BG Reads 10.9.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - October 9, 2024

October 09, 2024

Bingham Group Reads

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www.binghamgp.com

October 9, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 Watson leads in fundraising among mayoral candidates (Austin Monitor)

🟪 Plan for new link between Texas grid and neighboring states gets boost from the federal government (KUT)

🟪 Texas AG Paxton asks feds to check citizenship status of nearly a half million registered voters (Houston Public Media)

🟪 Zillow adds climate risk data to home listings as threats rise (CNBC)

Read On!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

🟪  Last week’s three-day trip to Williamson County, Tennessee—specifically the city of Franklin—for the Round Rock Chamber’s Inaugural InterCity Visit was a fantastic experience. Bingham Group was proud to participate as a sponsor and attendee.

Shout out to Chamber President & CEO Jordan Robinson and the entire team for their efforts.

In 2024, Bingham Group embraced a regional focus and is dedicated to fostering proactive relationships and strategic investments within the Austin Metro for 2025 and beyond.

🟪 Bingham Group represents and has represented a wide range of clients in the Austin Metro and Texas Capitol at the intersection of government and business.

🟪 Learn more about Bingham Group’s experience here, and review client testimonials here.

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

  • ✅ There will be a briefing and public testimony on: Discussion regarding a proposed five-year Meet and Confer Agreement with the Austin Police Association relating to wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment for police officers of the Austin Police Department.

  • ✅ Watch live on ATXN

🟪 The Austin Council has five (5) regular meetings left in 2024

📺 City Council Candidate Forum: District 2 - Video (9.26.2024)

📺 City Council Candidate Forum: District 4 - Video (9.19.2024)

📺 City Council Candidate Forum: Mayor - Video (10.3.2024)

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Watson leads in fundraising among mayoral candidates (Austin Monitor)

Mayor Kirk Watson leads all other candidates for mayor in terms of contributions received and political expenditures, according to reports filed Monday with the city clerk’s office.

His Oct. 7 report shows that the mayor raised more than $216,000 over the most recent period, which started in mid-July. Watson reported raising more than $710,000 on his July 15 report. That report showed Watson had spent more than $166,000, and the latest report shows he has spent more than $488,000 for a total expenditure of more than $650,000.

According to his recent filing, Watson still has about $267,000 in the campaign bank account less than 30 days out from the election… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Williamson County signs agreement with South Korean city that also has Samsung factory (Austin American-Statesman)

Williamson County and Yongin City in South Korea, both sites of Samsung factories, have formed a partnership, officials said.

"The agreement, approved by the Commissioners Court on July 2, will establish a relationship for stronger, friendly cooperation and mutual prosperity between the two communities," according to a news release from Williamson County.

It said County Judge Bill Gravell traveled to South Korea to sign the sister city agreement Sept. 28.

“This partnership will open up many avenues for exchanging ideas between residents, businesses and students," Gravell said in the release. "Imagine having Williamson County students participate in an exchange program with Yongin Special City, and students from Korea coming here. We can learn much from each other."…

"Special" cities in South Korea have a population of 1 million or more.

The South Korean government has designated Yongin City as the Next Generation Semiconductor hub with investments of more than $460 billion by the government, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the release said… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Mixed-use project Sixth&Blanco ramping up with nearly $200M construction loan in hand (Austin Business Journal)

A nearly $200 million construction loan has been secured for Sixth&Blanco, a mixed-use project coming to West Sixth Street that recently broke ground.

Austin-based Riverside Resources, a real estate development and investment firm, along with Austin-based restaurateur Larry McGuire, co-founder of MML Hospitality, are bringing the 1.6-acre Sixth&Blanco project — formerly dubbed Clarksvillage — to life at the intersection of West Sixth and Blanco streets. It's comprised of eight properties on the 1100 and 1200 blocks of West Sixth. 

Riverside and McGuire closed a $193 million construction loan for the project with Arvest Bank and participation from Prosperity Bank and Southside Bank, according to an announcement.

Sixth&Blanco potentially could achieve the status of prominent Austin retail magnets such as The Domain and South Congress Avenue. That's because West Sixth Street is expected to become a haven for luxury brands, according to some experts. It's in a high-income area, already has an established food and dining scene and is near MoPac Expressway, providing easy access… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin Opera buys landmark home for $4.5M to house theater, studios, offices (Austin American-Statesman)

Taking advantage of a soft market for Austin office space, Austin Opera has purchased a landmark building in Southeast Austin. Its interior will be transformed into offices, storage areas, rehearsal studios and social gathering spaces as well as a 195-seat performance venue that will be available to other arts groups 40 weeks out of the year.

The opera paid $4.5 million for 16,000 square feet of high-ceilinged space laid out diagonally on a corner lot at Trade Center and Comsouth drives. Since the previous owner, J.D. Abrams L.P., an engineering firm, constructed an expansion of the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge in the 1980s, the opera building, built in 2016, is dominated by a dramatic series of bridge-like arches. The theme continues inside with a series of high barrel vaults.

