Airport plan for jet fuel tank farm can go ahead after narrow Austin City Council vote "Austin's City Council narrowly blocked an effort to stop a massive new fuel storage facility from being built at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The facility will store up to 6 million gallons of jet fuel a few hundred feet from homes." (Nathan Bernier, KUT)
Could COTA's planned theme park create a Six Flags-sized attraction in Austin? "The Circuit of the Americas sports and entertainment venue in southeastern Travis County plans to add an amusement and theme park to the complex, with some of the first rides — those for young children — set to open this fall. Thrill rides for older kids and adults, including 'megacoasters,' would follow next year." (Shonda Novak and Bob Sechler, Austin American-Statesman)
Council starts process to charge park fees for office buildings "City Council unanimously approved a resolution Thursday directing city staff to bring back amendments to the city’s parkland dedication ordinance that would require new office, commercial and industrial developments to provide parkland or pay into the city’s parkland dedication fund. Currently, only new residential developments are required to pay such fees." (Jo Clifton, Austin Monitor)
Symphony Square’s Office Building Breaks Ground in Downtown Austin "The Symphony Square mixed-use development currently under construction at the corner of 12th and Red River Streets in downtown Austin announced an official groundbreaking today for 1121 at Symphony Square, the seven-story office component of the project." (James Rambin, Towers)
UT hosts public opening for East Austin building honoring state’s first licensed Black architect "The University of Texas honored the state’s first licensed Black architect on Thursday evening with the public grand opening of the John S. and Drucie R. Chase Building in East Austin. John Chase, who was the first Black student to graduate from UT’s School of Architecture in 1952, designed the 1,450-square-foot building located at 1191 Navasota Street." (Megan Menchaca, Austin American-Statesman)
Affordable housing takes center stage in Statesman PUD debate "City Council Member Kathie Tovo revealed during Tuesday’s work session that she will be seeking a major change to the proposed planned unit development on the former Statesman site on Lady Bird Lake. ...Tovo told her colleagues she is going to ask Council to approve a requirement for 10 percent affordable rental housing on the site as opposed to the Planning Commission and staff recommendation of 4 percent." (Jo Clifton, Austin Monitor)
Facebook's parent company to build $800 million Central Texas data center "Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms is expanding its footprint in Central Texas with plans for an $800 million data center in Temple. The new data center is expected be 900,000 square feet and employ 100 people, the company said. The data center is expected to be operational by 2024. Temple is about 60 miles north of Austin and has a population of about 80,000." (Kara Carlson, Austin American-Statesman)
150-job GAMA headquarters moving to new Georgetown business park "A trade association for convenience stores and gas stations with nearly 600 members is moving its headquarters to Georgetown, where it will employ roughly 150 workers in one of the city's new business parks. The Greater Austin Merchants Cooperative Association and Albuquerque, New Mexico-based Titan Development Ltd. on April 7 held a groundbreaking for a 297,000-square-foot building." (Justin Sayers, Austin Business Journal)
New lawsuit against World Class keys in on bank transfers "A new lawsuit accuses Nate Paul’s World Class Capital Group LLC of making improper transfers to evade creditors. Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, a Los Angeles-based law firm, alleges that the Austin-based real estate investment firm improperly transferred more than $87 million from a WCCG bank account between September 2018 and August 2020, according to the lawsuit filed March 30 in Travis County." (Paul Thompston, Austin Business Journal)
Tech firm Applied Materials considers Hutto for $2.4 billion facility "Technology company Applied Materials is considering a site in Hutto for a new $2.4 billion research and development facility that could employ hundreds of people and mark another big addition to the booming Central Texas high-tech sector." (Bob Sechler and Kara Carlson, Austin American-Statesman)
