BG Reads | News You Need to Know (March 2, 2021)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
NEW // BG Blog: Austin City Limits Fest is Back, and What it Means
NEW// BG Podcast EP. 131: Discussing the Black Austin Musicians' Collective with Mobley
Today’s episode features Austin-based musician and activist, Mobley, a co-founder of the Black Austin Musicians' Collective. The Collective was borne out of the dual impacts of COVID-19 and protests for Black equality and equity in 2020. Its mission is to strengthen the community, industry, and political power of its members. Mobley and Bingham Group CEO A.J. dig into the founding of the Collective, and what’s ahead in 2021, including the Black Austin Musicians Census.
See also, Black Austin Musicians Collective forms to give a voice to local artists (KVUE)
You can listen to this episode and previous ones on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. Please like, link, comment and subscribe!
CITY OF AUSTIN
Work Session of the Austin City Council (3.2.2021 @9AM)
Special Called Meeting of the Austin City Council Joint Meeting with Travis County Commissioners Court (3.2.2021 @9AM)
Regular Meeting of the Austin City Council (3.4.2021 @10AM)
THE 87TH TEXAS LEGISLATURE
LINK TO FILED HOUSE BILLS (2,842)
LINK TO FILED SENATE BILLS (1,017)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Wondering which parts of city's power grid are deemed critical? Austin Energy won't say (Austin American-Statesman)
The power outages from Texas' winter storm introduced a term to Austin residents that addressed why some of them lost power for days on end and others got to keep their lights on: critical load.
Critical load refers to infrastructure that is deemed vital to the city's operations — hospitals and emergency response, police and fire, and 911 call centers. The electrical circuits that power these facilities and the homes near them were protected by Austin Energy from the blackouts spawned by problems with the state's electric grid.
But anyone interested in a comprehensive list of the facilities that meet the definition of critical load — and any explanation for why they received that protection — might be wasting time because Austin Energy is refusing to make those details public.
On numerous occasions in the past two weeks, the American-Statesman made requests to Austin Energy for a map of facilities it considers critical load. Initially, the utility's representatives said they were busy responding to the weather crisis and could not complete the request. But more recently, they refused to turn over the map, citing an exception in the Texas Public Information Act that gives discretion to electric utilities to withhold certain information for security reasons.
"We are not able to provide that information since it’s protected critical infrastructure information," Calily Bien, a spokeswoman with Austin Energy, said Wednesday.
In a follow-up message, Bien confirmed the reason for withholding the information was related to security, presumably because the utility believes releasing it would open the city up to a potential cybersecurity attack or some other risk… (LINK TO STORY)
Kirkland & Ellis expanding Texas footprint again with plans to open Austin office (Austin Business Journal)
Kirkland & Ellis, the world’s most profitable law firm, is expanding its Texas footprint again.
Since it opened its first office in Houston seven years ago, Kirkland has been the fastest growing corporate legal operation in Texas. Now, the Chicago-founded law firm is tripling down on its bet on the Lone Star State.
Kirkland, which has about 200 lawyers in Houston and 70 lawyers in Dallas, plans to launch an office in Austin before the end of May, The Texas Lawbook has learned.
In the next three months, Kirkland is expected to relocate a handful of lawyers from the firm’s California and Houston offices to the Texas capital. In addition, the firm will simultaneously announce the hiring of multiple lateral partners and associates from corporate firms currently operating in Austin.
According to lawyers familiar with Kirkland’s strategic goals in Texas, the firm plans for its Austin office to focus heavily on renewable and alternative energy and technology.
Kirkland leaders in Texas contacted this weekend declined to comment on the firm’s expansion plans.
When its Austin outpost opens, Kirkland will have more offices in Texas than in any other state. Nearly 10% of Kirkland’s $4.1 billion in revenue in 2019 was generated by lawyers who office in Dallas and Houston, according to the 2019 The Texas Lawbook 50.
By opening an office in Austin, Kirkland leaders also believe they will have better access to recruiting top-tier talent from the University of Texas School of Law. Kirkland opened its first Texas office in 2014 in Houston. It opened a Dallas office in 2018.
