BG Reads | News You Need to Know (March 10, 2022)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
Bingham Group CEO A.J. has been appointed to the Strategic Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) of Travis County by the Travis County Commissioner’s Court.
SHFC works with private developers and public entities to research and create opportunities to provide affordable housing. The primary business activity of SHFC is the issuance of revenue bonds for affordable multi-family housing projects that will be owned by SHFC or a controlled entity.
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Another demonstrator is suing Austin and an APD officer after being shot with a beanbag round (KUT)
Austin is being sued in civil court by another demonstrator who was struck by so-called "less-lethal" rounds during protests over police violence and racial justice in 2020.
On Tuesday, Bomani Barton filed a civil suit against the city and the Austin police officer he claims shot him three times with beanbag rounds on May 30, 2020.
Barton says he had his hands up during a demonstration outside the Austin Police Department when he was shot in the hip by the officer, Kyu An. He turned away from the officer and was then shot in the elbow and then in the face, his complaint says.
An, a six-year APD veteran, is also facing criminal charges in the incident. He is one of 19 officers indicted for using "less-lethal" weapons in the protests.
The city is currently facing 11 lawsuits over the use of the ammunition and has so far paid out more than $13 million in settlements to four demonstrators.
A city spokesperson said in a statement that the city would "handle this [lawsuit] respectfully and fairly."
"Each case is different, and we will review the facts and circumstances and advise our clients as appropriate," the statement said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Ledesma-Woody says she won’t ask for recount (Austin Monitor)
Susanna Ledesma-Woody, who came very close to defeating longtime incumbent Travis County Precinct 4 Commissioner Margaret Gómez in the March 1 Democratic primary, said she is withdrawing her request for a recount. As of Wednesday, Gómez had 11,021 votes and Ledesma-Woody had 10,773 out of a total of 21,794 votes cast, according to data from the Travis County Clerk.
Gómez gained 30 votes among provisional ballots counted after election night, giving her 248 votes more than Ledesma-Woody. As the election currently stands, Gómez has 50.57 percent of the vote and Ledesma-Woody has 49.43 percent. Under state law, a candidate may request a recount if there is less than a 10 percent difference between the two candidates.
In a news release, Ledesma-Woody said, “While we did not get enough votes this election cycle, I can’t feel anything other than proud of what we accomplished given the odds. We ran a positive campaign against a 27-year incumbent on a truly grassroots budget that was a quarter of the size of my opponent’s.”
Recently retired Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir told the Austin Monitor the cost of a recount depends on the number of ballots to be counted, but said such a process could easily cost $10,000.
The Gómez campaign responded to the Monitor’s request for comment by saying, “We remain thankful for the support of the community and our entire team. We congratulate Susanna Ledesma-Woody on a race well run and look forward to working with her to further improve our community.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
8-acre affordable rental, ownership project in East Austin earns Planning Commission backing (Community Impact)
Updated plans for Libertad Austin, an affordable rental and ownership housing project just off Hwy. 183 in East Austin, won unanimous Planning Commission approval March 8.
As envisioned by a partnership of national community developer the Vecino Group, Caritas of Austin and the Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corp., or GNDC, Libertad would bring 198 rental spaces and 26 homes to a nearly 8.5-acre site at 900 Gardner Road. The property is located between Austin Public Health and the Austin Animal Center's campus and a Whole Foods distribution center across Garnder to the east.
In addition to the hundreds of affordable housing units, Libertad plans also include public features such as ponds, a sports court and playground, picnic areas and a walking path encircling the property. Apartments will be located in three buildings surrounding a central green space while the homes would be spread across 13 duplexes… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin becomes hub for 'proptech' companies that are shaking up the real estate world (Austin American-Statesman)
From its sleek headquarters on South Congress Avenue with sweeping views of the downtown skyline, Ojo Labs is among a growing number of Austin companies developing technology that is shaking up the real estate industry. Ojo, founded in 2015 by entrepreneurs John Berkowitz and David Rubin, uses artificial intelligence to create software that automates the home-buying process. The company’s platform can conduct text conversations with consumers seeking property-specific details. For a homebuyer, the software learns the user’s routines, lifestyle preferences and locations of interest and creates a home search area and shows properties that match the buyer’s needs. Ojo is one of at least 30 Austin-based tech firms that are targeting the real estate market, according to the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. Venture capital has been flowing in to support their growth.
