Dear Colleagues —
You’ve heard me talking about the future of ACC in Southeast Travis County. Before our day wraps, I want to share an exciting update with you.
We officially closed on a building complex in Southeast Travis County. At 560,000 square feet, it becomes the College’s second-largest campus. This purchase fulfills a core promise of our 2022 General Obligation Bond to expand access to high-demand career training. While this is a massive physical expansion, what it really represents is our ability to grow with our community. We aren’t just adding square footage; we are adding the capacity to serve our students and workforce and do it better, faster, and for less.
Here’s why I’m really excited:
- Building a Talent Pipeline: This site will become the permanent home of the Infrastructure Academy and a premier hub for applied technologies and skilled trades featuring specialized classes and labs for advanced manufacturing, building construction technology, automotive technology, heating, air & refrigeration technology, welding, and other crafts.
- Speed to Market: By renovating existing facilities rather than building a new campus from the ground up, we are accelerating our timeline and saving money. We’re not waiting five or six years. By renovating these buildings, we can open in one to three years.
- Fiscally Responsible Growth: This approach saves the College more than $100 million compared to the estimated cost of new construction and is a testament to the trust the community placed in us during the 2022 Bond.
Since the complex is about 3 miles from our Riverside Campus, this moment creates an opportunity for us to take a fresh look at Riverside. Our students, employees, and neighbors will help guide what comes next. By moving the space-intensive applied technology programs to the new complex, we gain an opportunity to thoughtfully reimagine Riverside to ensure it remains a vibrant, essential public asset for the community.
There is still more to come. No decisions will be made in isolation. We’re going to listen, plan, and make sure we get it right. We know our community is going to be excited about this step forward. If you get any questions, you can direct them to our full press release. It will be posted in the ACC Newsroom tomorrow morning.
Thank you for the care and commitment you bring to this work every day. It’s what allows us to move forward together.
Much love,
russell
Russell Lowery-Hart, Ph.D.
Chancellor
Austin Community College District