Austin Monitor

The Art in Public Places panel has decided on the process for approving an artist for the AIPP project at the Mexican-American Cultural Center, a decision that probably took longer, and has been revised more, than anyone expected. The budget for the current project – the preference of stakeholders is a mosaic – is  $51,000. […]

The City Council has agreed to a settlement with the developers of a proposed condominium project on Barton Springs Road, putting to rest a sometimes contentious battle over redevelopment rules for the project.   The site plan on The Treehouse tract goes back as far as 2002. Plans stalled, a final time, in 2006. According […]

The board of directors of the Austin clean energy non-profit Pecan Street Project (PSP) voted unanimously Wednesday to hire former Council Member Brewster McCracken as the group’s executive director.   Although a contract must still be negotiated, Council Member Randi Shade, a member of the PSP board, said she expects McCracken to take over his […]

Last night the Capital Metro Board of Directors voted to approve a contract with Herzog Transit Services, Inc. for the operation of the agency’s commuter rail system – the MetroRail – and the maintenance of the right-of-way of the agency’s rail system. The vote came only hours after the agency announced that it had terminated […]

Austin’s sales tax continued to fall in the month of October, according to figures put out by the State of Texas and passed on by the city’s Chief Financial Officer Leslie Browder. October’s revenues were $11.2 million compared to $12.2 million for the same month last year, a decrease of 8.4 percent.   October’s indicators are important, if […]

At last night’s session, the Austin Planning Commission took a number of actions – none of them final – on the topics of density bonuses, CURE zoning, and an affordable housing strategy. At Chair Dave Sullivan’s suggestion, the commission is expected to draft a letter of recommendation to City Council similar to those from the […]

On Tuesday Travis County Commissioners voted unanimously to express their displeasure at the proposed changes to FM 1626 from FM 967 to Brodie Lane. After discussing drafting a resolution to detail their complaints, they instead decided to draft a more general letter of dissatisfaction to TxDOT District Engineer Carlos Lopez.  They will probably send a […]

City and county officials kicked off an effort yesterday to encourage area residents to cooperate with the 2010 federal Census effort, which is set to begin in January. At stake is millions of dollars in federal funding as well as representation in Congress.   Part of the effort is through the Austin Travis County Complete […]

District Judge John Dietz dismissed a lawsuit Monday against the City of Austin by Fairfax Tunnel Partners of Beachwood, Ohio, over the proposed award of a contract to construct the 3.5-mile Downtown Wastewater Tunnel. The Austin Water Utility says the super-sized sewer will accommodate continued growth in and around downtown Austin for the next 50 […]

County commissioners approved a baseline of parameters for the proposed downtown county campus last week, a precursor to decisions ahead that Special Assistant to the Court Christian Smith has described as being “want versus need.”   The current phase, the initial report from Broaddus & Associates, encapsulates a lot of that need. County departments were […]

The construction of the W Hotel and Residences across the street from City Hall is proceeding on schedule, according to Stratus Properties’ CEO Beau Armstrong, with phase one set for completion in December 2010.   Stratus, the real estate and development company behind the $300 million mixed-use hotel, condo and retail project downtown, ran into […]

Congressman Lloyd Doggett will announce this afternoon that Austin’s Pecan Street Project has won more than $10 million in stimulus funding for an advanced energy demonstration project at the Mueller development.   Joining Doggett at a 3pm news conference will be Mayor Lee Leffingwell and members of the Pecan Street Project, Inc. They will discuss the […]