT has a name on it, that person was likely Greek here. So we are given our due accord in the end.

The real problem is that UT houses around 3% of its 50,000+ students on campus. And there has been incredible financial pressure on off-campus housing prices given a general boom in Austin real estate which is driven in the long term by city growth.

The city realized that it is important for West Campus to house a significant number of UT students- and the new zoning was created with the specific hope that the result would be room for 10,000 more students to live there. And West Campus- as defined by the rezoning- is about 9 blocks long and 6 blocks wide.

In the short term there are a lot of brand new complexes being built which are incredibly expensive ($700-800 per bedroom per month), but as those buildings age and more complexes are built the rent will come down.

As the rent comes down, the speculative value of undeveloped land in West Campus will come down- but for now it creates what I see as a 2-3 year squeeze on any fraternity or sorority that is renting or seeking to build a house.

That said, in the long run the land will be much more valuable than before in any market since you have a ready-made set of residents (UT students) and so Greek housing as we know it at UT is destined to change for all but those houses where the average member does not care what it costs to be a member or live in the house.

With respect to sororities- I think 7-8 houses fit that description. For fraternities- the number is closer to 5.

The rest will be in more condo-like settings within 10 years in my view.

Just about every fraternity or sorority house that has sold here in the past 2-3 years has been bulldozed. And right now there is just one in play and it is under contract pending a negotiation for new tenants vs redevelopment.

In case you are interested- the old Gamma Phi Beta house is being torn down right now. Gamma Phi left UT in the late 1980s and Lambda Chi took over that property after a brief hiatus from campus since the mid 1980s when they sold a prime location property next to SAE which is now House of Tutors.

Lambda Chi sold that house in 1992 to a local developer who was a Delta Upsilon at UT and bought his own fraternity house in the 1990s to turn into a dorm (which later became a second house for KA and is now the site of a huge new apartment complex near completion.)

From 1992 until recently the old Gamma Phi house was a women's dorm and when I was in West Campus 2 weeks ago I noticed they were tearing it down- and I assume that land will soon be a new high rise apartment complex.

Greek Life won't die here- but for all but a very few top houses a new reality is coming in how we exist. And I think that new reality is high rise condo-style houses on small plots of land which can be readily converted into rental property at times when a chapter has financial difficulties.

But any way you look at it- the number of traditional WASP Greek organizations living in large houses has dropped and will continue to do so.

From the sounds of it, if the Greeks are going to survive at U Tx, they will have to move farther away from campus. But not knowing the lay out of Austin, I don't really know.

But say if they can, then maybe a bus system for them to and from campus?

Just a thought?:)

Hard to say Tom.

The more alumni I speak to- the more they like the idea of moving further from campus- but in Austin that is very hard.

To the south of campus you have a lot of government offices leading into downtown plus a neighborhood of older homes zoned commercial, plus the ACC campus. So that is out.

To the West is Pemberton which is one of the 4 most expensive neighborhoods in Austin- every bit as pricey as West Campus and not a place where a Greek House would be tolerated.

To the North is a neighborhood growing in value at a very fast rate and where other past attempts by Greeks to move in have been vetoed.

And to the East you have ground zero for the gentrification war over Austin- and a fraternity moving into that area would find itself getting lots of negative publicity very quickly.

Going out further from there you are still in moderately expensive areas and very quickly saving a little money just isn't worth it since you are so far away from campus.

Frankly I think it might be healthy if the number of fraternities went down a bit more. Granted I don't want us to be a casualty, but while Greek Life at UT is running at 11% of students- that is reflective of an explosion in the number and number of members of multi-cultural or race-specific Greek organizations, offset by a pretty strong decline in the number of the more Anglo groups the average person tends to think of when they think "Greek".

I am not saying that to imply anything negative- but rather to further point out how the housing situation manifests itself in this.

A lot of these newer types of Greek organizations have a very different approach to their existence plus they are fairly new, so having that giant house on a hill- while something to strive for- is not an expectation or requirement for rushees. Members who go to those groups don't expect to have that. And so those groups do just fine in West Campus with a very small house holding just a few members, or with no formal house at all.

However, the kinds of organizations that composed virtually all of Greek Life here 10-20+ years ago DO have a history of being in a large house- and house size is a very important factor in rush. Housing costs are killing a lot of these organizations.

Add in the fact that UT admissions have become intensely competitive. Quite frankly, a lot of guys who would have gone Greek here 10-20 years ago in the Greek environment of that time are not so interested now because they are worried about the demands on their time.

The party kids who want to float through college on a 2.0 aren't coming to UT anymore. They can't get in.

They are instead going to Ole Miss, Alabama, Tech and other places (and it is not a coincidence that Risk Management incidents have skyrocketed at those schools while UT has actually become a lot calmer place.)

I see that as a good thing since it will be a good environment for chapters that adapt and take a more balanced approach while still having fun.

But even so, that still leaves the issue of perception versus reality when it comes to housing. I think many of the top fraternities here will keep their properties and prosper for a long time.

Yet I cannot imagine any new giant homes will be built from scratch for Greek use. The SAE rebuilding a few years ago was the last- and it had been decades since that had happened here anyway.

Here comes a hijack!

I am going to be in Austin from the 6th to the 12th of August. What do I absolutely need to do/see?

/hijack

You need to have breakfast tacos at Taco Shack (various locations- Google it.)

You need to have migas (also breakfast) at Bodega Vallarta at the intersection of South Congress and William Cannon (best if you can speak Spanish, but you can get by with English.)

