Big TAX problem for House Corps

[EE-BO]

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.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

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

[EE-BO]

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.

[TSteven]

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.

[EE-BO]

Originally Posted by TSteven

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.

[bejazd]

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!