BG Reads 12.19.2024

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December 19, 2024  

➡️ Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 Real estate trends point toward stable growth even after Austin loses ‘supernova’ status (Austin Monitor)

🟪 Austin Transit Partnership approves $98M contract for delivery of Project Connect (Community Impact)

🟪 It's a steep price to open a restaurant in Williamson County, but it's worth it to many (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 How Texas lawmakers could help homeowners build stronger roofs (Houston Chronicle)

🟪 The Federal Reserve lowers interest rates again — but hints at fewer cuts next year (NPR)

Read On!

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

🟪 Review: The 2025 Austin Council Meeting Calendar 

🟪 MEMO: City of Austin Executive Leadership Team and Organizational Announced (Effective November 4, 2024)

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

➡️ Real estate trends point toward stable growth even after Austin loses ‘supernova’ status (Austin Monitor)

While Austin has moved out of the “supernova” growth phase among real estate markets across the nation, real estate and development professionals expect the Central Texas region to remain a hot spot in 2025 for many types of construction and property development.

Urban Land Institute Austin’s monthly breakfast panel last week looked at what’s forecast for the area in 2025, with industrial and housing units expected to remain strong while the local office market grapples with a slowdown seen in many other major metro areas.

ULI’s national Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2025 report looked at the population and demand expected to shape the city’s development economy, which panelists said is still recovering from the inflation and labor pressures that caused building costs to spike in recent years.

The report showed Austin has benefited from its growing tech economy, its position as a regional logistics hub and consistent business migration into Texas. Industrial transaction volumes for 2024 year to date are $872 million, pointing to sustained investment in this sector… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

➡️ Austin Transit Partnership approves $98M contract for delivery of Project Connect (Community Impact)

Austin Transit Partnership, the agency tasked with building the city’s light rail, has approved a $98 million contract Dec. 18 with AECOM Technical Services Inc. to serve as the Project Connect delivery partner. This marks a milestone in advancing the construction of Austin's transformative transportation project “on time and on budget.”

“This is the biggest ask we've had yet,” said Brad Cummings, who oversees procurement and contract management for ATP.The four-year contract with AECOM, a globally recognized consulting firm, comes after ATP’s lengthy solicitation process over the past couple of years, Cummings explained. He said his team used a multistep evaluation process to assess a large applicant pool, including reviewing qualifications, conducting interviews, evaluating each team’s technical expertise and considering their potential for collaboration.“[AECOM] will clearly be critical to the successful delivery of the project,” board member John Langmore said… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

➡️ It's a steep price to open a restaurant in Williamson County, but it's worth it to many (Austin Business Journal)

As more franchised eateries seek beachheads in the Austin metro, the northern entry point — Williamson County — is becoming increasingly popular for them.

Canada-based coffee shop Tim Hortons Inc. is among the big chains homing in on the county. The franchise’s Round Rock location is on the cusp of opening, and it has purchased property in Georgetown and Cedar Park as it continues to search Williamson County for more sites.

“There’s going to be a bunch of Tim Hortons in Williamson County within the next three years,” said franchisee Jim Kolkhorst.

Other franchises are eyeing booming Williamson County, including Eggs Up Grill, Brass Tap, soda chain Swig, South Korea-based bakery Paris Baguette, Daddy’s Chicken Shack, Rita’s Italian Ice, Abbott’s Frozen Custard and burger chain Culver's. And then some familiar names — think Hopdoddy Burger Bar, OneTaco, Torchy's Tacos and others — have been opening or are planning additional spots in the county.

But a byproduct of all the action is that rents and construction costs for restaurateurs in Williamson County are becoming steep and approaching levels comparable to Austin.

Travis Robertson, executive vice president at real estate firm JLL, said class A retail space — generally parallel to a road and forward facing, with ease of access for consumers, good signage and good parking — is going for about $45 to $65 per square foot in base rent in Williamson County, he said. That’s comparable to Austin proper, with the exceptions of ritzy locations such as South Congress Avenue and The Domain… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

➡️ Hutto, Pflugerville add more than 5,000 residents over past 5 years (Community Impact)

Newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows both Hutto and Pflugerville added thousands of residents in the last five years.The data also shows the age group with the greatest amount of growth in the area is adults ages 35 to 44 years old.

The U.S. Census Bureau released the American Community Survey five-year estimates for 2018-2023 Dec. 12, showing changes in the population of both cities as well as their demographics, among other population measures.According to the bureau, ACS is used by local governments and communities to plan for the future, and guide the use of of public funds... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

➡️ A giant development the size of five Lakeline Malls starts to rise northwest of Austin (Austin Business Journal)

What's been called a "once-in-a-generation" project continues to rise about 20 miles northwest of downtown Austin.

