AUSTIN | Economic Development - Page 70

The ATX · #**1381** Posted **Mar 20, 2021, 1:17 AM**

A new HQ is nice. But only the CrowdStreet CEO moved here. The good news is that future hires will be split between Austin, Portland, and WFH employees.

StoOgE · #**1382** Posted **Mar 22, 2021, 7:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by The ATX

A new HQ is nice. But only the CrowdStreet CEO moved here. The good news is that future hires will be split between Austin, Portland, and WFH employees.

Breaking news: CEO wants lower taxes.

ATX2030 · #**1383** Posted **Mar 22, 2021, 9:49 PM**

Another company lured to the metro by Tesla.

Universal Technical Institute plans campus in North Austin, takes 100,000 SF off market

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...in-campus.html

From the article:

"We are excited to be expanding in Texas where UTI has a 38-year history of supporting students and graduating them with the skills employers want so they can be employed in good jobs," UTI CEO Jerome Grant said in a statement. "An Austin campus will offer a convenient solution for students to train ... where our proven evaluation criteria shows extremely strong prospective student interest in our programs and employer demand for skilled technicians."

According to UTI's website, students who participate in the welding technology course will be prepared for careers in industries such as automotive fabrication and aerospace. Those are budding industries in Austin, with Tesla Inc.'s (Nasdaq: TSLA) $1.1 billion plant underway in Travis County and aerospace and defense contractor BAE Systems Inc.'s huge expansion taking place in the Parmer Austin business park."

We vs us · #**1384** Posted **Mar 22, 2021, 10:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATX2030

Another company lured to the metro by Tesla.

Universal Technical Institute plans campus in North Austin, takes 100,000 SF off market

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...in-campus.html

From the article:

"We are excited to be expanding in Texas where UTI has a 38-year history of supporting students and graduating them with the skills employers want so they can be employed in good jobs," UTI CEO Jerome Grant said in a statement. "An Austin campus will offer a convenient solution for students to train ... where our proven evaluation criteria shows extremely strong prospective student interest in our programs and employer demand for skilled technicians."

According to UTI's website, students who participate in the welding technology course will be prepared for careers in industries such as automotive fabrication and aerospace. Those are budding industries in Austin, with Tesla Inc.'s (Nasdaq: TSLA) $1.1 billion plant underway in Travis County and aerospace and defense contractor BAE Systems Inc.'s huge expansion taking place in the Parmer Austin business park."

Per the article, looks like this will be at CM Techridge, which is at the SE corner of Howard and McAllen in the Pflueg.

ATX2030 · #**1385** Posted **Mar 24, 2021, 2:43 PM**

Sources: Facebook walks away from 300 Colorado lease negotiations

Curious if any commercial real-estate aficionados who frequent the site have any info surrounding this?

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...ook-lease.html

Lease negotiations between California-based Facebook, Inc. and the leasing team at 300 Colorado have broken off, with the social media giant no longer seeking to fill up the entirety of the new high-rise.

"Multiple sources who spoke to Austin Business Journal on the condition of anonymity confirmed Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) is no longer seeking a lease agreement at 300 Colorado, which is nearing completion and will have about 353,000 square feet of office space. ABJ reported in December that Facebook was searching for up to 1 million square feet in the Texas capital, which would more than double its current footprint in the city."

We vs us · #**1386** Posted **Mar 24, 2021, 3:50 PM**

Not a lot of new information for Discerning Readers, but nice to see it all in one place, and at the NYT.

Bucking the Pandemic, Austin Is ‘the Hottest Market in the Country’
The Texas city is a hot spot for commercial real estate investment and a magnet for corporations looking to move to a high-tech hub.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/23/b...e-rebound.html

GoldenBoot · #**1387** Posted **Mar 24, 2021, 4:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATX2030

Sources: Facebook walks away from 300 Colorado lease negotiations

Curious if any commercial real-estate aficionados who frequent the site have any info surrounding this?

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...ook-lease.html

Lease negotiations between California-based Facebook, Inc. and the leasing team at 300 Colorado have broken off, with the social media giant no longer seeking to fill up the entirety of the new high-rise.

"Multiple sources who spoke to Austin Business Journal on the condition of anonymity confirmed Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) is no longer seeking a lease agreement at 300 Colorado, which is nearing completion and will have about 353,000 square feet of office space. ABJ reported in December that Facebook was searching for up to 1 million square feet in the Texas capital, which would more than double its current footprint in the city."

I would not read too much into this.

This was more of a function of Facebook negotiating for a rate lower than to what Parsley was willing to agree. Remember, Parsley is still on the hook for this entire building.

Facebook was negotiating to take over Parsley's lease. And, they were looking for a deal (more than likely below market rate). At the moment, there does not seem to be a good enough deal to be had in this building.

I don't blame them for trying. Parsley (more specifically, its parent company) are pretty desperate to offload this lease. But, not desperate enough to cut a deal for whatever Facebook was requesting.

