Tesla says it's moving its headquarters to Austin "The electric carmaker Tesla is moving its headquarters to Austin, CEO Elon Musk announced Thursday at a factory under construction in Southeastern Travis County. 'Our factory is like five minutes from the airport, 15 minutes from downtown, and we're going to create an ecological paradise here because we're out on the Colorado River,' Musk said at an annual shareholder event. 'It's going to be great.'" (Nathan Bernier, KUT)
Ballot language raises eyebrows as land swap between Austin, Oracle goes before voters "Austin leaders have a deal in place to acquire 48 acres of private land along the Colorado River, complete with a racetrack the city has long coveted, in exchange for 9 acres of parkland the city owns near Lady Bird Lake. ... The deal would require voters to sign off on it at the ballot box — and some local elected officials and community leaders say they have concerns that the ballot language appears to be set up so that only one company — software giant Oracle — would meet the qualifications to be part of the land swap." (Ryan Autullo, Austin American-Statesman)
1,400-Acre Development Near Hamilton Pool Ignites Push to Protect Salamander "Austin's Save Our Springs Alliance and a group of environmental scientists have filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the Pedernales River springs salamander as 'endangered' or 'threatened' under the federal Endangered Species Act. The action is a direct response to the planned 1,400-acre Mirasol Springs development along Hamilton Pool Road and the Pedernales River that encompasses the amphibious species' already delicate habitat near Dripping Springs' Hamilton Pool Preserve. Sprawling across the Hays and Travis county lines, the so-called 'conservation-scale' development has plans to include a poultry coop, a luxury Auberge hotel, a 15-acre farm, residential homesites, and a proposed UT-Austin field station for biodiversity research." (Lina Fisher, Austin Chronicle)
Storied Manor Downs racetrack and music venue will play new tune as industrial park "A site east of Austin where horses once raced and the Grateful Dead once jammed is being transformed into an industrial park. Dallas-based Dalfen Industrial LLC says it purchased the 146-acre site, just west of Manor, to construct a six-building industrial park with more than 1 million square feet of warehouse space." (John Egan, CultureMap Austin)
New 405 Colorado high-rise has unique design, amenities "Austin Business Journal got a sneak peek of the the city's newest high-rises — and, certainly, one of its most unique — on Oct. 7. The building rises 25 stories and offers 206,000 square feet to tenants at the corner of Fourth and Colorado streets. ... The tower stands out from the outside — the exterior of the first 13 floors was designed to look like an art-carrying pedestal. Sitting atop that pedestal is a blue-tinted block that resembles a single shaped glass sculpture." (Parimal M. Rohit, Austin Business Journal)
With $1M grant, Georgian Acres mobility hub takes aim at neighborhood’s transportation issues "The project, which the Austin Transportation Department said will be operational in six months, takes a comprehensive approach to transit in the neighborhood. It plans to include a fixed shuttle that runs to the H-E-B on North Lamar Boulevard and the Lamar Transit Center, free Wi-Fi, a food pantry, and bicycle and scooter stations. It also plans to use solar trees to power the hub and provide shade." (Benton Graham, Community Impact)
Travis County indicates negotiations with Samsung for possible semiconductor deal are ongoing "Travis County is still in negotiations with Samsung, which is eyeing the area for a $17 billion semiconductor facility. On Oct. 5, Travis County commissioners voted to direct staff to present Samsung with a preliminary term sheet for a potential performance-based tax incentives agreement for the project, dubbed Project Silicon Silver in documents posted earlier in 2021. The vote came following a discussion in executive session and was the first public move by commissioners to progress negotiations with Samsung since July, when the county announced it had received an application for Chapter 28 economic development incentives from the company." (Olivia Aldridge, Community Impact)
Montopolis Bridge in East Austin could get $7 million in amenities and visual improvements "An 83-year-old East Austin bridge with a view of the downtown skyline could get some major aesthetic upgrades under a project being considered by the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority..... [The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority] Board of Directors is considering whether to spend up to $7.1 million to add seating, lighting, shade structures, interpretive signs sharing the history of the bridge and various other improvements. The project would come with annual maintenance and inspection costs of more than $100,000 per year." (Nathan Bernier, KUT)