The opera plans to raise an additional $3 million to finish retrofitting the building, including the 3,600-square-foot theater and four rehearsal studios, under the direction of architect Travis Young, founder of Studio Momentum Architects, and project contractors Liza Wimberley and Tina Barrett, who also serves as opera trustee. A squad of acoustic, lighting and theater design experts will consult on the in-house performance venue.

Opera employees moved into the building in September. The new theater and rehearsal studios are expected to be complete in October 2025. Once the building is finished it will be called the Butler Performance Center at Austin Opera. The theater itself will have a separate name… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Plan for new link between Texas grid and neighboring states gets boost from the federal government (KUT)

The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced it will put $360 million toward a project to create a new link between the Texas power grid, which operates independently from its neighbors, and other grids in the Southeast.

Energy experts say such interconnections would reduce the risk of big blackouts and potentially drive down the cost of energy, but the project has a ways to go before it becomes a reality.

Despite what it may sound like, the interconnection proposed by Pattern Energy's Southern Spirit Transmission line would not fully unite the Texas grid, managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, with neighboring grids.

Instead, it would create something akin to a transmission drawbridge. When lowered, it would allow enough electricity to flow back and forth to power about three-quarters of a million homes… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Texas AG Paxton asks feds to check citizenship status of nearly a half million registered voters (Houston Public Media)

Monday [was] the last day for Texans to register to vote in the November election, which means procrastinators will likely cause the state's voter rolls to grow by the thousands as the clock ticks down toward midnight.

At the same time, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is hoping the federal government will help him identify noncitizens so that he can stop them from voting.

Paxton sent a letter on Monday to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services requesting the federal government confirm the citizenship status of more than 450,000 of Texas' registered voters.

That group is made up of people that did not use a state-issued driver’s license or ID card when they registered to vote (The state accepts several forms of identification when people register to vote beyond just state IDs).

Paxton's move comes on the heels of a request to Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson that her office provide a list of these voters. The AG gave Nelson a deadline of last Friday to provide the list... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US and World News]

Fearful residents flee Tampa Bay region as Hurricane Milton takes aim at Florida coast (Associated Press)

Fearful Florida residents streamed out of the Tampa Bay region Tuesday ahead of what could be a once-in-a-century direct hit from Hurricane Milton, as crews worked furiously to prevent furniture, appliances and other waterlogged wreckage from the last big storm from becoming deadly projectiles in this one.

Tuesday marked the last chance for millions of people in the Tampa metro area to prepare for lethal storm surges, ferocious winds and possible tornadoes in a place that has narrowly avoided a head-on blow from a major storm for generations.

“Today’s the last day to get ready,” said Craig Fugate, a former FEMA director who previously ran the state’s emergency operation division.

“This is bringing everything.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state deployed over 300 dump trucks that had removed 1,300 loads of debris left behind by Hurricane Helene by Tuesday afternoon.

In Clearwater Beach, Nick Szabo spent a second long day hauling away 3-foot (0.9-meter) piles of soggy mattresses, couches and drywall after being hired by a local resident who was eager to help clear the roads and unwilling to wait for overwhelmed city contractors… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Zillow adds climate risk data to home listings as threats rise (CNBC)

Insured losses for Hurricane Helene are now estimated at over $6 billion, but the uninsured losses are far higher. That’s because the vast majority of homes impacted by the storm, especially in hard-hit North Carolina, did not have flood insurance.

New risk-assessment technology is designed to help change that for the future.

Most homeowners in North Carolina do not have flood insurance, because they are not in flood zones designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Government-backed mortgages require flood insurance in those designated areas.

Just 4% of North Carolina homes are in a FEMA flood zone. But climate risk firm First Street, which incorporates the effects of climate change into its property risk scores, shows nearly 12% of homes in the state at flood risk.

First Street just launched a suite of climate risk data for every for-sale property listed on Zillow.

“Climate risks are now a critical factor in home buying decisions,” said Skylar Olsen, chief economist at Zillow, in a release. “We’re providing buyers and sellers with clear, property-specific climate data so they can make informed decisions. As concerns about flooding, extreme temperatures, and wildfires grow, this tool also helps agents inform their clients in discussing climate risk, insurance, and long-term affordability.”… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Justice Department calls for sanctions against Google in landmark antitrust case (NPR)

The Department of Justice is proposing a series of sanctions against Google to ensure that it can no longer monopolize the search engine market. In a filing late Tuesday night, the government laid out its framework for reining in the tech giant.

Proposals include possibly putting an end to exclusive agreements Google has with companies like Apple and Samsung, and prohibiting certain kinds of data tracking. The government wrote that it’s considering “behavioral and structural” remedies that would ensure Google couldn’t use its Chrome browser or Android phone in a way that advantages its search engine, but didn’t outline what the structural remedies would be.

“Google’s anticompetitive conduct resulted in interlocking and pernicious harms,” reads the filing. The markets Google controls, it continues, “are indispensable to the lives of all Americans, whether as individuals or as business owners, and the importance of effectively unfettering these markets and restoring competition cannot be overstated.”… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

_________________________

We are proud to represent and have represented a wide range of clients in the Austin Metro and Texas Capitol at the intersection of government and business.

Learn more about Bingham Group’s experience here, and review client testimonials here.

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