H-E-B to replace Randalls at UT-owned site

University of Texas System regents voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize the system's staff to negotiate a lease with grocery company H-E-B for 2.6 acres on the UT-owned Brackenridge Tract in West Austin. The parcel at the intersection of Lake Austin and Exposition boulevards has been leased by Randalls for a grocery store since 1977.

The university sought proposals and bids last year for leasing the parcel and a nearby half-acre parcel occupied by a 7-Eleven convenience store, as the leases on those parcels are scheduled to expire May 30 and May 31, respectively. The regents authorized negotiations to renew the lease with 7-Eleven, and financial terms with that company and H-E-B were not disclosed given that negotiations have not been completed.

"H-E-B is thrilled to be awarded the opportunity to bring a long-awaited store to West Austin at 715 Exposition Blvd.," the company said Wednesday in a statement provided by spokeswoman Leslie Sweet. "The process now begins to engage with the city of Austin, University of Texas, community leaders and neighbors to ensure we provide our future customers with a state-of-the-art shopping experience that will be a welcome addition to the West Austin community."

The company did not elaborate. Nor did it say whether it plans to build a new store or occupy the existing one, although the former seems more likely.

Lease proceeds benefit the UT-Austin campus.

Muny and Red River

In other action, the regents agreed to extend the city of Austin's lease on 141 acres of the 350-acre Brackenridge Tract for operating Lions Municipal Golf Course, also known as Muny, by a year, to May 25, 2020. The same extension was approved for the Brackenridge Development Agreement with the city, which established building standards for commercial development on other portions of the tract.

The regents also voted to work out an agreement with the city to straighten portions of Red River Street through campus to accommodate construction of a new arena for basketball games, concerts and other events. That move also will make way for expansion of the Dell Medical School when UT tears down its existing multipurpose arena, the Erwin Center.

The regents' actions regarding Red River Street, Muny and the development agreement were expected since the Austin City Council approved its end of the bargain on those matters Feb. 7.

The regents also firmed up plans to construct a new, $40.4 million building at UT's Applied Research Laboratories in North Austin. The three-story building, with office and work space, will be adjacent to and connected with the existing building. The laboratories, at UT's Pickle Research Campus, conduct extensive research for the federal government, including work in acoustics and sonar for the Navy.

And UT's athletics director, Chris Del Conte, will get a $200,000 annual raise as a result of a consent agenda item approved by the regents. The length of his contract, which runs through the 2023-24 athletic year, was not changed. With the raise, his base pay for the current athletic year is $1.54 million.