Plans finalized for replacement of old LaBare spot "Superstition, a new 12,000-square-foot night club, is expected to fill a spot just south of downtown that's been vacant for about 15 years. NoCo Hospitality, led by partners Charles Ferraro and Paolo Soriano, announced in April that it was preparing to transition the space into a nightlife spot and revealed its finalized plans on Nov. 10." (Sahar Chmais, Austin Business Journal)
After pandemic's pain, future looking brighter for Austin's hotel market "After a disastrous 2020 and 2021, Austin's hotel market is seeing a room boom. That goes both for occupancy demand as well as new properties opening following the COVID-19 meltdown. With a strong 2022 performance by major events including South by Southwest, Austin City Limits Music Festival and Formula One racing, Austin tourism leaders say they are feeling bullish about closing out the year and heading into the new year." (Lori Hawkins, Austin American-Statesman)
The Boring Company won't tunnel in Kyle after all "The Boring Company will not dig a pedestrian tunnel in the Hays County city of Kyle. That's according to the San Antonio Express-News, which reported that the city was not moving forward with the plan to dig under railroad tracks next to the Plum Creek subdivision. When the Council in May approved spending $50,000 on pre-engineering services to study the tunnel, it was a major milestone — the first public example of local work by Elon Musk's tunneling startup." (Will Anderson, Austin Business Journal)
Congress Avenue’s First Residential Tower Plan in Years Takes Shape, Maybe "A plan to construct a 55-story tower containing multifamily residences behind historic storefronts on Congress Avenue would be the first new residential building on the so-called Main Street of Texas since the completion of the Austonian condos in 2010 — but the proposal faces scrutiny from the city’s Historic Landmark Commission due to this important downtown corridor’s many protections and design restrictions." (James Rambin, Towers)
Iron Ox lays off half the company, says Austin-area greenhouse to remain open "Iron Ox Inc. — the Silicon Valley-based robotic farming company that recently celebrated the opening of a massive greenhouse in Lockhart — has cut its 100-person staff in half." (Justin Sayers, Austin Business Journal)
City seeks to add hundreds of vouchers to secure housing for low-income Austinites "Hundreds of housing units throughout Austin could soon be filled by low-income tenants thanks to a new infusion of housing vouchers, representing one piece of city leaders’ plan to combat homelessness." (Ben Thompson, Community Impact)
Regulators debate proposals to overhaul Texas electricity market "A much-anticipated report assessing proposals to boost the Texas power grid's dependability has recommended that the state move away from some elements of its nearly three-decade-old deregulation stance, by requiring electricity providers to procure a certain amount of advance 'reliability credits' from generators." (Bob Sechler, Austin Business Journal)
New multi-family development springs up in booming Austin suburb "A new housing community is springing up in the popular Austin suburb of Dripping Springs. Lookout, a multi-family rental development, is now under construction and is slated to open in late 2024." (Arden Ward, CultureMap Austin)
EDC talks deals but no details of creative space investments "At the end of this month the public will get the next detailed look at how the city plans to purchase and assist a handful of struggling creative spaces, but won’t get to hear specifics about which businesses have been chosen to receive city investment." (Chad Swiatecki, Austin Monitor)
