- The BG Reads
- Posts
- BG Reads 3.19.2025
BG Reads 3.19.2025
🟪 BG Reads - March 19, 2025
Bingham Group Reads
Presented by:
March 19, 2025
✅ Today's BG Reads include:
🟪 Despite construction-related disruptions, developers expect light rail to be a boon to downtown Austin (Austin Business Journal)
🟪 Austin infrastructure career fair to be held March 26 with launch of workforce initiative (Community Impact)
🟪 These are the proposals lawmakers hope will save Texas’ water supply. (Texas Tribune)
🟪 Trump aides prep new tariffs on imports worth trillions for ‘Liberation Day’ (Washington Post)
Read On!
✅ Discover how Bingham Group’s expertise drives results and
[CITY OF AUSTIN]
City Memos:
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
✅ Despite construction-related disruptions, developers expect light rail to be a boon to downtown Austin (Austin Business Journal)
A number of developers are forecasting that the planned Project Connect light rail system will be good for downtown Austin — even with a long and complex construction period ahead. The reason isn't complicated.
Once complete, they expect the 9.8-mile light rail route to make it easier for locals and visitors to move around, boosting the long-term potential of the city center, and they also expect it to create vibrant areas around light rail stations that businesses can tap into.
Seth Johnston, Austin market leader for Lincoln Property Co., which has office, multifamily, retail and hotel developments in downtown Austin, said the company's partners in those properties are supportive of the light rail project.
“They all consistently want a better and easier and cheaper way to get their tenants or their residents to their building and out of their building,” Johnston said.
Lincoln Property Co. — one of the most active developers in downtown Austin — has partnered in the development of three major towers downtown: the 66-story Sixth and Guadalupe tower; the 48-story The Republic tower; and the 74-story Waterline tower. Combined, they should bring roughly 3.6 million square feet of new space across office, hotel, multifamily and retail uses… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ Austin infrastructure career fair to be held March 26 with launch of workforce initiative (Community Impact)
Central Texans interested in starting or advancing their roles in infrastructure-related fields are invited to a regional career fair hosted by Workforce Solutions Capital Area on March 26.
The event is expected to include dozens of area employers and will pair with the launch of the Austin Infrastructure Academy, the local workforce initiative meant to spur job training and growth alongside the billions of dollars in major projects now in development around the city.
The infrastructure career fair will be held March 26 from 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at Workforce Solutions' North Career Center, located at 9001 N. I-35, Unit 110A, Austin.
Hundreds of job-seekers are expected to connect with more than 40 employers and trainers at the "one-stop-shop" for careers and upskilling in mobility and infrastructure work, according to Workforce Solutions... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ Resource, funding needs will delay South Shore cultural district until 2027 (Austin Monitor)
The South Shore Cultural District remains in limbo as the city prioritizes funding and resources for other cultural districts, pushing any substantial progress on South Shore until at least Fiscal Year 2027.
A recent city memo from Anthony Segura, interim director of the Economic Development Department, explained that despite City Council’s directive to support economic and cultural development in the area, financial constraints and conflicting policy priorities mean support for the district won’t arrive for more than a year while the area continues to undergo development.
City Council initially approved the South Shore Cultural District as part of a broader effort to strengthen Austin’s cultural and economic districts. The district was intended to enhance the cultural fabric of the South Shore area by incorporating public space improvements, cultural programming and support for local businesses and artists in the region that includes the Long Center, the Palmer Events Center, the ZACH Theatre, the Dougherty Arts Center, Umlauf Sculpture Garden and portions of Zilker Park… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ City moves toward starting downtown strategy office (Austin Monitor)
In response to a resolution from City Council, as well as the many projects and disruptions foreseen for downtown in the next few years, the city plans to create a new downtown strategy office by the end of September. The Council resolution, approved on Feb. 13, urged the city manager to develop a comprehensive strategy to create and track opportunities to ensure that downtown is a “safe and vibrant place for visitors and residents.”
Deputy City Manager Jon Fortune sent a memo to Mayor Kirk Watson and Council members that outlines plans to create a new downtown strategy office that would, according to the memo, “seek to integrate planning and execution into one cohesive program and will coordinate closely across City departments as well as with community, business, and other governmental stakeholders.”
Fortune foresees one to three individuals would staff the new office, including a downtown strategy officer and two data analyst/planners.
“The Downtown Strategy Officer will be responsible for establishing a downtown task force consisting of representatives from respective City departments for efficient service coordination and project delivery,” he wrote… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ Georgetown police chief proposes ordinance revisions to address peddling, noise, parking (Community Impact)
Georgetown City Council members discussed the possibility of changing several ordinances during a March 11 city workshop meeting. Georgetown Police Chief Cory Tchida said the suggested revisions to the city’s Code of Ordinances came to light after citizens raised concerns with staff on different issues over the last several months… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ Major mixed-use project in Manor planned; new city hall, library on tap (Austin Business Journal)
A huge development could change the face of Manor, a fast-growing suburb outside Austin.
The city of Manor is moving forward with construction of a new city hall and its first city library as part of a larger mixed-use development called the Manor Town Square. It is being developed by the Shenandoah Development Group.
