The Historic Landmark Commission’s architectural review committee hosted an unusually full conference room on Monday, as developers revealed their initial rendering of a 40-floor high-rise that would occupy the majority of a block in the center of Austin’s warehouse district. Houston-based Hanover Company intends to partially demolish structures at 201-213 W. Fourth St. to make […]
Kali Bramble
Posted inCity Council
Council approves social services funding despite anticipating tightest budget in years
The pressures of anticipated budget constraints loomed large over City Council’s discussion of funding social services last Thursday. The conversation followed Council’s approval of Austin Public Health’s request for $6,727,158 across 17 15-month contracts with youth services providers, with four additional 12-month extension options totaling $5,577,331. Of particular concern was a direction put forth by […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy seeks to bridge revenue gap through changes to service costs
Austin Energy customers can anticipate changes to their bills in the near future, as the utility gears up to revise its base rate charges by 2023. Russell Maenius, vice president of finance, and Tammy Cooper, vice president of communications, spoke to City Council’s Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee on Tuesday to propose a timeline for […]
Posted inAISD
Public education advocates sound alarm on ‘broken’ school financing system
Fighting the compounding pressures of the Covid pandemic and decreasing enrollment numbers, public education advocates have been working hard to address the impact of Texas’ financing system on the chronically underfunded Austin Independent School District. Texas School Coalition Executive Director Christy Rome met with a joint subcommittee of City Council, Travis County and the AISD […]
Posted inAustin
St. Edward’s students lead effort to tackle food accessibility in Austin
Students at St. Edward’s University’s Civics Lab are seeking to bring a class project to fruition this year, even if the work extends far beyond the classroom. Following a year of policy development and advocacy led by political science professor Dr. David Thomason, student Benjamin Alford addressed the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors […]
Posted inZoning
Zoning battle ends in victory for Grady and Brownie project
More condos and retail space are coming to North Austin following City Council’s approval of a contentious zoning case last Thursday. Despite neighborhood opposition backed by a valid petition, Council unanimously approved zoning changes for the Grady & Brownie mixed-use project on Brownie Drive and Middle Fiskville Road. The supermajority vote will rezone two lots […]
Posted inPlanning
In time for spring, Living Streets initiative making it easier to throw a block party
Just in time for spring, the Transportation Department stopped by the City Council Mobility Committee meeting to share progress on the Living Streets initiative passed by Council last October. The Living Streets program encourages the use of city streets as recreational space by closing residential blocks to car traffic. Once implemented, residents will be able […]
Posted inAustin
Animal center struggles to quell public concern over out-of-state transfers
Animal Advisory commissioners continue to question the shelter’s transfer of animals to partner shelters, but thus far are still waiting for answers. The conversation began last month, when commissioners issued a resolution to more closely monitor out-of-county and out-of-state transport of animals in a 7-2 vote, with commissioners Jo Anne Norton and Lotta Smagula against. […]
Posted inTransportation
Transportation Department reveals plans for federal infrastructure grant
Transportation Department Director Robert Spillar stopped by the City Council Mobility Committee meeting last Thursday to share how the department aspires to use the first round of funding from the federal bipartisan infrastructure law. The infrastructure law, passed last November, allocates money for national infrastructure investments to be released over a five-year period. Spillar told the […]
Posted inTransportation
Homeowners concerned about implications of updates to Austin Strategic Mobility Plan
The city’s Transportation Department has begun updating Austin’s Strategic Mobility Plan for the first time since its inception in 2019, but not before encountering a few snags in community feedback. “I think one of the issues we’re having is that the street level classifications are not clear about what they mean in real-life application,” Urban […]
Posted inPreservation
Developer off to rocky start with unpermitted demolition of former Frisco Shop
Developers of a new housing complex may find themselves in hot water after forgoing approval to demolish the last remaining fixture of a historic restaurant chain on Burnet Road. The Frisco Shop was sold to developer Oden Hughes following its closure in 2018. On account of the building’s association with an 86-year-old family business, Oden […]
Posted inPlanning
Council approves anti-displacement funding for year two of Project Connect
Forty-one million dollars is officially on its way to the affordable housing pipeline as of last Thursday, when City Council resolved to allocate funding from Project Connect’s $300 million anti-displacement budget in the next fiscal year. The resolution, sponsored by Council Member Ann Kitchen, commits $21 million toward existing housing development assistance programs with the […]