Texas Capitol Complex Breaks Ground

This morning officially marked the commencement of the transformation of the 40-block area surrounding comprising the Texas State Capitol complex into a visitor destination that celebrates the Capitol and centralizes all state agencies.

Texas Facilities Commission (TFC) Executive Director Harvey Hilderbran welcomed George P. Bush, Commissioner Texas General Land Office; Texas State House of Representative members Jim Murphy, Charlie Geren and Donna Howard; Texas State Senator Kirk Watson; various state agency heads and members of the project team gathered for a ceremonial groundbreaking to mark the implementation of Phase One of Texas Capitol Complex and the George H. W. Bush State Office Building.

State Senator Kirk Watson, a former mayor of Austin, called the project a significant transformation of a formerly lonely stretch of real estate into a major pedestrian gathering space and greenway with new offices and a cultural venue worthy of the citizens of Texas. George P. Bush celebrated that the naming of the George H. W. Bush State Office Building after his grandfather as a nod to Bush’s leadership and service to the nation and the State of Texas.

This first phase will include one million square feet of new office space, allowing the state to consolidate employees and eliminating lease costs. Construction of three blocks of the Texas Mall will result in attendant parking, landscape and street improvements as well as underground utility upgrades. The firm's Branding & Graphics Studio also designed a website to inform and interest the public in details of the plan. 

The Texas Facilities Commission has hired Page as the Master Architect/Engineer and Balfour Beatty Construction as Construction Manager Agent for the Phase I Development. Cobb, Fendley & Associates, Inc., a national civil engineering and surveying firm, has been hired as the Site Services Engineer and the Engineer of Record to develop designs to upgrade and maintain the infrastructure in the Capitol Complex as well as designs for the excavation portion of the project. Zachry Construction Corporation, a San Antonio-based contractor, has been hired as Construction Manager at Risk for excavation. The Texas Facilities Commission anticipates hiring additional Architects/Engineers of Record and Construction Managers at Risk later this year.

To learn more about Page’s role on the Texas Facilities Commission 2016 Texas Capitol Complex Master Plan, click here. To visit the Page-designed State of Texas Capitol Complex website for details, updates, schedules and contact resources, click here.