The development, which would be just a few miles away from the current city hall, is expected to include a myriad of projects such as a movie theater, several mixed-use residential and retail buildings, a medical district with office buildings, an outdoor event space, several hotels and townhomes.
Excluding the new city hall and library, the development is expected to be roughly 2.2 million square feet... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
✅ These are the proposals lawmakers hope will save Texas’ water supply. (Texas Tribune)
Texas’ water supply is full of uncertainties. Leaking water pipes and deteriorating infrastructure plague the state’s water systems. Prolonged droughts and record-setting heat waves are depleting the state’s rivers. And a growing population is adding more stress to the system every day.
One state figure estimates there could be a severe shortage of municipal water by 2030 if there is recurring, record-breaking drought conditions across the state, and if water entities and state leaders fail to put in place key strategies to secure water supplies.
State lawmakers have proposed several possible solutions. Their proposals range from committing to annual funding for water projects to tapping into new sources, like oil and gas wastewater that comes from the ground during extraction, and making sure the quality of drinking water is safer.
There are a number of steps to the legislative process, however, and they all have to take place before a bill can go into law. There are 10 bills the Tribune is tracking — some of them have moved quickly in the legislature, while others have failed to pick up steam. Here are the steps of the process we are tracking… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ Nathan Johnson files legislation to pave way for casino gambling referendum. (D Magazine)
Last week was the deadline to file bills in Austin, and state Sen. Nathan Johnson (D-Dallas) filed a senate joint resolution that would allow voters to weigh in on whether Texas should allow casino gambling.
“Where there is a disconnect between what the Legislature will do and what the voters want, the issue may best be decided directly by voters. I filed SJR 82 to give the voters the right to decide this one. I sincerely hope my colleagues in the Senate feel the same way,” Johnson said in a statement. “Polls consistently show that more than 80 percent of Texans want the right to vote to decide this issue. It makes sense for the Legislature to let that happen.”
The lawmaker says that doesn’t authorize casino gambling outright, but allows voters to change the state constitution’s 150-year-old ban on gambling and also impose regulation around gaming, sports betting, and the state lottery. Johnson says that lifting the ban on gambling would also provide more funding for the state to address other needs, like property tax reductions, teacher pay raises and education funding, water infrastructure, and more. He says the state is missing out on revenue from Texans who spend money at casinos in neighboring states, as well as illegal gambling that happens within the state.
“The state of Texas receives no benefit from this economic activity, nor do we effectively regulate it to protect consumers. I’m putting to the voters whether we should change that.” Casino gambling has been considered by the Legislature before. There were at least five pieces of legislation filed by both Democrats and Republicans in the last session alone.
And while a House effort to move gambling along was declared “dead on arrival” earlier this year, momentum could be building for a different outcome. Earlier this month, the Irving City Council voted to consider rezoning a 182-acre tract of land owned almost entirely by a company connected to Las Vegas Sands Corp. (owned by Dallas Mavericks owner Miriam Adelson).
The zoning, if adopted, would allow everything from casino gambling and hotels to “an arena with a minimum of 15,000 seats.”… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[US and World News]
✅ Trump aides prep new tariffs on imports worth trillions for ‘Liberation Day’ (Washington Post)
White House aides are preparing to impose new tariffs on most imports on April 2, laying the groundwork for an escalation in global economic hostilities that President Donald Trump has called “Liberation Day.”
Through his first two months in office, the president has raised tariffs on roughly $800 billion in imports from China, Mexico and Canada, although estimates vary widely.
These tariffs have sent the stock market careening and raised the risks of a U.S. recession, while inviting retaliation against domestic industries by trade partners. Despite the blowback, senior Trump advisers are now publicly pledging to create a new tariff regime that would impose new duties on trade with most countries that trade with the United States. A person familiar with internal planning, speaking on the condition of anonymity to reflect private deliberations, confirmed administration officials are preparing tariffs on “trillions” of dollars in imports.
The potential to more than double the scope of Trump’s tariffs has alarmed economists and some congressional Republicans, while other White House allies are concerned about the logistical challenges of a complicated new import tax regime. The precise nature of these new duties has spurred extensive discussions at the highest levels of the administration, with Vice President JD Vance, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, White House aide Peter Navarro and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent all playing a role in the talks, the person familiar with the plans said.
“The last two months have already hurt American businesses and consumers, but the April 2 deadline seriously could make all of that look like a tempest in a teapot,” said Joseph Politano, an economic policy analyst at Apricitas Economics. “We don’t know exactly what they’re going to do, but from what they’re saying, it sounds functionally like new tariffs on all U.S. imports.”
The internal preparations suggest Trump remains unbowed in his push to upend the global trade order, despite deepening unease among allies on Capitol Hill and Wall Street and outright fury from overseas. Trump has said the tariffs are necessary to encourage companies to move production back to the U.S. and force concessions from foreign trading partners, but the fallout has rattled investors and consumers, leading to declines in several key economic indicators.
“It’s a liberation day for our country because we’re going to be getting back a lot of the wealth that we so foolishly gave up to other countries, including friend and foe,” Trump told reporters on Monday… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ Discover how Bingham Group’s expertise drives results and
Copyright (C) " target="_blank">unsubscribe