Central Health's 'cornerstone' downtown site moving forward on path to redevelopment "The former home of the Brackenridge hospital campus off I-35 is inching closer to its potential redevelopment as a central component of an emerging downtown innovation district. The 14.34-acre property owned by the Travis County Healthcare District, or Central Health, is situated north of 12th Street and bounded by the I-35 frontage road and Red River and 15th streets. Central Health's proposed planned unit development, or PUD, rezoning of the site passed through the Austin Planning Commission 10-0-2 May 11 and is slated for a public hearing before City Council May 20." (Community Impact)
Real estate titan Nate Paul loses two more properties — but who will end up with them? "A struggle between Nate Paul's World Class Holdings and a lender group led by Austin investor Bryan Hardeman continues to escalate in the wake of a pair of controversial May 4 foreclosure sales. The latest developments in the long-running saga include changed locks, allegations of fraud and a new adversary for the Hardeman group: El Paso-based real estate giant The Hunt Companies, which through a subsidiary on May 12 filed a lawsuitagainst Hardeman and his investor group. The suit includes more than a dozen counts and seeks exemplary damages in excess of $35 million." (Austin Business Journal)
Medical marijuana company Goodblend Texas starts work on $25M facility in San Marcos "A national medical marijuana company is moving its Texas headquarters from Austin to San Marcos, where it's building a $25 million cultivation and retail facility to serve the state’s small but growing market. Goodblend Texas — formerly known as Surterra Texas — broke ground on the planned 63,000-square-foot San Marcos facility last month and said it will employ over 100 people. Future expansions of the project will add to its workforce, the company said." (Austin American-Statesman)
Tourism Commission recommendations include gondolas funded by hotel tax "A transit system geared toward tourists, paying Austin musicians to promote local tourism, and a variety of programming and promotional efforts for historic sites are among a new batch of recommended uses for the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax dollars. This week the Tourism Commission unanimously approved a report from its Parks and Environment Working Group that looked at how the city could spend hotel tax money in ways that benefit the local parks system. The 16 recommendations, which all appear to fall within the state laws covering use of the tax, include promotional guides for area parks and related attractions, programming and other content that could be used in media placements, and visitor centers or informational kiosks for a variety of attractions and sites in the parks system." (Austin Monitor)
City Lays Out Slow, Steady Plan to Enact Prop B "The return to the pre-2019 rules on where and how Austinites without homes can live in public places, prompted by the victory of Proposition B on May 1, officially took effect Tuesday, May 11. But city leaders made clear that the public encampments in parks and under bridges that fueled the Prop B campaign will not disappear overnight, as they laid out a four-phase plan to ensure a "safe and humane approach." (Austin Chronicle)
Pandemic-Era Traffic Calming Project 'Healthy Streets' Winds Down "A City of Austin program to reduce traffic on certain streets so people could walk, bike and run safely is slowly vanishing as the pandemic eases in the Austin area. City Council created the Healthy Streets Initiative early in the pandemic to establish more outdoor space for physical activity when gyms were closed and trails were crowded." (KUT)
Construction starts on Lakeside Meadows mixed-use development in Pflugerville "Construction has started on two 170,000-square-foot industrial buildings located near the northeast corner of Pecan Street and SH 130 in Pflugerville. The project is part of a 400-acre mixed-use development called Lakeside Meadows, which was unanimously approved to be zoned as a planned unit development, or PUD, by Pflugerville City County in January 2020. The Lakeside Meadows PUD is expected to have residential, commercial and office space within a walkable environment." (Community Impact)
Saturday MetroRail Service Set To Resume As Transit Ridership Shows Gains "Capital Metro's Red Line — the commuter train that runs from downtown Austin to Leander — is set to resume Saturday service May 29. Saturday service was suspended more than a year ago as ridership plummeted at the outset of the pandemic." (KUT)
