March eNewsletter

Barbara Austin Retires, Leaving Legacy of Parks and Trails Rooted in Nature

After 27 years of pioneering RVi’s park design practice, Barbara Austin is moving on to her next adventure: retirement! As Senior Vice President, Director of Park Planning and Design, and Managing Principal of RVi’s Austin office, Barbara’s influence on our firm cannot be understated. A natural leader and mentor, she has taught us many lessons – how to design in harmony with nature, how to build public support for a project, how to manage ourselves and others, and perhaps most importantly, how to have fun in the process.

For all that she has contributed internally to RVi, Barbara’s work as an advocate for parks, trails, and open space across Texas will continue to have a far broader impact. Barbara successfully built RVi’s park practice into what it is today, with an underlying philosophy of respecting the land and a goal of making the outdoors more accessible to more people. She has contributed significantly to the park, trail, and open space systems in many communities, including those for the City of Austin, Travis County, Dripping Springs, Georgetown, Corpus Christi, Hays County, Williamson County, and many others. She has been instrumental in the planning and design of some of the region’s most beloved outdoor spaces, such as Austin’s crown jewel Trail at Lady Bird Lake, the nationally recognized Jacob’s Well, and the award-winning 140-acre park and trail system at Mueller, part of a landmark project that has set a national standard for sustainable, urban infill development in the midst of a bustling city.

So what’s next for Barbara? “I’m really looking forward to spending more time with my kids and my grandbaby! And of course, I am excited about being able to travel again as the pandemic begins to subside,” she says.

And what’s next for RVi? “I’m leaving you all in very good hands. We are excited to announce the promotion of Drew Carman to Director of Park Planning and Design. I have worked extensively with Drew over his six years at RVi, and I am confident that he has the leadership and passion it takes to manage RVi's park practice. Drew is not alone – he has an incredibly talented team of senior directors, project managers, and designers who have all worked together on many of our parks projects over the years,” she said. As for the role of Managing Principal, we are equally excited to announce that we have tapped Mark Smith for this role. With over 40 years of experience – 19 of those with RVi – he will move seamlessly into this position.

Stay tuned for next month’s newsletter, where we will introduce you to Drew, Mark, and their new roles. In the meantime, take a few minutes to congratulate Barbara on an outstanding career by clicking the link below!

777 Tower at Novus Wins AZRE 2021 RED Award

This month we’re celebrating the 777 Tower at Novus Innovation Corridor project, which earned an AZRE 2021 RED Award for best office project more than 150,000 square feet! The Real Estate Development (RED) Awards are the “Academy Awards of commercial real estate,” according to Michael Gossie, editor in chief of AZ Big Media. The competition was steep this year, featuring a record-setting pool of nominees and finalists. The selection committee had their work cut out for them when choosing the appropriate winners, taking into consideration the size of a project, its location, any construction challenges and/or opportunities, its architecture and design, as well as the project’s effect on the surrounding community, and in some cases, its economic impact.

Career in Transition: From Public to Private Sector

BY KYLE BARICHELLO

There used to be one thing I dreaded most when I was a public sector planner. It was a link on our website that read: “Email all council members at once.” Oh, the power of that button.  That button could lead to countless hours of extra assignments, stress, and project complications. While in some circumstances that button made for a better project, it still makes me shake to think about it.

At some point into our careers or through the experiences we have, we might find ourselves asking: what’s it like on the other side? For land planners, that question relates to whether to specialize in public or private sector planning. For me, that question came after 7 years of planning within the public sector, working for multiple governmental entities. And it was followed by, what do I want my career to look like?

In Other News

Congratulations are in order!

We are thrilled to recognize the hard work and dedication of our employees!

Welcome to RVi!

Sergio Yamada has joined the Tempe office as Project Director.