It appears City Council will move ahead with the creation of a cultural land trust and an economic development corporation in the coming months, both attempts to combat the rising cost of real estate for residents and local artists. A new memo from the Economic Development Department details the options for the possible structure of […]
Economic Development Department
This city department heads up business recruitment, urban regeneration, small business development, arts, and music for the city.
Posted inPlanning
Four city parcels ID’d for redevelopment focus in next budget
The Economic Development Department is recommending City Council spend the next budget year focusing on putting four pieces of city-owned property into higher use with mixtures of housing, commercial space, parklands and more. A recent memo detailed the department’s efforts since April to shift to a “portfolio approach” in selecting the city properties that can […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Economic development corp. stands out as answer to creative space crunch
A long-burgeoning effort to have the city create an economic development corporation that would help public and private entities to partner on ambitious development projects may be the best solution to help Austin’s creative community address a rapidly worsening space crunch. The effectiveness of economic development corporations in other major cities facing affordability issues for […]
Posted inAustin
Incentive proposals target middle class, creatives in push to address affordability
After more than a year of community input and research, the city is taking the next steps to dramatically overhaul its policies for economic incentives to grow businesses in Austin. The proposed changes, which will be presented at today’s City Council work session, would see the Economic Development Department move away from a focus of […]
Posted inCity Hall
Audit: City jobs programs disorganized
The city’s workforce development programs are neither well-planned nor well-coordinated, and the city does not have reliable data to evaluate the success of the programs, according to an audit released last week by the Office of the City Auditor. The audit, which was presented to the City Council Audit and Finance Committee by Assistant City […]
Posted inAustin
Austin’s creative culture holds weight in economic incentives revision
In response to City Council direction in March, Austin’s Economic Development Department has spent the better part of the year meeting with specific groups in the community that have a stake in how the city approaches policies such as business recruitment, real estate planning and business incentives packages in the coming years. In an effort […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Venue rent relief seen as goal of new incentives programs
As Economic Development Department staff worked on plans to update the city’s economic incentives program, the department’s top executive gave a preview earlier this week of how the creative economy could be helped in the coming years. At Monday’s meeting of the Austin Music Commission, Economic Development Director Kevin Johns said the city is examining […]
Posted inCity Hall
City reveals new music division manager
The city has selected the new head of the Music and Entertainment Division, roughly three months after the position opened following a cloud of controversy. The announcement that Erica Shamaly, a longtime Austinite with close to two decades in local film and music industries, will take over the position as of July 24 came at […]
Posted inDevelopment
Colony Park development expected to move forward this fall
The city’s next big planned unit development will begin moving forward this fall when potential developers begin showing their bona fides and ability to handle the multistage project. The Request for Qualifications process for the Colony Park community in Northeast Austin is expected to begin in September, with the formal proposal process open to selected […]
Posted inCity Council
Council approves workforce training audit
It took a while for City Council to wrap its collective head around the concept, but after an hour and a half of discussion it overwhelmingly approved a study that will try to assess the effectiveness of some area workforce development efforts. The resolution approved by Council June 22 authorized city staff to negotiate and […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Agent of change revamp to add hotels could delay vote on proposal
Austin’s much-debated policy proposal to address conflicts between music venues and nearby developments appears to be getting a makeover and a possible delay from a planned early June vote by City Council. That was the feeling of venue owners, city staff and Mayor Steve Adler after a quickly called meeting at City Hall on Tuesday. […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Music omnibus advances as venues await agent of change, licensing moves
The city is touring its early progress in enacting pieces of the Music & Creative Ecosystem Omnibus, a slate of actions designed to protect Austin creatives and venues from further eroding under development pressure. Presentations to the city’s Arts and Music commissions and other groups come as a related effort to draw expectations for developers […]