BG Reads Weekend (5.18.2025)

Author

A.J. Bingham
May 18, 2025

PRESENTED BY

[TOP CLICKS OF THE WEEK]

🚨 KEEP READING 🚨

The Week Ahead at Austin City Hall and Weekend News below

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[CITY OF AUSTIN]

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[WEEKEND NEWS]

🟪 Developers, opponents argue in Travis County court over Statesman PUD (Austin Business Journal)

A Travis County judge on May 15 heard arguments for a landmark case over the planned redevelopment of the former Austin American-Statesman site — a project that could extend Austin's skyline across Lady Bird Lake — but a decision has not yet been made.

The lawsuit, filed by environmental watchdog Save Our Springs Alliance, seeks to void Austin City Council’s 2022 approval of the planned unit development zoning. Opponents allege the city did not provide proper public notice or reasonable opportunity for public comment before it was voted on.

Travis County District Judge Jan Soifer presided over the hearing, according to Austin American-Statesman reporting. The Save Our Springs Alliance was represented by attorneys Bobby Levinski and Bill Bunch.

The owner of the former Statesman site, the Cox family of Atlanta, and Austin-based Endeavor Real Estate Group, which has been hired to handle the redevelopment of the site, were represented by attorneys Casey Dobson and Sara Wilder Clark… ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 Travis County officials weigh plans for potential historical district (Community Impact)

Travis County commissioners discussed potential heritage tourism opportunities for a nearly 100-year-old downtown courthouse, as renovation efforts move forward May 6.

Opened in 1931, the Art Deco building is known for its role in the local civil rights movement. In 1946, Heman Marion Sweatt—an African American—filed a lawsuit against The University of Texas at Austin after being denied admission to its law school because of his race.

The building was renamed after Sweatt in 2005 to honor a milestone in civil rights history.

Today, the Heman Marion Sweatt Courthouse houses the Justice of the Peace for Precinct 5 under local statute, which performs services like landlord-tenant disputes and small claim lawsuits, as well as some traffic violations, public intoxication and minors in possession of alcohol or tobacco… ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 Data center 'megasite' is coming to Lockhart as similar facilities strain Texas' water, energy supply (KUT)

Only a few weeks after Austin City Council passed a resolution requiring various regulations on artificial intelligence operations, a new 2-gigawatt data center is coming to Lockhart. Tract, a Colorado-based developer, has secured 1,500 acres for a “megasite” in Caldwell County, only about six miles away from famous barbecue joints Smitty’s Market, Kreuz Market and Black’s. It has received enthusiastic support from Gov. Greg Abbott, who said in a statement that it will “create good-paying jobs, bolster the state’s power grid, and enhance our technology infrastructure.”

However, data centers threaten to have a detrimental effect on Texas’ energy infrastructure. Data centers, which operate 24/7 and provide computing power for cloud operations and AI, require cooling units, fans and tons of water to operate. They account for almost 2% of overall global energy demand. Indeed, Texas energy demand is projected to nearly double by 2030, mostly thanks to data centers and cryptomining facilities, which account for about 50% of that expected demand.

As President Trump took office in January, he announced that Texas will be a cornerstone of his $500 billion Stargate initiative, with 10 data centers already under construction and 10 more planned. In a panel discussion on energy planning in April, Tom Oney, vice president of external affairs for the Lower Colorado River Authority, warned that data centers were a concern, saying: “The amount of load that’s coming to this area is something that we’re struggling with every day. ERCOT is putting out the alarm bell, and I think it’s right, because there’s not enough wires to move that kind of megawatts.”…  ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 Anxiety over Texas’ education landscape seeps into San Antonio city races (San Antonio Report)

Education, normally left to the state lawmakers who have policy-making power over local school districts, has become an unlikely defining issue in San Antonio’s city elections this year.

Anxiety about the future of Texas’ embattled public education system has been front of mind for child advocates as the legislature drags its feet on additional funding it’s been promising for public schools. At the same time, major cuts are happening at the U.S. Department of Education and Gov. Greg Abbott signed the first school voucher program into law on May 3 — the morning of San Antonio’s municipal election. 

City leaders have almost no influence over local school districts, yet a number of youth-focused nonprofits are increasingly turning to local leaders to fill the gaps with after-school programs, early childhood education and workforce development… ✅ (READ MORE)