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Bicyclists and pedestrians to get separate span A bridge over troubled political waters will finally be built. With Mayor Kirk Watson absent, the City Council voted 6-0 at 12:45 a.m. this morning to approve a construction contract with Jay-Reese Construction of Austin for $6.9 million for a new bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Town Lake, […]

Project labeled self-supporting financially A much revised framework for the Redevelopment and Reuse Master Plan for Robert Mueller Municipal Airport (RMMA) was presented last night to the RMMA Redevelopment Advisory Group and a crowd of some 50 spectators, including Council Members Beverly Griffith and Willie Lewis. The presentation by Jim Adams of Roma Design Group […]

Meeting room jammed with opposition to the request for a conditional-use permit Neighbors of the Hyde Park Baptist Church's Quarries property turned out in force Tuesday night to tell the Planning Commission they oppose the church's request for a conditional-use permit to build a high school, day care center and recreation facility on about 58 […]

Asking for increase in floor-to-area ratio from 8:1 to 11:1 The Convention Center Hotel to be owned by the City of Austin and leased to Hilton Hotels needs to be taller to accommodate 120,000 square feet (SF) of retail and office space plus 41 apartments, triggering a need to increase the floor-to-area ratio from 8:1 […]

Amendment okays 100 percent redevelopment in Desired Development Zone The city's Smart Growth Initiative ought to be nearing the genius level now because the City Council has enacted seven major amendments to the City Code and one to the Land Development Code. Public hearings were held for all of them on April 6 but most […]

Battle lines formed between Rainey Street neighbors and Heritage Society City Council yesterday unanimously approved a resolution allowing the Rainey Street Neighborhood to take it's conceptual plan through the board and commission process, but members of the Heritage Society at least delayed what they perceived to be a freight train bearing down on the street's […]

Dallas leads the pack with system in operation nearly four years While Charles Dickens penned a Tale of Two Cities the Downtown Austin Alliance yesterday brought speakers to tell the tales of Three Cities, in terms of experience with light rail systems. Dallas has it. Houston's about to build it. San Antonio will vote on […]

City Attorney Andy Martin requests subdivision's approval Six members of the Planning Commission could not agree Tuesday night on what to do about a request from Stratus Properties Inc. (formerly FM Properties) for a final plat of 169 acres of the Lantana Tract, Phase 1, Section 2. The proposed subdivision, at the intersection of Southwest […]

Mayor reveals strategy for redeveloping defunct airport The annual parade of candidates began in earnest last night with both the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association and Mueller Neighborhood Coalition hosting forums simultaneously, the former at the Regency Apartments adjacent to the new Central Booking Facility downtown, the latter at Maplewood Elementary School. In Fact Daily opted […]

Neighbors pushing to sell, although some holding out for preservation Residents of the Rainey Street Neighborhood, which lies between the city's expanding Convention Center and Town Lake, have come up with a neighborhood plan that would change the area from mostly single-family homes to a mixed-use hub for high-tech companies. Former City Council Member Brigid […]

Allegations flying that CSC and contractor Hensel Phelps not following the rules It's been said there are liars, damn liars and statisticians and at the heart of a huge complaint over minority contracting on a major construction project lies the question of how to count participation. The Austin City Council and City Manager Jesus Garza […]

To be installed on site of South Austin Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant Power to the people was a rallying cry for activists in the 1970s and today it's a rallying cry for Austin Energy, the city-owned electric utility. The fast growth of both businesses and population in the electric service area has kept the utility […]