"We've raised more than $130 million and the platform is on fire in all the good ways," Berkowitz said. "We went from less than 2,000 agents at the end of 2020 to more than 20,000 agents on the platform." Industry analysts say Austin's deep roots in real estate, along with its tech talent and local venture capitalists who have been big backers, have created a booming sector —known as "proptech" to industry experts — that is putting the region on the map as a leading innovation hub. "Austin has the venture capital that wants to invest in proptech, it's got innovative brokerages and real estate and it's got the tech DNA," said Ben Rubenstein, founder and previously CEO of real estate tech platform Opcity, which was acquired by Realtor.com in 2019. "It's the perfect combination." The technology being designed by Austin proptech companies is changing the ways that real estate is bought, sold, researched and managed. The result is a disruption of the established ways that real estate professionals have done business for decades… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
S3 Ventures, Tacora close on new funds to boost Austin startups (Tech Crunch)
Austin’s venture capital scene has been hot for years now, but a pair of local investment firms just closed on new funds aimed at injecting more capital into startups in Austin and elsewhere.
One is S3 Ventures, a venture capital firm that’s been around since 2005, which raised $250 million for its Fund VII, touting itself as “the largest venture capital fund focused on Texas-based startups.” The other is a new player in the ecosystem, Tacora, which announced the first close — $250 million — of its debut fund, which is targeting $300 million, to provide asset-based lending to venture-backed companies.
More than 380 funding deals were made into Austin startups in 2021, amounting to $4.9 billion, which is a record for the city, according to PitchBook data. Axios reported that this was 211% over the number of dollars invested in 2020… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Stream Realty's mid-rise office proposal faces neighborhood calls for affordable housing (Austin Business Journal)
Plans to turn an East Austin site home to a coffee roaster into a six-story office building are moving forward, but neighborhood members want to see the developer contribute more to affordable housing efforts.
Dallas-based Stream Realty Partners LP plans to develop 1400 E. Fourth St., which is currently home to Texas Coffee Traders, into a mid-rise office building with ground-floor restaurant space and underground parking. To do so, it's asking for a maximum building height of 85 feet instead of the base entitlement of 40 feet, according to city documents.
Austin City Council approved March 3 first reading of the zoning request, though Council members noted that they'd like to see the neighborhood and developer work out a compromise before a final vote.
The Plaza Saltillo Transit-Oriented Development plan — which calls for a concentration of high-density, mixed-use developments along East Fifth and Sixth streets — includes a density bonus tool that allows increased density for developments that include affordable residential units or pay a fee. City documents indicate that Stream will need to pay the fee-in-lieu of affordable housing, which was not disclosed.
Brian Medricka, national director of communications and public and media relations for Stream Realty, declined to comment for this article.
Neighborhood members spoke at the March 3 meeting and said Stream's project will set a precedent in the area if it's granted a density bonus to 85 feet. The Foundry II office building, located at 1600 E. Fourth St., was re-zoned to be built at 74 feet and six stories tall.
Another citizen claimed that Stream's plans to build solely office space leave a potential 127,000 square feet of affordable housing on the table. Council Member Sabino Renteria echoed those concerns.
"I'm very concerned that we’re not going to get affordability out of this development," Renteria said at the meeting… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Texas sues to prevent losing federal funds over its investigations of trans children’s families (Texas Tribune)
Texas is worried it could lose over a billion dollars in federal funding over Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive requiring medical professionals to report transgender children receiving gender-affirming health care as potential child abuse.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton amended an existing lawsuit suing the Biden administration Wednesday, attempting to void guidance issued by the U.S. Health and Human Services on March 2 that said restricting someone’s ability to receive medical care solely on the basis of their sex assigned at birth or gender identity is likely a violation of the Affordable Care Act for federally funded entities. That federal guidance came in response to Abbott’s directive issued late last month to treat certain medical treatments for trans children as possible crimes to be investigated by the Department of Family and Protective Services.
