BG Note | News - What We're Reading (May 29, 2018)
[Austin Metro]
Developer touts experience, community engagement in first pitch to lead Colony Park project (Austin Business Journal) LINK TO STORY
The firm that turned Austin's old airport into a massive mixed-use neighborhood is now pushing to lead another massive redevelopment project east of I-35.
Catellus Development Corp., the Oakland-based master developer of Mueller, is the short-listed master developer for Colony Park, about 208 acres of publicly owned land near the intersection of Decker and Loyola lanes.
The Colony Park Master Plan, approved in 2014, allows for more than 3,000 homes and as much as 960,000 square feet of commercial space, equivalent to a regional mall or pair of downtown skyscrapers.
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Commissioners Court goes for Green Line (Austin Monitor) LINK TO STORY
The Travis County Commissioners Court gave the green light last week to advance a study of a potential commuter rail line extending from downtown Austin out to Manor and possibly Elgin.
The court voted 3-2 to approve the financial consulting firm PFM an estimated $39,000 to take a closer look at the viability of Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s proposed Green Line.
The 27-mile corridor currently exists as a freight line but is identified by Project Connect as a developing corridor that could serve future ridership in areas not currently built out.
The agency estimates that building the first 15-mile segment from the Austin Convention Center to Manor will cost $264 million and net an average of up to 1,800 riders each day.
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Say hello to Goat: Homegrown Austin startup enters dockless scooter race (Austin Business Journal) LINK TO STORY
Now that there's a legal framework for grab-and-go scooters in Austin, expect to see a lot more of the two-wheeled vehicles motoring around the urban core.
Add Austin-based Goat Labs Inc. to the list of companies elbowing into the field. The company announced Thursday it had received its license from the city and is now putting its purple and black scooters around its hometown.
Dockless scooters from Bird and LimeBike first started popping up on Austin's streets in early April. In a situation similar to when Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. entered Austin a couple of years ago, city officials were caught off guard and scrambled to come up with regulations for the disruptive scooter startups.
Goat, however, stayed on the sidelines and told the ABJ recently that playing by the rules has put it at a competitive disadvantage.
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[STATE]
Texas Supreme Court sides with short-term renters, likely bolstering state’s fight against Austin’s ordinance (Texas Tribune) LINK TO STORY
The Texas Supreme Court has sided with short-term renters, delivering a win to Texas homeowners who hope to take advantage of websites like Airbnb and HomeAway, and likely bolstering a separate, ongoing case against the City of Austin’s short-term rental ordinance. Kenneth Tarr bought a home near San Antonio in 2012, but when his employer transferred him to Houston two years later, he began to rent it out on a short-term basis. His homeowners’ association soon took issue with that, telling him that the practice violated his deed restrictions, which said his home had to be used “solely for residential purposes.”
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Texas AG Ken Paxton seeks emergency stay to block motor voter law fixes (Dallas Morning News) LINK TO STORY
Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday to block an order by a district judge that would force Texas to fix its online voter registration system, which was found in violation of federal law. Earlier this month, District Judge Orlando Garcia of San Antonio issued an opinion that said Texas' online registration practices were in violation of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, which was enacted to simplify the voter registration process. Garcia then gave a tight deadline to fix the problems before the November elections.
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Observation wheel bigger than London's would join Dallas skyline if developers get it moving (Dallas Morning News) LINK TO STORY
Developers want to change the Dallas skyline with a giant Ferris wheel just south of downtown. Called the Texas Odyssey, the more than 500-foot tall observation wheel would be built on the banks of the Trinity River. It would be larger than the famous London Eye wheel and more than twice as tall as the Texas Star at Dallas' Fair Park. The developers have filed a zoning request with the city to build the planned tourist attraction on Riverfront Boulevard south of Interstate 35E. The site next to Dallas' Cedars neighborhood was previously planned for a maritime museum featuring the just decommissioned Navy submarine USS Dallas.
... (Read more)
The Bingham Group, LLC is an Austin-based full service lobbying firm representing and advising clients on municipal, legislative, and regulatory matters throughout Texas.
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