I wonder what the real story is here?
Intel site approved for federal courthouse
Austin's new Federal District Courthouse, which will replace the incomplete Intel Corp. building, has cleared an environmental review process and now will enter an 18-month design phase, the U.S. General Services Administration announced Wednesday.
Austin-based architectural firm PageSoutherlandPage Inc. will collaborate on the design with Altanta-based Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects Inc.
In July, the GSA announced it had signed a binding agreement to buy Intel Corp.'s unfinished high-tech research and development site so it can build a new $45 million to $55 million federal courthouse downtown.
The site covers an entire city block bounded by Fourth, Fifth, Nueces and San Antonio streets.
A sale price for the property wasn't released.
Intel halted construction on its 10-story design center in the spring of 2001 after completing several floors of the concrete shell, citing uncertainty in light of slowing economic conditions. Many business leaders have considered the Intel site an eyesore. The Intel building will be leveled for construction of the courthouse.
The new courthouse will house the U.S. Magistrate Court and U.S. District Court, which now operate in Austin's historic U.S. Courthouse. The courthouse was built in 1935 at 200 W. Eighth St.
The building will allow federal agencies to move into more than 232,809 square feet, which will include eight courtrooms, 14 chambers, offices for the U.S. Marshal Service and several justice-related offices.
The GSA announced tentative plans to begin construction in 2005 and complete it in 2007. The GSA is the centralized federal property purchase and management agency.
Santa Clara-based Intel Corp. [Nasdaq: INTC] employs about 600 people in Austin. |