The federal guidance stated that health care providers do not need to disclose private patient information regarding gender-affirming care and that it is illegal to deny health care based on gender identity… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Dallas suspends ties to Russia amid Ukraine invasion (Dallas Morning News)
As the invasion of Ukraine enters its third week, Dallas officials opted Wednesday to suspend the city’s diplomatic ties to Russia as long as Vladimir Putin remains the country’s president. The Dallas City Council voted unanimously to not approve any city contracts with groups that have significant links to the Russian government and hit pause on an 18-year sister city relationship with Saratov, a city of about 840,000 that sits more than 500 miles southeast of Moscow. The council resolution also condemns the Russian attack on Ukraine, urges international business, civic and philanthropic communities to support the Ukrainian people and calls for delaying the possibility of creating any trade offices in Dallas with Russia.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson is trying to form such establishments in the city with several countries, according to his office. Elizabeth Reich, the city’s chief economic officer, said she didn’t know of any current contracts with Russian ties. It’s unclear if any city pension funds are invested in businesses with links to Russia. Johnson said Wednesday the council decision was necessary to show their support for the city’s Ukrainian community. “They deserve to hear us as a City Council say, loudly and clearly, that we stand with them and we’re going to do our part, however large or small that may be,” said Johnson. Dallas has had a sister city agreement with Saratov since it was approved by the City Council in 2004. It’s one of at least 12 sister city agreements, which are meant to promote tourism as well as cultural, business and educational exchanges. Cities in China, Czech Republic, France, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Spain and Taiwan also have similar ties with Dallas… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas A&M System moves to sever ties with Russia (Houston Chronicle)
The Texas A&M University System has moved to distance itself from Russia amid the country’s invasion of Ukraine, apparently becoming the first higher education institution in the state to do so. Chancellor John Sharp on Wednesday directed school leaders to sever ties with Russian entities by “immediately” dissolving all agreements related to academics, research and intellectual property. He also asked them to review any other non-contractual agreements. “The Texas A&M University System will not tolerate or support Russia in any way as it continues its brutal, senseless and unjust attack on the sovereign nation of Ukraine and its people,” Sharp wrote in a memo to his system’s CEOs.
Sharp said he made the decision after President Joe Biden’s announcement of widespread sanctions and restrictions on the transfer of U.S. technology to Russia. Texas A&M’s move could affect study-abroad programs, research grant agreements and intellectual property licensing agreements, among other things. It was not immediately clear exactly how many programs, students or faculty will be affected at A&M’s 11 campuses, eight state agencies, health science center and research campus in Bryan. But university officials noted that they believe fewer than 10 research agreements exist across the system. The flagship in College Station only has two non-binding agreements that allow for faculty to discuss possible collaborations with faculty at Russian academic institutions, and those have not led to any signed agreements, they said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
DC police officer's suicide after Jan. 6 declared line-of-duty death (The Hill)
The family of Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffery Smith has reportedly won a ruling stating that her husband’s suicide after the Jan 6. insurrection was a line-of-duty death.
In a letter obtained by CNN on Wednesday, the District of Columbia's Police and Firefighters' Retirement and Relief Board said Smith “sustained a personal injury on January 6, 2021, while performing his duties and that his injury was the sole and direct cause of his death."
The board also vacated the previous decision to deny Smith’s wife, Erin, her survivor's benefits, granting her an annuity equal to her husband's salary… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
U.S. inflation is expected to have reached a new high in February (Wall Street Journal)
U.S. inflation is estimated to have climbed to another four-decade high in February with skyrocketing energy and commodity prices related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine expected to push costs even higher.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect that the Labor Department will report Thursday that the consumer-price index hit a 7.8% annual rate in February. The index for goods and services across the economy is measured throughout the month. Rising energy prices at the end of February would be accounted for in the inflation reading, but not March increases that put crude oil prices at their highest levels since 2008 and U.S. gasoline prices at record highs.
Excluding volatile energy and food prices, economists estimated consumer inflation rose at a 6.4% annual rate in February, up from 6% the prior month. The CPI measures what consumers pay for goods and services, including groceries, clothes, restaurant meals, recreation and vehicles… (LINK TO FULL STORY)