BG Reads 6.6.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - June 6, 2024

June 06, 2024

Bingham Group Reads

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June 6, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟣 Police, transportation, housing: One-on-one with Austin Mayoral Candidate Kathie Tovo (KXAN)

🟣 Here’s why Austin won’t see many office-to-resi conversions (The Real Deal)

🟣 Financiers plan to launch a Texas-based stock exchange (Texas Tribune)

🟣 What's in store for the 2024 Texas Democratic Party Convention in El Paso this week? (El Paso Times)

🟣 Reflections on war past and present permeate D-Day's 80th anniversary (NPR)

Read On!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Police, transportation, housing: One-on-one with Austin Mayoral Candidate Kathie Tovo (KXAN)

Former Austin City Council Member Kathie Tovo is already hitting the campaign trail in her race for mayor. She hosted her first official campaign event in south Austin Wednesday.

She sat down with KXAN’s Grace Reader ahead of that event to talk about priorities and how she would handle major issues like police staffing shortages and challenges to the city’s land development code. This transcript was lightly edited for clarity and conciseness… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Amazon's robotaxi unit Zoox to begin testing in Austin, Miami (Reuters)

Amazon.com's (AMZN.O), opens new tab robotaxi unit Zoox said on Wednesday it plans to start testing its autonomous vehicles in Austin, Texas, and Miami, a move that would mark its first trial sites outside the western United States.

Zoox will deploy its test fleet of retrofitted Toyota Highlanders with human safety drivers in small areas near the business and entertainment districts of the two cities, it said in a statement.

In California and Nevada, Zoox has been testing its self-designed autonomous vehicles that are built without steering wheels and pedals and have room for four passengers, with two facing each other.

The announcement comes amid an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) into 500 Zoox vehicles equipped with automated driving systems after two crashes.

Austin and Miami will mark the fourth and fifth public testing locations for Zoox, having already established operations in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Seattle.

Zoox said it will not offer public rides in Austin and Miami yet but is exploring several cities for commercial offerings after its initial launch in its target markets of Las Vegas and San Francisco… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Foxtrot is going to reopen Austin stores after sudden shutter (Eater Austin)

What dies is never dead apparently: even though Chicago-based chain Foxtrot suddenly closed all of its trendy convenience stores/markets — including four Austin addresses â€” on April 23 after it had filed bankruptcy, it turns out the company is coming back, as reported by Eater Chicago. Parent company Outfox Hospitality is going to reopen some of its locations, including in Austin.

Eater Chicago reports that Foxtrot’s assets were up for auction on May 10, with rumors that co-founder Mike LaVitola was trying to bring back the company. A business called Further Point Enterprises placed the winning bid.

Now it turns out Further is working with LaVitola, who is serving as the executive chairman of the new entity overseeing this Foxtrot 2.0, per Crain’s. He told the publication, “It’s a totally new company starting from scratch,” but with same name and original locations… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Here’s why Austin won’t see many office-to-resi conversions (The Real Deal)

The office-to-resi conversion trend that swept the country in response to a beleaguered office sector might not be possible in Austin.

The Office of the City Auditor has cast doubt on the feasibility of converting vacant office spaces in Austin into residential units, Austin Monitor reported. 

There are few viable candidates for office-to-residential conversion in Austin, partly because many of the buildings that make up the city’s skyline have been constructed in the last 10 to 20 years, the auditor’s office found. Older office buildings are typically best suited for a residential redo. That’s why cities like Dallas and Chicago are at the forefront of this movement. 

The audit identified 16 vacant office properties for sale within Austin’s central business district, mostly constructed before 1990, with the majority being smaller than 30,000 square feet. The only office property in Austin that’s been successfully turned into residences is the Brown Building Lofts, converted into 90 units in 2004, the outlet reported. 

Such conversions have become increasingly popular in recent years amid the remote-work era, which has driven up office vacancies to historic highs across much of the country, coupled with the need for more housing.

Austin faces a significant housing shortage across all price ranges, while maintaining a persistent office vacancy rate of about 20 percent.

