Austin looking to have Innovation District downtown

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin is looking forward to having an Innovation District downtown.

The Downtown Austin Alliance talked about the district which would bring together technology, health care, and life sciences to promote new healthcare models and economic growth in Downtown Austin in the future.

"Austin has become a focal point in a worldwide information creative economy," state Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin) said. "The health sciences is the next big push in Austin. We couldn't have done this without the creation of the Dell Medical School so what you're going to see is you're going to see growth around that school that actually adds to that creative economy in medical sciences."

Part of it would be to build a new building at the old Brackenridge Hospital site to bring these companies together to collaborate.

"Downtown has transformed dramatically over the last decade or so," Austin city councilwoman Kathie Tovo said. "This is a segment of downtown that is in the process of transforming."

There is no word yet on when the construction of the project at the hospital site would begin or how long it would take to build.

Austin's Innovation District would begin near Dell Medical Center and stretch alongside I-35 towards the Austin Convention Center.

To learn more about the planned Innovation District, click here.