BG Reads // July 10, 2025

Author

A.J. Bingham
July 10, 2025

Presented By

✅ Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 X CEO resigns (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 Developer wants to go sky-high south of downtown — but save old bar (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 Convention Center redevelopment explores options for two Downtown landmarks in its path (Austin Monitor)

🟪 Gov. Abbott orders special session on Hill Country flooding, redistricting, THC and unfinished GOP priorities (Texas Tribune)

🟪 Texas is relying on FEMA. State leaders said it should be cut (NPR)

🟪 A ‘click-to-cancel’ rule, intended to make canceling subscriptions easier, is blocked (Associated Press)

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

✅ X CEO resigns (Austin Business Journal)

The CEO of X, the Elon Musk-owned social media company that was formerly Twitter, has stepped down from her position. 

Linda Yaccarino said in a post to X on July 9 that she is resigning. She has held the role since May 2023. No reason was given in her post on her departure. 

“I’m incredibly proud of the X team — the historic business turnaround we have accomplished together has been nothing short of remarkable,” Yaccarino said.

"We started with the critical early work necessary to prioritize the safety of our users — especially children, and to restore advertiser confidence. This team has worked relentlessly from groundbreaking innovations like Community Notes, and, soon, X Money to bringing the most iconic voices and content to the platform. Now, the best is yet to come as X enters a new chapter with @xai.”

X is based in Bastrop, east of Austin, where Musk is also building out other parts of his business empire, including SpaceX and the Boring Company. 

Even though Yaccarino has been the CEO of X, Musk has been the face of the company in recent years and has continued to use his profile on the site to make public statements on major political and business events... 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Developer wants to go sky-high south of downtown — but save old bar (Austin Business Journal)

Related Cos. is moving forward with its plans to build multiple towers on six acres just south of downtown Austin.

Most notably, the company has tripled the amount of office space in its plans since redevelopment possibilities surfaced last year. Related now envisions 600,000 square feet of office space, up from the 200,000 square feet previously planned. That's in addition to 950 residential units, a 225-room hotel and 135,000 square feet of restaurant, grocery and retail space — which could be a huge addition to the highly sought-after South Congress retail market.

However, Mike Iannacone, president of Related Co. Texas, told the Austin Planning Commission on July 8 that the firm wants to have some affordable retail options at the site. For instance, there have been discussions about bringing back the Ego's karaoke bar, which will be demolished as part of the redevelopment.

"Ego's will be reincarnated in the new development in an affordable space, so there's no $10 beers," Iannacone said. "That was important to me, I wanted a place where you could get a $5 beer."

The company received a positive vote from the Planning Commission to get a planned unit development zoning designation for the roughly 6.5-acre property at the intersection of South Congress Avenue and West Riverside Drive. The Austin City Council still needs to approve the project, which is in Austin's South Central Waterfront District… 🟪 (READ MORE)

🟪 Convention Center redevelopment explores options for two Downtown landmarks in its path (Austin Monitor)

As Austin moves full steam ahead with plans to nearly double the size of its Convention Center, city staff are scrambling to keep two historic structures off its list of potential casualties.

Located just across Red River from the existing Center, the buildings known as the Trask and Castleman-Bull Houses are no strangers to the pressures of redevelopment, having arrived at their present home by way of relocation in 1991 and 2001 respectively. Now, the 175 and 152-year-old homes will again be forced to move to allow for a brand new district chilling plant for the $1.6 billion dollar project.

“There have been a lot of ups and downs and twists and turns in trying to figure out how to keep these buildings intact,” said Historic Preservation Division Manager Kim McKnight. “We do have very clear direction from Council to do whatever is necessary to get this dealt with in terms of removing historic designation as an obstacle.”… ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 CEO indicted, resigns over bid-rigging scheme for Moody Center (Austin Business Journal)

The founder and CEO of Denver-based Oak View Group, Tim Leiweke, has been indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on allegations of participating in a bid-rigging scheme related to Austin's Moody Center, the new hotspot for sporting events and concerts.

He has also stepped down from his role at the company.

The accusation relates to Oak View Group's involvement in the construction of the Moody Center at the University of Texas in Austin and getting a competing company to back down from the project, the DOJ said.

"In February of 2018, Leiweke ultimately reached an agreement with the competitor’s CEO, pursuant to which the competitor agreed that it would stand down and neither submit nor join an independent competing bid," the DOJ said in an announcement Wednesday.

Leiweke has said he has done no wrong and intends to fight the allegations.

Oak View Group and Legends Hospitality have agreed to pay $15 million and $1.5 million in penalties, respectively, in connection with the conduct alleged in the indictment against Leiweke, the DOJ said… ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 Urban Transportation Commission calls on city to narrow traffic lanes (Austin Monitor)

The Urban Transportation Commission wants to see narrower Austin roads, and they have research to back the idea up.

Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution recommending that the city adopt a 1- to 2-foot narrower standard for traffic lanes in many of the city’s larger streets and roads during the body’s regular meeting on July 1.

The current standard for traffic lanes in Austin, derived from the city code’s Transportation Criteria Manual, calls for between 11 and 12.5 feet of width for so-called Level 3 and Level 4 roads, a pair of categories that include thoroughfares like Lamar Boulevard or South Congress.

The resolution, proposed by Commissioner Spencer Schumacher, would bring those numbers down to 10 feet for standard and 9 feet for “constrained” lanes, with a higher limit of 11 feet for lanes used extensively by trucks, buses or other larger vehicles… ✅ (READ MORE)

[TEXAS/US NEWS]

✅ Gov. Abbott orders special session on Hill Country flooding, redistricting, THC and unfinished GOP priorities (Texas Tribune)

Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday unveiled a jam-packed agenda for the upcoming special legislative session, calling on lawmakers to redraw Texas’ congressional maps and address several unfinished conservative priorities from earlier this year.

The governor, who controls the agenda for overtime legislative sessions, also included four items related to the deadly Hill Country floods over the July Fourth weekend, directing legislators to look at flood warning systems, emergency communications, natural disaster preparation and relief funding for impacted areas.

The flooding has killed more than 100 people, with more than 160 still missing in Kerr County alone.

Abbott’s call also includes redrawing the state’s congressional districts — following through on a demand from President Donald Trump’s advisers, who want to fortify Republicans’ slim majority in the U.S. House by carving out more GOP seats in Texas. Republicans in Texas’ congressional delegation have expressed unease about the idea, worrying it could jeopardize control of their current districts… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Texas is relying on FEMA. State leaders said it should be cut (NPR)

In the wake of the deadly floods in Central Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott praised President Trump for quickly approving a major disaster declaration for Kerr County, the hardest-hit area.

"The swift and very robust action by President Trump is an extraordinary help to our response," Abbott said.

The declaration unlocked federal money to assist with the disaster response. That includes paying for debris removal, for search and rescue experts who are working around the clock, and for housing, food and other immediate necessities for those who lost homes in the floods.

But such assistance may not be available in the future.

President Trump has proposed eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which provides billions of dollars in assistance to communities hit by disasters. He argues that states should take on more responsibility for responding to and preparing for extreme weather and other disasters.

Texas leaders are helping Trump realize that goal. 

This spring, the president appointed a council of Cabinet members, governors and emergency management experts, tasked with recommending changes to FEMA. Gov. Abbott and the top emergency official in Texas, W. Nim Kidd, are both on that council.

"FEMA is slow and clunky and doesn't solve the needs of those who need it the most," Abbott said at the first meeting of the FEMA Review Council in May. "States have proven that we can move more nimbly, more swiftly, more effectively."

Now, as Texas responds to catastrophic floods, the officials leading the state's efforts will also be considering how to reshape, or even dissolve, the country's top disaster response agency… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ San Antonio wrapping up final Project Marvel community workshops (Texas Public Radio)

The City of San Antonio began its last round of two-day Project Marvel Sports & Entertainment District community workshops on Tuesday. The city has held workshops in each city council district to inform residents about the major proposed development project centered around a new Spurs arena, and to solicit resident feedback.

More than 60 residents attended the District 1 community forum on Tuesday night.

Assistant City Manager Lori Houston told the group that although there won’t be a specific citywide vote on moving forward with Project Marvel, a potential November infrastructure bond election would serve as the method for residents to signal their approval or disapproval.

“I’ve heard people say, ‘How do I stop this project?’” Houston said. “You’ll have an opportunity. We don’t want to stop the project, but this is part of the process.”

The infrastructure bond’s passage is essential to prepare the district area for more development. The San Antonio City Council has until August 18 to call that election, and the new council is on recess until the beginning of August… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ A ‘click-to-cancel’ rule, intended to make canceling subscriptions easier, is blocked (Associated Press)

A “click-to-cancel” rule, which would have required businesses to make it easy for consumers to cancel unwanted subscriptions and memberships, has been blocked by a federal appeals court just days before it was set to go into effect.

The Federal Trade Commission’s proposed changes, adopted in October, required businesses to obtain a customer’s consent before charging for memberships, auto-renewals and programs linked to free trial offers.

The FTC said at the time that businesses must also disclose when free trials or other promotional offers will end and let customers cancel recurring subscriptions as easily as they started them.

The administration of President Joe Biden included the FTC’s proposal as part of its “Time is Money” initiative, a governmentwide initiative that was announced last year with the aim of cracking down on consumer-related hassles… 🟪 (READ MORE)

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