Amy’s Ice Cream owners develop in north Austin

Amy’s Ice Cream owners develop in north Austin

By Tiffany Young Friday, 26 June 2009

For two years, residents of northwest Austin have been passing by a small, discreet tract of land with a sign advertising a development called Austinville with an Amy’s Ice Cream logo on it. Despite rumors that there would be a major development and amphitheater going in off US 183 between McNeil and Anderson Mill roads, the land has not been cleared — yet.

However, as of May 20, Amy’s Ice Cream owners Steve and Amy Simmons have the go ahead from the City of Austin to develop 1.715 acres of land at 13265 N. US 183 near Main Event and are taking bids on the project. Austinville will be a retail and restaurant development designed to bring in shoppers and diners. The Simmonses’ business La Tierra de la Simmons Familia, which is seperate from Amy’s Ice Cream, will develop the land, and Amy’s Ice Cream and the other vendors will lease property from La Tierra.

While the owners have said there will not be an amphitheater on the property, it will have an outdoor patio built around existing foliage.

“Our idea for this project — and this is something that Amy and I have been talking about since we did Phil’s [Icehouse] and Amy’s [Ice Cream] here [on Burnet Road] — we realized that when we build these great centers, you build community, build neighborhood gathering places and the business just rocks,” Steve said. “People want a place they can take their kids and not worry about [them]. They want a place to do more than one thing. They like sitting amongst the trees. That was our goal, an urban oasis.”

The location was chosen in part because customers have asked Amy’s to move farther north for years and also because it is a busy part of town. But a good location was not the only concern.

“Amy and I believe that synergy is much more important than location,” Steve said. “It’s not the best location. It’s on the longest exit ramp there is — Anderson Mill — but it’s also the second busiest, and 70,000 cars go by it a day.”

Development

Retail stores and restaurants that will be leasing at Austinville include local businesses Strut, a womens’ clothing store; Zen, a Japanese fast-food restaurant; Hog Island Italian Deli, voted Best Pick by Austin Chronicle in 2007 for its Philly cheese steak sandwich; and RunTex, a store devoted to runners. The Simmonses handpicked tenants and have backups for each of them in case any changes their mind.

Original plans involved housing Freebirds World Burrito, but after delays, the owners decided against opening a franchise at Austinville.

Amy’s Ice Cream will be located up front (an additional store to the one in the Arboretum, not a replacement) and Hog Island chose a spot in the rear for a patio amidst foliage already present on the property. The other stores will be in between.

Though there are several food places, each draws its biggest crowds at different times of the day, allowing the parking lot to avoid overcrowding, Steve said.

“I always believe that you should have excellent balance so that your parking lot is not full,” he added.

Delays

The building permit application for Austinville began Dec. 21, 2007, and was approved May 20 of this year.

While the City of Austin Watershed Protection and Development Review Department said that the time to get a permit approved widely varies, the Simmonses expected the process to go quicker.

“Everybody says to me, ‘I cannot believe you’re still building that project,’ he said. “I go, ‘I’m not a quitter. I don’t like to quit.’”

Steve said the reason for delay is that water from Main Event’s detention pond is flooding his property. After trying to contact and work out the problem with the Main Event owners without a reply, Simmons has filed a lawsuit against them.

Meanwhile, in order to get the development going, Steve will put in a pipe that will reroute water from the Simmonses’ property to a Texas Department of Transportation wet pond, which the city’s Watershed Protection and Development Review Department estimates to cost $204,394.

Main Event could not be reached for comment.

“What [Main Event] basically did was funnel it all on to us, so it did damage to us and I feel 100 percent confident that we’ll win that lawsuit,” Steve said.

If he wins the lawsuit, he may recoup his costs in rerouting the water flow. Steve said he expected completion by the end of this year.

Phil’s and Amy’s move to South Lamar

The Simmonses' La Tierra de la Simmons Familia will also turn the Time Auto Sales used-car lot at Lightsey Road and South Lamar Boulevard into a Phil's Icehouse and Amy's Ice Cream. It also purchased a shopping center across the street that has a Thundercloud Subs, an insurance company and American Cleaners. The back building has an empty space that Steve Simmons plans to fill.