Urbanize Austin

01/07/2024

01/05/2024

Land trust homes up for grabs and more development stories we're following right now

Affordable Homes for Sale Through Austin Community Land Trust "If you're a native Austinite looking to buy a roughly $200,000 house, a batch of affordable homes are up for grabs through the city’s community land trust program.

01/04/2024

"Too many new rail lines are opening in areas that don’t have the density to support them. A new federal bill aims to change that. "

Too many new rail lines are opening in areas that don’t have the density to support them. A new federal bill aims to change that.

01/04/2024

Musk company occupies Williamson County site

Tesla

Seemingly unfazed by massive recalls and not-great Texas EV sales, Tesla continues to expand in the Austin area.

01/02/2024

"The amendment sailed through the council — making Austin the biggest city in the country to eliminate its parking mandates citywide. "

Around the country, cities are throwing out their own parking requirements, hoping to end up with less parking – and more affordable housing, better transit, and walkable neighborhoods.

01/02/2024

Development stories we're following this week

Austin-area homeowners should expect lower property tax bills, county office says "According to an analysis by the local tax office, the average property tax bill for Travis County homeowners who live in their homes is $658 less than the year before." (Audrey McGlinchy, K*T 90.5)

12/30/2023

Kyle Vybes only :D

Landowners seek to sidestep Austin development rules using controversial new state law "Nearly 200 petitions have been submitted by landowners on the fringes of Austin's city limits seeking to circumvent its regulatory authority through deannexation — with almost 40% approved by the city so far .....

12/29/2023

Development stories we're following this week

Hines | Realtor.com

Hines breaks ground on new massive industrial project in Austin "As demand for industrial space continues surging in Central Texas, Houston-based Hines has launched construction on a large project in Northeast Austin, its first industrial development in the capital city." (Shonda Novak, Austin Ameri...

12/14/2023

News stories we're following this week

'The next Rainey Street': Menchaca's booming bar scene to see more growth, amenities "As Menchaca's bar scene continues to boom, developers Austin NNN, Investcor and MNO Partners are working to propel the area’s growth even more with multifamily projects and other amenities." (Zara Flores, Communi...

12/02/2023

Big development news stories we're following this week

Council eyes details of new maintenance facility included in Oracle land swap "City Council members are expected to bring some scrutiny today to the nearly completed land swap deal that will see tech giant Oracle America Inc. build a new central maintenance facility for the city in exchange for 9 ac...

12/01/2023

Staff, professionals join to finesse code-revision proposals ahead of December vote

At Tuesday’s work session, City Council heard from the city’s planning staff as well as two architects from the local American Institute of Architects housing committee on various aspects of the HOME initiative, a proposal to make changes to the city’s Land Development Code. Council is schedul...

11/29/2023

Spoiler alert: There's more room in the suburbs.

Homebuyers and renters in Austin seem to be at war sometimes, but they have at least one thing in common: They get more bang for their buck in certain locations, less in others. A new report by apartment-listing site RentCafe parses this difference for renters, looking at how much space they'll get....

11/29/2023

"A" is for "affordable." 🍎 📓🏘

Plans for first affordable housing complex for local educators are moving forward in East Austin. The Austin Independent School District signed a contract with multifamily development and management company NRP Group to develop a 500-unit housing complex on a 20-acre site at 4900 Gonzales Street in....

11/28/2023

We were hoping for implosion, but this will have to do. 🥁🏗💥

The $25 million demolition on landmark University of Texas events venue the Frank Erwin Center and adjacent Cooley Pavilion kicked off Tuesday morning. The 46-year-old complex will be cleared for expansion of the university's Dell Medical School and a new oncology care hospital staffed by Houston's....

11/28/2023

Contracts have been signed.

Rental property giant Greystar and the city of Austin have signed a master development agreement for the St. John site, a former Home Depot site eternally on the verge of redevelopment in Northeast Austin.

11/27/2023

"Austin had the fastest household growth, or growth in occupied housing units, of all large U.S. cities and select peer cities to Austin."

A new study from the city of Austin finds that the past decade's extraordinary population boom resulted in an equally unprecedented swelling in the housing stock.

11/22/2023

We're thankful that our CARTS project won an ! Here's what the judges had to say:

“A wonderful example of the transformation of a grey field site into a community amenity that provides numerous ecosystem service benefits.”

“A completely delightful project that threads dignity and history throughout.”

“Impressive community engagement - the work with neighborhood organizations and recognizing community members is outstanding.”

