BG Reads | News You Need to Know (October 31, 2022)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Austin FC falls 3-0 to LAFC in MLS Western Conference finals (KXAN)
A stifling LAFC defense didn’t allow Austin FC to create much of anything offensively, and Verde’s dream season ended 3-0 in the Major League Soccer Western Conference finals at Banc of California Stadium on Sunday.
LAFC scored once in the first half on a Cristian Arango header in the 29th minute, then tacked on two in the second half. After entering the match in the 61st minute, Austin FC’s Maxi Urruti headed a corner into his own net one minute into his shift to give LAFC a 2-0 lead… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
7M-square-foot Velocity project wins preliminary site plan OK (Austin Business Journal)
Dallas-based real estate investment firm Presidium Group LLC has taken a step forward in its plan to raise a mixed-use development on 270 acres along Austin’s eastern edge.
The Velocity project, which could significantly alter the fabric of Southeast Austin, promises up to 7 million square feet of apartments, offices and other commercial space with about 310,000 square feet planned to be dedicated to retail, restaurants and entertainment — including a potential grocery store.
The project has been in the works for years. It would transform a mostly untouched swath of land in eastern Travis County, bringing homes and businesses to what are now open fields near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Presidium on Oct. 24 shared additional insight into its vision, a little more than a week after the Austin Planning Commission on Oct. 11 gave its site plan a unanimous stamp of approval… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Community First! Village marks groundbreaking on 1,400-home expansion for formerly homeless residents (Community Impact)
Nonprofit Mobile Loaves & Fishes celebrated the groundbreaking of the 127-acre addition to its Community First! Village on Oct. 26, an expansion that will add an estimated 1,400 homes for the formerly homeless across the Austin area.
Community First! Village houses nearly 400 residents, most of whom experienced chronic homelessness, in a 51-acre master-planned development near Austin's northeast city limits. Phase 3 of MLF's expansion first announced last spring centers on 51 additional acres adjacent to the current village on Hog Eye Road. A fourth phase will bring 76 acres of residential and community space to Southeast Austin off of Burleson Road alongside a new 100-unit supportive housing project from Foundation Communities… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Zoning change could mean taller towers in North Austin (Austin Business Journal)
Developers now have the opportunity to build taller and larger in one part of North Austin.
Austin City Council on Oct. 27 approved changes to the rules for what's known as the North Burnet/Gateway Zoning District, increasing the maximum building height to 420 feet, with a development bonus, instead of 308 feet.
They also modified the maximum floor-to-area ratio in the commercial mixed use-gateway zone subdistrict. The change modifies the maximum floor-to-area ratio, or FAR, with from 8:1 to 12:1 with a development bonus… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
San Antonio’s new economic development strategy emphasizes equity (San Antonio Business Journal)
San Antonio City Council has approved the framework for a new corporate recruitment and retention strategy that could help address longstanding geographic economic inequities in the city.
It’s a plan crafted with input from site-selection experts and other stakeholders that backers say will lay the groundwork for how the city incentivizes economic development moving forward, while attempting to better spread the wealth of new jobs and investment.
“It's a two-step tango,” City Councilman Manny Pelaez said from a trade mission in Panama.
At a minimum, the councilman expects it will move leaders away from recruitment deals based on “cash giveaways and hoping for the best.”
In addition to addressing corporate recruitment and retention, the Economic Development Strategic Framework plan approved Oct. 20 places a premium on accelerating real estate development projects that can benefit more areas of the city. It also highlights workforce development and the need to ensure San Antonio can deliver adequate talent to support companies looking to move to or expand in San Antonio… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Dallas-Houston bullet train developer vows project is on track, but state officials lack confidence (Texas Tribune)
A lawyer for nearly 100 property owners who are living with the threat of their land being seized said he will seek legal action against Texas Central, the company that for a decade has promised to build a bullet train between Dallas and Houston, if the company does not provide more details about the looming project.
Landowners whose property could be in the path of the train track have petitioned the company to answer their questions. Patrick McShan, the lawyer representing property owners, said he’s prepared to ask a judge to allow him to depose the company — which has said little about the project — to get answers for his clients.
The legal threat against Texas Central comes a decade after the company unveiled a plan to construct a 240-mile bullet train, modeled after the Japanese Shinkansen trains, between Dallas and Houston… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
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[BG PODCAST]
Episode 168: Market Talk - Lobbying in Philadelphia with Mustafa Rashed of Bellevue Strategies
Today's episode (168) features a discussion on entrepreneurship and lobbying with Mustafa Rashed, Founder and President, of Philadelphia-based Bellevue Strategies.
He and Bingham Group CEO A.J. also discuss current municipal issues in the Philadelphia market.
Enjoyed this episode? Please like, share, and comment!