How many downtowns does one city need?

A very unusual $1.5 billion development was announced today — it is a 681 acre multi-use development with a movie and music theme that is being proposed on empty land east of the city, near the new Texas 130 highway. The project includes a 50,000 SF soundstage and recording studio, a 70,000 seat outdoor amphitheater, and production facilities for movie, TV, and video game makers. It is being pitched as a master planned community for the creative class. The project will also include about 8,500 housing units — mostly single family houses.

The developers claim they are trying to create an alternative downtown. But unlike the Domain, which may have as many as 85,000 residents in a dense multi-use neighborhood, this project seems to be very low density. It’s more like Riverplace or Circle C than downtown with an average of just 4 households per acre. The amphitheater is a nice idea: Austin is lacking such a large scale venue. But it may be hard to fill 70,000 seats in a metropolitan area of just over a million for anything other than a UT football game. The bottom-line is that this is an ambitious project that seems unique. It’s not a new downtown and it’s not the focus of this site, but it will be interesting to see if it gets built. $1.5 billion is a big investment for any city, it’s an amazing sum for East Austin.