“A triumph of doing more with less - it sets a new bar in public transportation which is much needed for Austin.”

Additional Team Members: Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS), Jackson & McElhaney Architects (JMA), G Hyatt Construction, Bay & Associates, Architectural Engineers Collaborative, Civilitude, Francois Levy Architecture + Interiors, EEA Consulting Engineers, HDR, MapWell Studio with LVCK

11/22/2023

Headlines for the holidays — here's what we're reading about this week

Austin charges ahead in Texas' electric vehicle race "More than 2.1% of registered vehicles in Travis County are now battery-powered cars and trucks, registration data obtained through the Texas Public Information Act shows. The number doesn't include hybrids. Travis County's EV adoption rate is the...

11/22/2023

Austin took the top spot in yet another techy list this week — this one from California's RCLCO Real Estate Consulting. The real estate advisory firm today unveiled the results of its 2023 STEM Job Growth Index, which projects which metropolitan areas will have the strongest outlook for growth in STEM jobs.

Austin took the top spot in yet another techy list this week — this one from California's RCLCO Real Estate Consulting. The real estate advisory firm today unveiled the results of its 2023 STEM Job Growth Index, which projects which metropolitan areas will have the strongest outlook for growth in ...

11/22/2023

The city manager's office found that the "current organizational structure does not effectively respond to this critical priority.":

In a move to strengthen Austin's capacity to address homelessness, the city is creating a stand-alone Homeless Strategy Office that will report to the city manager’s office. The city will spin off the existing Homeless Strategy Division overseen by Austin Public Health to create the office, accord...

11/21/2023

Hunt Capital Partners ponies up LIHTC equity for Austin affordable housing project

Hunt Capital Partners ponied up $16.5 million in federal low-income housing tax credit equity for the development of an Austin permanent supportive housing project, the California company announced Wednesday. Cady Lofts, a 100-unit apartment complex planned for 1004-1008 East 39th Street in Austin's...

11/20/2023

11/20/2023

Austin got $14M in HUD grant money for housing-related programs this fiscal year. Tell them how you think they did spending it.

Every year, the city of Austin seeks public feedback on its performance when it comes to federally funded programming. That time has arrived. The city gets the funding through four grants administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Grant allocations in fiscal year 2022-23 t...

11/13/2023

News stories we're following this week

Autonomous vehicle company Cruise issues recall, cuts contract workers "Autonomous vehicle company Cruise has recalled part of its self-driving vehicle software and cut contract workers amid efforts by the company to 'rebuild public trust' following a high-profile incident in California that involve...

11/03/2023

"Austin may be the biggest city in the country to scrap parking minimums."

Austin blocks plan to demolish Rainey Street bungalow as bar empties out "A plan to demolish one of Rainey Street’s last bungalow homes has been met with a wave of resistance by Austin City Hall, leaving a local bar caught in between. The Austin Historic Landmark Commission on Nov. 1 declined to v...

11/03/2023

Southern tech hubs took a hit

The price of rental properties dropped in some big metros all over the country in September, Realtor.com reports, and Austin was second on its list of those with the the biggest decline. Median rent in September for 0 to 2 bedrooms fell 7.3 percent year-over-year, to $1,638, in the Austin-Round Rock...

11/03/2023

City program will expand in urban core

Austin's MetroBike program will receive $11.3 million in federal grant money to to expand and enhance its bike share program. The grant comes from the Texas Department of Transportation’s Transportation Alternative Set-Aside program, which is funded through federal highway and transit administrati...

11/02/2023

Staff urges exclusion from code conversation

Austin’s proposed land development code revisions won't include allowing RVs on single-family lots. That's the word from the City Council, which last month approved a resolution to initiate changes that would allow tiny homes and RVs as accessory dwelling units in single-family zoning districts an...

11/02/2023

First Austin envisions 1.5 blocks of 'affordable community space'

A historic Austin church wants to redevelop a block and a half of downtown into a facility for affordable community use, and it's looking for partners. First Austin Baptist Church was founded in 1847, but the modernist building at 901 Trinity Street has been its home since 1970. It also owns the adj...

11/01/2023

MDH Partners to develop industrial space on 45 acres

The demand for industrial space in the Austin area rages on, with a project near the airport $18 million in financing. MDH Partners, an Atlanta-based real estate investment company, closed on $17.8 million in financing from Regions Bank for the project, called 71 Logistics Center. The industrial bui...