BG Reads 5.28.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - May 28, 2024

May 28, 2024

Bingham Group Reads

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May 28, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟣 The Austin City Council will meet for its Work Session today at 9AM.

🟣 Central Health has a big plan to expand care for Austinites (KUT)

🟣 East Austin organizers push for equity/anti-displacement overlay to address affordability (Austin Monitor)

🟣 New Travis County civil courthouse recognized as Project of the Year (Austin Business Journal)

Read On!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

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The Austin City Council will meet for its Work Session today at 9AM.

Among other items, Council will receive a briefing on the implementation of the Climate Equity Plan and Environmental Investment Plan.

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

East Austin organizers push for equity/anti-displacement overlay to address affordability (Austin Monitor)

A coalition of community groups representing East Austin is pushing City Council to require new infill residences built on smaller lots in the Eastern Crescent be made affordable for longtime residents at risk of being displaced due to the rising cost of living.

Prior to Council’s recent passage of the HOME 2 slate of land use and policy changes, the group known as Community Powered ATX held a press conference and put out a call for the creation of an equity/anti-displacement overlay for communities at increased risk of displacement and gentrification because of the move to increase housing density. The group’s leaders worry that the ability to build three homes on lots that previously held one home will attract developers and speculators looking to capitalize on the popularity of the Austin housing market.

Whether the new housing is used for permanent homes for new residents or as short-term rental units, the group said existing affordable housing is at risk along with large swaths of East Austin. The Eastern Crescent includes the parts of Travis County where many low-income Austin residents have been displaced to by rising costs in the more central parts of town: central East Austin, Colony Park, Del Valle, Dove Springs, Montopolis and Rundberg… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Central Health has a big plan to expand care for Austinites (KUT)

Voters approved Central Health in 2004. In the beginning, it was primarily tasked with funding care at a hospital that would serve low-income residents. Back then, that was University Medical Center Brackenridge. Now, it’s Dell Seton Medical Center. Central Health contracts with Ascension Texas to offer care for low-income individuals at that facility. That sets Central Health apart from the other five largest public hospital districts in Texas, all of which operate a hospital themselves.

But Central Health’s focus has expanded over the past two decades. It is now in the early stages of its new Healthcare Equity Plan, a seven-year vision to add clinics and services to close critical gaps in local health care availability. The plan is expected to cost around $682 million.

If you ask Central Health’s CEO, Patrick Lee — who recently completed his first 100 days at the helm of the organization — Central Health’s purpose comes down to an ambitious goal: to build out and provide a comprehensive safety net to catch folks falling through the cracks of the local health system.

“Central Health is empowered with the right to tax to provide the resources necessary to build this system and deliver the care and achieve the results of equitable health for all in Travis County,” Lee said in a May interview… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

New Travis County civil courthouse recognized as Project of the Year (Austin Business Journal)

The search for a site began over a decade ago and ran into multiple dead ends, including an aborted plan to build a high-rise courthouse at Third and Guadalupe streets on the edge of Austin’s Warehouse District. Voters shot down a $287 million bond package in 2015 that would have paid for construction.

Instead, the county decided to ground-lease that land at 308 Guadalupe St. to a group that is building an office tower. The $430 million that Travis County will receive in return over 99 years will help offset operational costs at the new courthouse just finished on the northern end of downtown.

About five years ago, Travis County commissioners entered into a $333 million build-to-suit purchase agreement for 1700 Guadalupe St. The development team, led by Hunt Development Group LLC and Austin-based Chameleon Cos., ended up constructing a 12-story building designed by architects at Gensler… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Costa Coffee, a U.K.-based coffee vendor, debuting coffee machines at ABIA (Austin Business Journal)

U.K.-based Costa Coffee is debuting new coffee machines at Austin Bergstrom International Airport, adding to the base of outside companies growing at ABIA. 

The airport, which has been known for featuring local businesses, has added five national food vendors since 2018: Einstein Bagels, Mad Greens, Starbucks and two Vino Volo locations. ABIA currently has 36 spots for restaurants and retailers, 31 of which are occupied by local vendors.

The list of homegrown restaurants and retailers at the airport include Tacodeli, Toy Joy, East Side Pies, Hut’s Hamburgers, Jo’s Coffee, Juiceland and Amy’s Ice Creams. Businesses within airports are operated by third-party companies, such as Delaware North Corp.

ABIA officials have said the cost of opening an airport location is difficult to measure because of the varying needs of specific vendors. Still, Toy Joy owner Fred Schmidt previously told the Austin Business Journal that it costs over $1 million to be in a 1,000-square-foot shop at ABIA.

About 22 million passengers went through ABIA in 2023, according to airport data.

As ABIA undertakes a $4 billion expansion over the next decade, more room for retail and restaurants will become available, although the precise amount of additional square footage is unclear at this point. Nearer term, the 2026 West Gate expansion project will add one new restaurant and one new retail concept, according to Samantha Haynes, ABIA's deputy chief of communications and marketing… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Plans for redevelopment of downtown's Grant Plaza call for more apartments, restaurants and retail (Austin Business Journal)

New York City-based Empire Square Group LLC aims to build 258 multifamily units at downtown Austin's Grant Plaza, according to a site plan filed with the city in early April. Space for retailers and restaurants is also part of the plan.

The redevelopment, to be called the Grant Building, would require demolition of three commercial buildings constructed in 1981.

Empire Square Group is the owner of the property, while Minneapolis-based Ryan Companies US Inc. is listed as developer. Neither firm immediately responded to requests for comments.

