Austin Council vote Nov. 19 on UT deal for Muny golf course

The City of Austin says it is negotiating a deal with the University of Texas at Austin under which the city would own Lions Municipal Golf Course, known as Muny. The deal is a draft. Council and the UT System Board of Regents decide.

Why it matters

The city’s Oct. 14, 2026 release says the vehicle is amendments to the 1989 Brackenridge Development Agreement, the interlocal agreement that governs how UT may develop land on both sides of Lake Austin Boulevard. Muny is one piece of that package.

For developers, the golf course is the smaller story. The same amendments cover a regulating plan, a proposed Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, an exchange of city rights-of-way and a UT lease at Mueller, per the release. Those are the rules and financing tools that would shape any later UT development nearby.

Community Impact reports possible caps of 65 feet on building height and setbacks of at least 200 feet from Lady Bird Lake. It also reports that the university has not settled development plans. The city’s release does not list those limits, so treat them as outlet-reported.

Austin has long leased Muny from UT. Taking the course out of the lease conversation removes one open question from the larger land deal. See our Austin coverage for other city-UT land and zoning items.

The numbers

• Nov. 19, 2026: date the city says the amended agreement goes to City Council.
• October 2026: staff briefings to the Environmental and Planning Commissions, per the release. It gives no dates.
• Spring 2027: the regulating plan and tax increment zone are prepared after Council and return through boards and commissions, per the release.
• More than 140 acres: the size of the University-owned course, per the city’s release. Muny opened in 1924.
• More than $680 million: appraised value of the property, per Community Impact. We did not see an appraisal record.
• No price: the release states no dollar amount. Community Impact reports that unnamed donors made the deal possible and that their gifts are not disclosed.
• Community Impact also reports that the course would stay an 18-hole course and that the West Austin Youth Association campus would go to a recreation nonprofit. The city’s release does not carry either point.

We also pulled the city’s Legistar record for file 20-3686. It was on the Dec. 3, 2020 Council agenda. It is a resolution initiating zoning and neighborhood plan amendments for UT System land, naming the Brackenridge tracts and Lions Municipal Golf Course.

What’s next

Staff brief the Environmental and Planning Commissions this month. A Planning Commission vote would be a recommendation only. Council decides on Nov. 19, 2026, and the Board of Regents must also approve, per Community Impact.

We did not find a posted agenda backup or rezoning case number for the 2026 item yet. We will update when the Council agenda is published.

Developers with interests near Lake Austin Boulevard should watch the regulating plan in spring 2027. That is where height, setback and coverage limits would be written down.