“Law firms follow the money, and more and more technology and other companies are relocating to Austin and Texas because of the regulatory scheme and no state income taxes,” Kent Zimmermann, a legal industry analyst with the Zeughauser Group, told The Lawbook in an interview Sunday. “Several national law firms are looking to make Texas a priority.”
“Kirkland has the resources and scale to invest where they want to, and they don’t have a history of doing halfway,” Zimmermann said… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin-area county unlocking affordable homes for first-time buyers (CultureMap)
Caldwell County — home to the lowest home prices in the Austin area — could be the region’s next frontier for first-time homebuyers, just as Hays and Williamson counties once were.
In 2019, the county saw construction start on 36 new homes, according to housing data provider Zonda. That number climbed to 58 in 2020, representing a rise of more than 60 percent versus the previous year. Especially noteworthy is that, unlike the region’s other counties, all of those new homes in Caldwell County have been priced at $201,000 to $299,000, Zonda says.
While Caldwell County isn’t experiencing a large-scale homebuilding boom, Vaike O’Grady, Austin regional director of Zonda, says she’s hearing about “substantial interest” in the county on the part of homebuilders.
For the time being, Caldwell County remains the cheapest place within the Austin-Round Rock metro area to buy a new or existing home.
In 2020, the median price of a home rose 7.1 percent compared with the previous year, landing at $212,500, according to the Austin Board of Realtors. By comparison, the median home price in Travis and Williamson counties exceeded $300,000 last year; inside the city of Austin, it surpassed $400,000.
Some folks appear to be getting the memo about the low home prices in Caldwell County. From 2019 to 2020, home sales jumped 15.7 percent, causing the home inventory to further shrink, the Austin Board of Realtors says.
With the population of Caldwell County projected to increase nearly 8 percent from 2020 to 2025, home prices likely will increase as well. During the same period, the average home value in Caldwell County is expected to surge from $202,466 to $226,163, a difference of 11.7 percent.
Aside from attractive home prices, Caldwell County stands to capitalize on the recent widening of State Highway 130, according to O’Grady. The toll road cuts through Lockhart, the biggest city in Caldwell County. SH 130 is “a blank slate for development,” a report from the Northern Caldwell County Coalition says, and has already seen a boon of Austin artists, creatives, and restaurateurs relocating to the quaint town.
Also, Caldwell County benefits from its proximity to fast-growing San Marcos, which is in Hays County. Lockhart (with a population of more than 13,600) and San Marcos are about 30 minutes apart by car. Furthermore, Lockhart sits roughly 30 miles from Austin and 70 miles from San Antonio.
It’s anticipated that all of those pluses will help push Caldwell County’s population from 46,270 in 2020 and 49,769 in 2025 to 103,815 by 2045. If that scenario comes true, the county’s population would skyrocket by almost 125 percent in 25 years… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin FC preseason scrimmages planned for late March start (Community Impact)
The inaugural season of Austin FC will begin with preseason training camps and scrimmages at St. Edward’s University in South Austin, according to the Major League Soccer club.
In a March 1 news release, Austin FC said it will officially begin its 2021 preseason March 8 with a group of 26 soccer players. Of that group, 21 rostered players will be in attendance, as well as two unsigned draft picks from January’s MLS Superdraft and three training camp invites.
“We are very excited to start our first preseason as an MLS club,” said Josh Wolff, head coach for Austin FC, in the team’s March 1 news release.. “The organization has worked tirelessly for over two years for this moment, and we look forward to officially starting this project and getting our players and staff on the field.”
Preseason is being held at St. Edward’s this year because construction is not yet complete on the St. David’s Performance Center, according to the team. Construction work on the $45 million training facility located off Parmer Lane in North Austin began in June.
The team has two scrimmages scheduled for its preseason at St. Edward’s, with matchups against United Soccer League teams OKC Energy and Louisville City FC planned on March 19 and 25, respectively. The USL is a Division II professional league under the MLS… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Gov. Greg Abbott to make 'statewide announcement' during Lubbock visit Tuesday (NBC)
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is expected to address small business and community leaders of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce as part of a statewide announcement on Tuesday, March 2 in Lubbock.