Plans call for the roughly 260,000-square-foot Grant Building to rise 78 feet tall on a full 1.8-acre block at 611 E. Sixth St. The project, bordered by both Fifth and Sixth streets, would have a central courtyard, according to site plans.

The Grant Building would also have ground floor retail, although the precise square footage is unknown. But plans show two retail spaces — one slightly larger than the other — stretching the width of the project from Red River Street on the west to Sabine Street on the east. The plans also note the availability of ground floor coworking space and a gym… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Texas Republican convention approves closed primary, selects new leader (Dallas Morning News)

Texas Republicans chose a new leader Friday and approved policies designed to reshape the GOP electoral process by closing the party’s primary contests to non-Republican voters. Abraham George, the former Collin County GOP chairman, was elected party chair in a six-candidate race — a vote that is expected to keep the party on its rightward path and make it difficult on incumbents who aren’t in lockstep with the party’s agenda. Amid a power struggle exemplified by primary challenges to a group of incumbents who ran afoul of party leaders, delegates and officials called for a united front to elect former President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in November.

“The mood here is very optimistic and upbeat,” said Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hara shortly before Friday’s general session convened. “Republicans are ready to win the White House with Donald Trump and make sure Ted Cruz remains our senator. They are ready to stop the lunacy that the left is pushing on our country.”

Friction was evident, particularly with hotly contested Republican primary runoffs Tuesday that will go a long way toward determining the makeup of the Texas House — and its leadership. House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, heavily criticized at the convention by some statewide leaders and delegates who questioned his conservative credentials, is fighting for political survival against former Orange County GOP Chairman David Covey. “Iron sharpens iron,” O’Hara said.

“I don’t mind telling you I’ll be glad when Tuesday’s over, and then we can then all come together and go beat the Democrats.”

Along with picking a new leader, Republicans voted to close their primaries and ban candidates and incumbents who have been censured by the state party from running for office. Most analysts say closing primaries would require legislative approval, though some delegates insist the process could be achieved without it.

George, who in March lost a Texas House primary race to state Rep. Candy Noble, R-Lucas, was endorsed by Attorney General Ken Paxton and outgoing Texas Republican Party Chairman Matt Rinaldi. After hours of voting, George finished first and advanced to a floor vote with Republican Party Vice Chairwoman Dana Myers and San Antonio businessman Wes Martinez. George finished ahead of the field in an initial floor vote, then beat Myers in a runoff... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

At their convention, Texas Democrats will target same issues GOP did. But not in same way. (Austin American-Statesman)

When the Texas Democratic Party assembles in El Paso for its three-day state convention, which will start June 6, its members will be in the all-too-familiar position of underdogs.

But they'll be hoping an external force will provide them a measure of optimism heading into the final six months of the 2024 election cycle. And the external force they are looking for will come from Republicans.

Whereas Texas Republicans at their own gathering last week in San Antonio leaned into their legislative and Supreme Court victories on issues such as the near-total statewide ban on a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy and the expansion of gun rights even in the face of deadly mass shooting after deadly mass shooting, Democrats see their own setbacks on those fronts as the battle plan for future success… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

Louisiana governor signs bill classifying abortion pills as controlled dangerous substances (NBC News)

The policy drew support from anti-abortion advocates and alarm from medical professionals and abortion-rights activists in a state where both medication and surgical abortion are illegal, except in very limited circumstances. President Joe Biden said in a statement Thursday that the bill was “outrageous” and that this was “a direct result of Trump overturning Roe v. Wade.”

“This is a scary time for women across America,” Biden said, adding that if Trump were re-elected he would “try to make what is happening in states like Louisiana a reality nationwide.” Medical professionals have spoken out against the measure, saying the medications have critical uses outside of abortion care, including aiding in labor and delivery, treating miscarriage and preventing gastrointestinal ulcers.

The law also criminalizes “coerced criminal abortion by means of fraud,” prohibiting someone from knowingly using the medications to cause or attempt to cause an abortion without the consent of the pregnant person. That would be punishable by up to 10 years in prison, or up to 20 years if the person is three months or more into a pregnancy. Categorizing the medications as controlled and dangerous was an amendment to the bill after it passed the state Senate the first time. Republican state Sen. Thomas Pressly said during a debate Thursday that he brought the bill forward after the estranged husband of his sister, Catherine Herring, put abortion medication in her drinks without her consent while she was pregnant with the couple’s third child… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Relations between EU and Israel plummet as Spain, Ireland prepare to recognize a Palestinian state (Associated Press)

Relations between the European Union and Israel took a nosedive Monday, the eve of the diplomatic recognition of a Palestinian state by EU members Ireland and Spain, with Madrid insisting that sanctions should be considered against Israel for its continued deadly attacks in southern Gaza’s city of Rafah.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Spain that its consulate in Jerusalem will not be allowed to help Palestinians.

At the same time, the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell threw his weight to support the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor is seeking an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others, including leaders of the Hamas militant group.

“The prosecutor of the court has been strongly intimidated and accused of antisemitism — as always when anybody, anyone does something that Netanyahu’s government does not like,” Borrell said. “The word antisemitic, it’s too heavy. It’s too important.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[2024 Austin City Council Race Watch]

This fall will see elections for the following Council Districts 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, and Mayor.

Declared candidates so far are:

Mayor

District 2

District 4

District 6

District 7 (Open seat)

District 10 (Open seat)

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