Winnebago rolls forward?

Staff from Austin Resource Recovery, Austin Public Health, the Office of Sustainability and the Law Department are moving ahead with an analysis that could lead to a lease deal on the 9-acre East Austin parcel known as the Winnebago Tract. The in-process environmental analysis of the land owned by ARR is expected to lead to a market rent study that will be much of the basis for a lease agreement with Urban Roots, a local urban farming nonprofit that would use the property to expand its food production and job training programs for teens and young adults. A recent memo on the plan said it is expected the lease would include a provision “requiring the tenant to allow the general public to access the site and that the use of the site must contain features that are accessible to residents, adjacent neighbors, and the surrounding community.” It is expected Council will see a resolution for the lease agreement by the end of November.