The press conference is expected to start at 1:30 p.m. at Montelongo's Mexican Restaurant.
This comes after a week since the Governor said the state was examining when it would be able to lift emergency orders like the mask mandate, linked to the COVID-19 pandemic… (LINK TO STORY)
Texas leads the nation for businesses sinking billions of dollars into relocations, expansions (Dallas Morning News)
For the ninth consecutive year, Texas has outpaced every other state by a big margin for the most new and expanded corporate facilities, according to a new report released Monday. Site Selection magazine, a trade publication that’s compiled the annual ranking since 1978, said Texas had 781 projects in 2020 to lead the list. Runner-up Ohio had 419 projects. Both top states had fewer projects in the year that started out with a strong economy that was slammed by the pandemic.
Major company investments in Texas last year include Tesla’s $1 billion plan to build an auto plant in Austin and Houston-based Axiom Space’s intentions to invest $2 billion in its aerospace facility. Other projects included retail fulfillment, such as Amazon’s expansion into Waco and TJX Cos.’s project in El Paso. Texas and Ohio benefited from having diverse economies, as do other high-ranking states of No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 Illinois and No. 5 North Carolina, the economic development magazine said. “All the metrics are moving in the right direction,” Gov. Greg Abbott told the magazine in early February about the state’s recovery. Hundreds of companies are said to be eying moves to the state, and Texas sees a steady flow every year of relocations from California and other states perceived to be less business-friendly… (LINK TO STORY)
Houston is first city to record all major COVID strains, new study finds (Houston Chronicle)
A new study found that Houston is the nation’s first city to record every major variant of the novel coronavirus, a development that one local infectious disease expert called “disquieting” amid the region’s push to reach herd immunity through widespread vaccinations. “The numbers of the major variants we have identified in our large sequencing study are disquieting,” said Dr. James Musser, who leads the team of experts at Houston Methodist Hospital behind the new study. “The genome data indicate that these important variants are now geographically widely distributed in the Houston metropolitan region.” Since last year, Musser’s team has sequenced more than 20,000 genomes of COVID-19.
The most recent batch of roughly 3,000 genomes included 28 cases of variants, including those from the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil. Experts are still researching the new strains. But Musser said “there is evidence” that the Brazil variant is more contagious and can infect those who have received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Until more is known, he said, it’s vital for people to abide by social distancing and take other precautions, such as wearing a mask. “The best defense is a good offense,” he said. “The only way to successfully play whack-a-mutant is to know precisely where they are and how many of them are present in a community.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Dallas County anticipated to reach herd immunity by June (D Magazine)
Dallas County is expected to achieve “herd immunity” this June, according to a new report by the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation. PCCI has been tracking and mapping the disease in Dallas since it arrived last March. It made the prediction that we will reach this critical point in the fight against the pandemic based on current vaccination and infection rates.
The organization’s models estimate that 80 percent of county residents will have received their second dose or have some sort of immunity from the disease by this summer. The forecast is based on local data, models, and trends. Herd immunity occurs when a large enough percentage of a population is immune. The disease is unable to spread within the group, choking it of resources until its risk decreases significantly.
“We will get to herd immunity either through continued infection, which is a slow route that will continue to harm the community and economy, or vaccinations,” said Steve Miff, the president and CEO of PCCI, in a release. “This underscores the importance of Dallas County residents registering for and receiving the COVID-19 vaccinations as quickly as possible and continuing to stay vigilant and safe from being infected.”
And, of course, it is contingent on vaccine supply. Last week’s winter storm delayed hundreds of thousands of doses to the state, but 1.5 million doses are still expected to arrive in Texas this week. In the seven days before the storm, 900,000 Texans were vaccinated, but only around 150,000 doses were given the week of the storm, the Texas Tribune reports. In Dallas, the county’s allotment of doses was slashed by 20,000 when the federal government announced it would be launching a targeted effort to vaccinate some of the most vulnerable in 17 Dallas ZIP codes with 20,000 doses of its own… (LINK TO STORY)