The museum scene here is okay but not jawdropping- walking around the UT campus is more fun. And if you do drop by campus, check out West Campus (just to the west of Campus :) ) and you will see all the redevelopment we have been talking about here. Campus here is an electric place- really worth the time if you want to wander about a bit.

If you like greasy burgers and milkshakes- check out Players on MLK right by campus.

For finer dining, Chez Nous (traditional country French cuisine) or Mirabelle (more continental and elegant) are must tastes- very unique in the grand scheme of fine dining in the US.

There are lots of local walks and pools that are great to see- but I am not mentioning them because we have had so much freaking rain that most of them are closed right now.

Austin Wine Merchant on 6th street for great wines (Chez Nous and Mirabelle have BYOB as do most top restaurants here.)

Outdoor art festival every weekend at 6th near West right across the street from Katz's Deli.

That is about it off the top of my head. You are off-season for the various festivals and the rain has forced closure of most public recreation areas- but the great food and campus offer some good times.

A few colleges and towns have implemented some sort of "Town and Gown Commission" to iron our issues between the two communities. Housing, and student life are often two of the main issues addressed by these commissions. But many other issues are also addressed in these commissions too. Is there any sort of "Town and Gown Commission" in Austin?

~~ For those who may not know, "Town and Gown" refers to the non-academic population (town) and the university community (gown) in a college community. They are usually made up of civic leaders from "town" and college leaders/administrators from "gown".

In any case, it just seems like the historic significance of UT Austin is not being considered with respect to the City of Austin's urban planing.

The thing about West Campus is that the zoning was incredibly outdated.

There were really absurd maximum densities per acre that had a very limiting effect on how many people could be housed in a new building.

Add in the fact that demand was so high- an apartment in an older run down building was not much less than for a unit in a brand new complex (and a new complex does not stay new for long when your tenants are college students.)

The net result of these factors is that apartment complex owners had no incentive to keep their properties in top form because they could not expand the number of units in a rebuild. And those who owned and rented out homes had zero incentive to even keep them looking nice. In my day, West Campus was a pretty shabby looking place (though I loved it like that.)

When I was at UT, I lived one year in a West Campus apartment and our rent was $1,500 a month. It was a 1,000+ square foot 2 bedroom 2 bath place and pretty nice, but it was an older building and we had a good number of maintenance issues.

That was 10 years ago- and today rent in the brand new complexes is about the same- $700-800 per bedroom.

So while life is harder for the fraternities and sororities, I don't get too upset about the rezoning since it is actually a real benefit for everyone else. The range of rent in West Campus is little changed- but right now you have more units priced at the high end, yet you are also getting a lot more for your money.

In a few years time as the new complexes age and as more are built- rents will actually come down.

As for the city-wide plans, I felt much like you do when I first heard about it- but in looking over the maps and planned rezoning areas I have seen that development is being emphasized in newer or more run-down areas while preserving a lot of the more historic and unique neighborhoods.

This has to happen in some form. A LOT of people want to live here, and I am one of a great many people who could live anywhere I please- and I deliberately choose to live here even though New York or Chicago would be a more logical choice given my line of work. Right now there is also a ton of investment coming here out of California as real estate sinks there. California investors are driving a good bit of the land speculation in West Campus as well as other areas.

Housing costs here are unbelievable. If you want an average sized 3-4 bedroom home in a nice area like Tarrytown, Travis Heights or Westlake Hills- you better have a least $1,000,000 to spend if you want choices. $2-3 million is better if you want to get picky.

So the rezoning really is necessary and I am just grateful it is being done with some degee of care.

West Campus has been well-handled too I should note. The 90-175 foot building heights are only in certain areas. Much of West Campus is restricted to a 40-50 foot height- and there are many instances where an existing Greek House is in an isolated portion of a block with a lower height zone than surrounding areas which does keep the property taxes down some.

So while we have to pay more to stay here, there has been some obvious deference to our continued existence.

Sad to hear about the former Gamma Phi house, although we have not owned that property for a very long time. oh if only anyone had a crystal ball to know what real estate values would do in the future! Hopefully all the excitement of our new chapters coming to San Antonio and TCU this year eases the heartbreak for the alums in Austin a bit!

Protest
 

I know a bunch of groups (fraternities and sororities) tried to fight the rezoning known as the university neighborhood overlay but were unsuccessful. I believe it was described as postponed.

here is the link. http://media.www.dailytexanonline.co...-2992623.shtml

Talking with friends who are their respective alumni boards they are trying to find out ways around the system. But really when it comes down to it, the best way to not pay as much on the property taxes is to protest them.

I was an ATO at UT and know we protested our property taxes using the same group that KA SIGEP and Acacia used. I think when it was all said and done they saved all those organizations on their property taxes.

I'm not sure if you were familiar with protesting but it doesn't completely eliminate property taxes. It just saved us some money to use on more important things (such as repairs to the house, alumni events and so on).

In regards to the fraternity houses moving, I do not think there is any way. There is no where for them to go. Until something changes with this overlay what fraternities are left need every break they can get. West Campus is probably the only area where the houses can be somewhat tolerated. However, every few years the city makes a push to attack them.

And if kids keep dying or houses making major news stories around the country then property valuations will be the least of our worries.

I am not so sure about that. If you divide our housing bill up over 9 months in the SAE house at SMU, we pay about 800 a month, not including meal plan. I wish we could own our own property, but as it is the school owns 51% and we own 49%, which means it is technically theirs. Police can come & go as they please, etc. etc. However, the school does take care of all the maintenance.