The first pieces of the 118-acre CedarView center – anchored and built by Nebraska Furniture Mart – are on track to start opening in late 2026 and into early 2027. North Dakota-based sporting goods giant Scheels and a luxury hotel and conference center are part of the project.

The development at 750 E. New Hope Drive is well into the horizontal infrastructure phase of construction. When it's done, it's slated to include a 250-room, full-service hotel; a 30,000-square-foot, city-owned convention center; 700,000 square feet of warehouse space; and 250,000 square feet of retail outside of the massive furniture store in the works.

The project could eventually eclipse 5 million square feet of commercial space in Cedar Park — the equivalent to roughly five Lakeline Malls… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

➡️ How Texas lawmakers could help homeowners build stronger roofs (Houston Chronicle)

Experts say one of the most immediate ways to combat the state’s insurance crisis is also one of the simplest: make homes more durable. That way when storms do hit, homeowners suffer fewer losses and insurance companies have fewer claims to pay out. “You can’t change the frequency [of storms],” state Rep. Tom Oliverson, a Cypress Republican, told lawmakers in June.

“But you can certainly impact the severity on a property claim, by changing the materials you use and how it’s constructed.” Oliverson, who chairs the House’s insurance committee, has been thinking through how to incentivize more resilient construction and recently introduced a bill that would create a state program to fund home retrofits and structural upgrades. Here’s what to know about what’s worked in other states, and how it might play out in Texas.

Ten states have some kind of incentive program for resilient retrofits and structural upgrades, including grants to homeowners and discounts on insurance. Alabama pioneered the idea and is widely considered the leader in encouraging such construction. Since 2016, the state has offered $10,000 grants to homeowners to upgrade their roofs with denser nail patterns, stronger framing connections and sealed roof decks to prevent water intrusion. It’s all part of a standard known as Fortified, which is supported by insurers.

Louisiana, South Carolina and Minnesota are among the nine states that have followed Alabama’s lead. And like Alabama, they require insurers to offer premium discounts to homeowners who build or upgrade homes to resilient standards. Do insurers support state incentives? Mostly, yes. In Texas, researchers at Texas A&M University of Galveston recently studied how investments in resilient construction standards might help mitigate losses, particularly along the coast.

They surveyed companies writing homeowners insurance in Texas; about a third responded. Of those, a majority said they would support a state incentive program to help homeowners retrofit their homes to a higher construction standard. Most also said they would offer “reasonable premium discounts” for policies on Fortified homes, but were not supportive of mandatory discounts. On average, carriers said they would offer a 10-12% premium discount for homes built to resilient standards...

🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US and World News]

➡️ The Federal Reserve lowers interest rates again — but hints at fewer cuts next year (NPR)

The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates on Wednesday, but policymakers signaled caution about additional rate cuts next year in the face of stubborn inflation.

The central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to a range of 4.25% to 4.5%. Rates have fallen by a full percentage point since September, making it cheaper to get a car loan, finance a business or carry a balance on your credit card.

But on average, members of the Fed's rate-setting committee said they expect borrowing costs to fall by only another half percentage point in 2025. That's less than three months ago when they were projecting a full percentage point in rate reductions next year…   🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

➡️ After investigating Jan. 6, House GOP sides with Trump and goes after Liz Cheney (Associated Press

Wrapping up their own investigation on the Jan. 6 2021 Capitol attack, House Republicans have concluded it’s former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney who should be prosecuted for probing what happened when then-President Donald Trump sent his mob of supporters as Congress was certifying the 2020 election.

The findings issued Tuesday show the Republican Party working to reinforce Trump’s desire to punish his perceived enemies including Cheney and members of the Jan. 6 committee that the president-elect has said should be in jail. House Administration Committee Chairman Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., wrote, “Until we hold accountable those responsible, and reform our institutions, we will not fully regain trust.”

The panel Republicans’ 128-page interim report arrives as Trump is preparing his return to the White House and working to staff his administration with officials at the highest levels, including Kash Patel as FBI Director, who appear like-minded in his efforts at retribution. Trump also vows to pardon people who were convicted for roles in the riot at the Capitol.

It revisits long-running Republican arguments that Trump is not to blame for the attack on the Capitol. The Department of Justice has prosecuted some 1,500 people including the leaders of the militant Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, and indicted Trump on four criminal charges, including conspiracy to overturn the election. Special counsel Jack Smith has since abandoned the case against Trump ahead of the inauguration in adherence to Justice Department guidelines that sitting presidents cannot be charged… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

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