Travis County’s downtown campus is a 12-square-block area with the historic Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse as its epicenter. There are 33 departments located downtown, including 16 judicial and 17 general government departments. Investment in a comprehensive Master Plan will help the county ensure that any new buildings, as well as existing buildings, are the right size, form, quality, image and location for the proposed functions. The plan will address the county tenant mix in downtown facilities, and will serve as a guide so that the county may contribute positively to the urban fabric of Austin.

The scope includes a visioning process, assessment of current facilities/operations, a strategic growth plan, and facility requirements. The facilities master-planning process involves initiation and outreach, physical analysis, conceptual planning alternatives, and master plan development. The plan also includes a comprehensive study of the county’s Data Center needs.

Travis County initially engaged Broaddus Planning to assist in the first-phase analysis of two potential properties identified by the Commissioner’s Court, Blocks 107 and 126, for the development of a new civil courts facility. Broaddus & Associates discovered that neither site presents a clear choice for the location of a Travis County Civil Courts Building in terms of parking space, and both would involve significant collaboration, zoning and/or legislative changes, and usage of additional sites for parking. Broaddus Planning concluded that, as a next step for the county, a second phase should be initiated to prepare a facility space program to further develop alternatives for the use and development of county facilities in downtown Austin.