Challenges of converting modern office buildings include centrally located bathrooms, HVAC systems, poor access to sunlight in buildings with large floor plates, and substantial construction debt associated with newer buildings. Zoning presents further complications… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Financiers plan to launch a Texas-based stock exchange (Texas Tribune)

A group of financial firms and investors is planning to launch a Texas-based private market stock exchange and offer traders an alternative to the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.

The group, which includes BlackRock, Citadel Securities and about two dozen investors, raised approximately $120 million of capital to create the Texas Stock Exchange, which would be headquartered in Dallas.

They are now seeking registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to operate as a national securities exchange later this year.

“Texas and the other states in the southeast quadrant have become economic powerhouses. Combined with the demand we are seeing from investors and corporations for expanded alternatives to trade and list equities, this is an opportune time to build a major, national stock exchange in Texas,” said James Lee, founder and CEO of TXSE Group… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

What's in store for the 2024 Texas Democratic Party Convention in El Paso this week? (El Paso Times)

Texas Democrats will be descending on El Paso this week for their 2024 party convention, which kicks off Thursday and runs through Saturday. The convention at the El Paso Convention Center is an opportunity for Democrats in various caucuses to elect party leadership and set their agenda for the upcoming legislative session.

Texas Democrats will also select their 273 national delegates and 20 alternates to attend the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.

The three-day convention in El Paso will feature a variety of high-profile speakers from the state and national level, as well as a bevy of events, caucus meetings and breakout sessions.

Who's coming to 2024 Texas Democratic Convention? The convention is a veritable who's-who of Democrats, both from Texas and beyond.

Special guests for the Thursday night kickoff event include former presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke, former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona, Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinjosa and U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar and state Sen. Cesar Blanco, both of El Paso. What are key Democratic priorities? As per the caucus lineup, as well as the presence of gun control activist Hogg, Texas Democrats will likely focus on gun control measures... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

Reflections on war past and present permeate D-Day's 80th anniversary (NPR)

More than 150,000 Allied troops landed at Normandy, including 73,000 from the United States landing at Omaha and Utah beaches, and thousands of other British and Canadian forces. Over 4,000 Allied troops were killed and thousands more were listed as missing or wounded.

Ben Brands, a historian with the American Battlefield Monuments Commission, which keeps up the 26 U.S. overseas military cemeteries, says of all the invasion beaches, Omaha was the deadliest.

“Almost 800 Americans died on June 6 on Omaha Beach, just on the other side of this cemetery,” he says, explaining it was partly because of the bluffs and the soldiers met with heavier resistance than expected.

“But eventually small units led by junior soldiers taking the initiative were able to get off that beach and open up the Draws [cuts between the cliffs] and get them off the beach,” Brands says. “That’s how D-Day was won. By those incredibly heroic actions by small groups of men under extremely trying circumstances.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Current, former OpenAI employees warn company not doing enough control dangers of AI (PBS News)

A group of current and former OpenAI employees issued a public letter warning that the company and its rivals are building artificial intelligence with undue risk and without sufficient oversight. They're calling on leading AI companies to be more transparent with their research and provide stronger protections for whistleblowers… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Tokyo City Hall is developing a dating app to encourage marriage and childbirth (Associated Press)

Called “Tokyo Futari Story,” the city hall’s new initiative is just that: An effort to create couples, “futari,” in a country where it is increasingly common to be “hitori,” or alone.

While a site offering counsel and general information for potential lovebirds is online, a dating app is also in development. City hall hopes to offer it later this year, accessible through phone or web, a city official said Thursday.

Details were still undecided. City Hall declined to comment on Japanese media reports that said the app will require a confirmation of identity, such as a driver’s license, your tax records to prove income and a signed form that says you are ready to get married.

Marriage is on the decline in Japan as the country’s birth rate fell to an all-time low, according to health ministry data Wednesday. Last year there were 474,717 marriages, down from 504,930 in 2022 while births totaled 727,277, down from 770,759… (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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