But it’s probably not what you think.
The developer of Mueller, Catellus, is close to completing their contractual obligations here in the neighborhood. The original master development agreement (MDA) with the City of Austin was set to expire in December of 2024. When the original agreement was signed, no one foresaw the economic downturn of 2008/2009, the COVID pandemic, or the real estate slowdown post-COVID. So Catellus has a little more work to do and the MDA has been extended to expire on or before December 31, 2027.
Even with the extension, Catellus has decided to continue handing the Property Owners’ Association (POA) duties over to the homeowners. As of 2024, we have two homeowners on the Master Board and three on the Mixed-Use (residential) Board. At the November annual meeting, we will elect more mixed-use homeowners to get to a whopping 6 out of 7 residents on the mixed-use board.
On June 22nd, the POA hosted a meeting where residents could give input on various topics that affect the transition. Overall, this seems like a shockingly boring topic, I know. But Mueller is as much of a social experiment as it is a development experiment. Our parks and pools are open to the public, but the homeowners carry those maintenance costs. So what does this look like as we take over our own neighborhood?
A graphic explaining the key points in the transition from Catellus to the Mueller POA.
The POA transition committee, which has been meeting since 2019, presented on where we (yep – I’m also on this committee) thought we’d like to go with our management company. Associa, the current management company, isn’t really a fan favorite in Mueller, but what other options do we even have?! At the beginning, the committee was really leaning toward self-management so we would have more control over things like billing and maintenance. But once we started looking at the costs, quality, risks, and the time it would take to be self-managed, we turned to another option – a specialized management company. And they really do have those that specialize in working with large, mixed-use communities!
A comparison of the different management models.
But hang on – what does the management company do? They oversee the maintenance and upkeep of the entire neighborhood, enforce rules (well, sorta), and sometimes try to create community.
At the June 22nd meeting, we also asked for expectations residents have for the management company moving forward, we covered challenges and opportunities for sustaining the Mueller vision, we had a budget overview, and discussed recruitment for various positions and boards. So it was a pretty full two hours. Next steps include putting out an RFP for specialized management companies and hopefully making the switch before year-end so that homeowners have great support as Catellus sunsets on Mueller.
If you have any questions on what the transition is or what it may look like, expect some follow-up communications from the meeting soon. I’m also here for questions!