New Downtown Austin Development

Travis County Identifies the New Central Austin Courthouse Location

Travis County will negotiate with a developer to build a new courthouse at 1700 Guadalupe St.

County Judge Sarah Eckhardt announced Tuesday, July 10th, that she had signed an exclusive negotiation agreement for a development team to build a courthouse for the government's civil and family courts.

Hunt Development Group LLC, CGL Companies, Chameleon Companies, Hensel Phelps Construction Co. and Gensler would design, develop and construct the new Austin courthouse.

The new facility will replace the current Heman Marion Sweatt Courthouse at West 11th and Guadalupe streets. The Sweatt Courthouse was built in the 1930s yet is deteriorating and is not expected to meet the growing need for more courtroom space, as Austin continues to grow. The roughly 433,000-square-foot facility is expected to be completed by 2023.

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Downtown Austin Tacodeli To Open in Early 2019

Austinites are no stranger to tacos, specifically Tacodeli tacos! Tacodeli, the new-school Austin-born taco chain is set to open its first downtown restaurant early 2019. The newest addition to the popular chain will be much like the other locations and will serve tacos for breakfast and lunch until 3 p.m. 

Tacodeli chef and founder Roberto Espinosa and partner Eric Wilkerson opened the first restaurant in 1999 on Barton Skyway and Spyglass Drive and grew with more locations.  The Spyglass location is a mile down the road from our office, feel free to stop by on your way to get some delicious tacos, we love visitors! 

The new downtown Austin location is the sixth Austin restaurant, and there are restaurants in Dallas, Houston, and Plano. It’s also working on a restaurant within the Austin Bergstrom-International Airport. Be sure to check out these Austin-native tacos this summer, the answer is always tacos! 

CAIN TEAM FAVORITE: Shrimposito, Grilled Texas Gulf Shrimp, chipotle-sesame adobo, queso fresco, avocado


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Condo Of The Week: Pease Place Condos

About Pease Place Condos

Pease Place Condos is a modern mid-rise condominium building carefully designed and engineered with green living in mind. This private-gated complex offers the best in renewable living. It boasts of energy efficient features such as solar-paneled roof, 100% LED lighting, tankless water heaters, and low-e windows.

Pease Place features traditional stucco and limestone exteriors, high-end finishes, and efficient floor plans. It offers studio-type and 1-2 bedroom units ranging from 440-1100 square-feet. Unique features include specially processed bamboo hardwood flooring, recycled plastic bottle carpeting and solar system individually metered to each unit. Amenities include gated entry, charming communal gardens, elevator, controlled access and garage parking.

This community is nestled within the historic Old West Austin Neighborhood which was selected by the American Planning Association as one of 10 Great Neighborhoods in America. The Old West Austin Historic District is comprised of three neighborhoods, developed between 1886 and 1953, located west of Downtown Austin: Old Enfield, Pemberton Heights, and Bryker Woods.

The Pease Place Condos is conveniently located between Mopac and Downtown Austin, minutes away from North Lamar Boulevard where local Austin favorites like Whole Foods Market can be found. Residents can walk to local restaurants or café like Cipollina or Galaxy Café. Pease District Park is an urban park featuring hike and bike trails, picnic space, disc golf course, basketball courts, volleyball courts and the annual Eeyore's Birthday Party event....

TxDOT Considers Adding 2 Toll Lanes to I-35

In an effort to assist with congestion on Interstate 35 through downtown Austin, the Texas Department of Transportation is looking at adding two managed express lanes, where fees are increased during heavy traffic and lowered during light traffic, in each direction.

Local officials announced the $8 billion project, titled Capital Express, at the Austin Chamber of Commerce Regional Growth Summit meeting Monday. The toll lanes are expressed to be very similar to Mopac's single express lane. TxDOT Public Information Officer Diann Hodges said the express lane would stretch 33 miles from RM 1431 in Round Rock to SH 45 Southeast near Buda.

The main concern is the congestion in downtown. "Because of the constraints and the fact that we cannot widen the roadway, we're actually going to go down," said Hodges. 

Along with adding two additional lanes, TxDOT said I-35 through downtown Austin would be lowered, and it is possible that the plan could involve removing the upper decks that stretch from Martin Luther King Boulevard and Airport Boulevard. 

"We only get one shot to rebuild and improve I-35 through downtown Austin, so we have to do as much as is reasonable within the existing footprint to enhance mobility and lower it," said Senator Kirk Watson.

Many were thrown off by the decision to create toll lanes rather than general purpose lanes. TxDOT said that if that were the case, the lanes would clog quickly. 

"This is a way to kind of control that traffic," said Diann Hodges. "Provide some relief to those general purpose lanes but also provide those who may need to get somewhere in a hurry, that opportunity."

Before this project will begin, the public will input from previous I-35 meetings will be taken into account as well as an environmental...

Things You Need to Know about U-Texas' Diversity and Inclusion Plan

The University of Texas is constantly drumming up ways to better their program and work to give students, and staff an exemplary experience. This plan was created to work towards making a "comprehensive guide to the institution as it supporst a more diverse and inclusivve campus culture," says Gregory Vincent, the vice president for diversity and community engagement.

“This plan strengthens these efforts and helps make certain we are all doing our part of building a strong, inclusive culture where all members of the community are respected and the educational experience for our students is enhanced by diverse people, scholarship and ideas.”

The plan focuses on eight areas: University leadership, staff, students, faculty, communication, campus climate and culture, alumni and community and pre-K-12 partnerships.

  • Investments will be made to bring more student housing for freshmen
  • It will create a long-term transportation plan
  • It calls for more faculty and staff inclusion training
  • It will establish a university-wide testing center
  • It calls for renewed student recruitment and admissions effort

The University will expand minority outreach and recruitment plans as well as include early financial aid packages during the recruitment process. The plan will also play a huge role in the University's overall admissions process.

To read more about this new plan, click here to read the full article from which this blog was based. 

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Construction on Austin's Newest Luxury Apartments Near Wholefoods HQ Now Underway

Oden Hughes LLC and CWS Capital Partners LLC have created a joint venture to build an upscale apartment community just west of downtown near the flagship Whole Foods Market Inc. store on Sixth Street.

The 226-unit complex with associated retail has broken ground at 1301 W. Fifth St. on a 1.6-acre site that previously was occupied by an AT&T office building and fleet parking lot.

Documents at the city of Austin show that the project is valued at nearly $29 million. About 10 percent of the units — one, two and three-bedroom floor plans — will be leased at below market rates to qualified households.

The development is scheduled to deliver in late 2018, including the 2,200-square-foot retail space on the ground floor. The contemporary styling is by Austin-based Kelly Grossman Architects.

Austin-based Oden Hughes previously built multifamily projects on behalf of CWS — including the recently completed Water Marq mid-rise at 300 E. Riverside Drive.

Oden Hughes also has a track record of building its own projects, including the 339-unit Lenox Boardwalk that will begin welcoming tenants in June. The apartment complex in East Austin is down the street from the $300 million Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) campus, which is under construction. At least 500 employees are expected to work at Oracle, supporting the tech giant’s burgeoning cloud-based...