Austin’s Music Commission is making another push to have the city’s Office of Real Estate Services compile a list of city-owned properties that are currently unused and could be made available for creative groups and music venues that get priced out of their locations. At Monday’s meeting, Commissioner Rick Carney brought up the fact that […]
Office of Real Estate Services
This city department manages acquisitions and leasing of property for the city government. They also oversee easement releases, street and alley vacations and the sale and lease of city property to others.
Posted inHousing
East Austin zoning mess fix moves forward, for now
A fix for a mistake made two years ago is headed to City Council, and nine east side properties once owned by the city hang in the balance, as does a deal struck for affordable housing as a condition of the 2014 sale of those properties. City of Austin Planning and Zoning Department Manager Jerry […]
Posted inCity Hall
Development Services move planned
When the Zucker Report came out in 2015, it offered a scathing analysis of the city’s planning and development review functions and compared Austin’s development and permitting processes unfavorably to many other cities, including San Antonio. One of the report’s recommendations was to move employees associated with the development and permitting process from One Texas […]
Posted inCity Council
Tale of Winnebago Lane takes new twist
At least one chapter has closed in the saga of 4711 Winnebago Lane, as City Council voted yesterday against the sale of the land to a private buyer for $1.45 million. Council voted 6-5 against the sale of the land to Jimmy Nassour, with Mayor Steve Adler, Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo and Council members […]
Posted inCity Council
Sale of city land divides city interests
Plans for a dog park in Southeast Austin may be dead. Why? In short: The city cannot afford its own land, which is now worth more than six times what it was valued at less than two years ago. But it only gets more complicated from there. In January 2014, City Council postponed approving a […]
Posted inTravis County
County boots city’s request for parking discount
Travis County Commissioners on Tuesday shot down a request from the city of Austin for a slightly more generous pricing agreement on scores of downtown parking spaces. The rare failure to reach interlocal accord underscored that the increasing popularity of downtown Austin as a destination is affecting not just residential and commercial real estate but […]
Posted inEnvironment
City to purchase preservation land
Austin will move forward with the purchase of slightly more than 10 acres of land in the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve, despite concerns from some City Council members about whether the purchase price could be lower. Council voted 9-2 to move forward with purchasing 10.099 acres at 11101 and 11105 Zimmerman Lane for $400,000, with Council […]
Posted inEnvironment
Council likely to purchase endangered species tract
Despite questions about the price from City Council Member Don Zimmerman, Council appears poised to move forward Thursday with the purchase of a significant tract of land in the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. The tract is within Zimmerman’s District 6. City real estate specialist Junie Plummer told Council on Tuesday that an independent appraiser had appraised […]
Posted inCity Council
Council cuts 2.3 city positions
City Council approved cuts to long-vacant city positions Thursday, but the result didn’t come close to the budget savings first envisioned. The effort to eliminate positions that had been vacant for more than a year was led by Council Member Ellen Troxclair. She cited the savings this move would bring in her unsuccessful push for […]
Posted inAustin
Council set to make flood buyout decision today
Today’s City Council agenda includes a decision on whether to appropriate $17,986,000 to purchase 63 flood-prone properties in the Williamson Creek watershed. Those properties are in the 25-year floodplain and are considered at high risk of flooding. The previous Council authorized the funds from the Capital Improvement Projects budget. The city has already purchased a […]
Posted inCity Council
Council hits brakes on flood buyout
Last week, City Council voted unanimously to delay a proposed flood buyout in Northwest Austin in order to give members time to learn more about the program. Council is currently considering funding up to $328,000 for the purchase and closing costs of 11701 Charing Cross Road as well as the relocation of the current homeowners, […]
Posted inDevelopment, Planning
City staff calls for Convention Center expansion
A memo from City of Austin Real Estate Services Officer Lauraine Rizer to Austin City Council members and Mayor Lee Leffingwell notes that there is “solid evidence for the need to expand the Convention Center.” And to do it, Rizer is calling on the city to acquire a section of downtown known as Block 8. […]