As the article suggested, Facebook may look at 6X. They may also take a look at The Republic, or maybe a combo of Stonelake's new tower and the BBVA/PNC tower. Heck, Parsley (via JLL - the leasing agent for 300 Colorado) may call them back to the table in the near future.

Walking away is not a rare occurrence when playing the leasing game.

ATX2030 · #**1388** Posted **Mar 24, 2021, 4:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

I would not read too much into this.

This was more of a function of Facebook negotiating for a rate lower than to what Parsley was willing to agree. Remember, Parsley is still on the hook for this entire building.

Facebook was negotiating to take over Parsley's lease. And, they were looking for a deal (more than likely below market rate). At the moment, there does not seem to be a good enough deal to be had in this building.

I don't blame them for trying. Parsley (more specifically, its parent company) are pretty desperate to offload this lease. But, not desperate enough to cut a deal for whatever Facebook was requesting.

As the article suggested, Facebook may look at 6X. They may also take a look at The Republic, or maybe a combo of Stonelake's new tower and the BBVA/PNC tower. Heck, Parsley (via JLL - the leasing agent for 300 Colorado) may call them back to the table in the near future.

Walking away is not a rare occurrence when playing the leasing game.

Kinda what I was thinking. Thanks for the explanation.

GoldenBoot · #**1389** Posted **Mar 24, 2021, 5:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATX2030

Kinda what I was thinking. Thanks for the explanation.

No worries.

That's simply my opinion of what I see happening.

KevinFromTexas · #**1390** Posted **Mar 25, 2021, 12:22 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by We vs us

Not a lot of new information for Discerning Readers, but nice to see it all in one place, and at the NYT.

Bucking the Pandemic, Austin Is ‘the Hottest Market in the Country’
The Texas city is a hot spot for commercial real estate investment and a magnet for corporations looking to move to a high-tech hub.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/23/b...e-rebound.html

I grabbed the link to that nice photo of downtown from the article. You can see it here. It's a cool pic and shows off Indeed Tower nicely. You can also see the Domain off in the distance. The photo was taken from One Congress Plaza.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021...y=90&auto=webp

lonewolf · #**1391** Posted **Mar 25, 2021, 1:42 PM**

lol at the molar getting a shoutout for our CRE glowup in the paper of record...they must frequent this forum.

that picture is crazy how reflective the glass on it looks, kind of hard to make out the shape of the top half

KevinFromTexas · #**1392** Posted **Mar 25, 2021, 7:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by lonewolf

lol at the molar getting a shoutout for our CRE glowup in the paper of record...they must frequent this forum.

that picture is crazy how reflective the glass on it looks, kind of hard to make out the shape of the top half

No kidding, you can actually see the reflection of the Catherine from across the river.

drummer · #**1393** Posted **Mar 25, 2021, 7:33 PM**

I like to think they're instead highlighting the Indeed and Frost towers....I refuse to let us be defined by a giant molar...

GoldenBoot · #**1394** Posted **Mar 25, 2021, 8:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

No kidding, you can actually see the reflection of the Catherine from across the river.

That's either an optical illusion or a photoshop job. The Catherine's image wraps around the east-facing curtain wall on the building - not possible.

Sigaven · #**1395** Posted **Mar 25, 2021, 8:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

No kidding, you can actually see the reflection of the Catherine from across the river.

There's no way the Catherine is reflecting off the Molar that big. I think that's a reflection from the window the photographer is looking out of.

JAM · #**1396** Posted **Mar 31, 2021, 6:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATX2030

Sources: Facebook walks away from 300 Colorado lease negotiations

Curious if any commercial real-estate aficionados who frequent the site have any info surrounding this?

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...ook-lease.html

Lease negotiations between California-based Facebook, Inc. and the leasing team at 300 Colorado have broken off, with the social media giant no longer seeking to fill up the entirety of the new high-rise.

"Multiple sources who spoke to Austin Business Journal on the condition of anonymity confirmed Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) is no longer seeking a lease agreement at 300 Colorado, which is nearing completion and will have about 353,000 square feet of office space. ABJ reported in December that Facebook was searching for up to 1 million square feet in the Texas capital, which would more than double its current footprint in the city."

Sounds like they would gain room to double their workforce here? what is it now?

N90 · #**1397** Posted **Mar 31, 2021, 8:34 PM**

Quote:

Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk has revealed that the company will soon need more than 10,000 employees in the Austin area.

The electric car maker had originally estimated it would create over 5,000 jobs at its rising factory in Travis County, but Musk tweeted on March 31 that the company will actually double that estimate by next year.

"Over 10,000 people are needed for Giga Texas just through 2022!" Musk tweeted, sharing a screenshot of an Austin Business Journal story published earlier this week about the company's hiring plans, including comments from Chris Reilly, Tesla's director of recruiting and workforce development.

Manufacturing experts have told the ABJ for months that the car manufacturer could create 15,000 jobs because of the scope of Tesla's planned operations. The company has said it will offer an average annual salary of about $47,000.

Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) plans to produce its Model 3s, Model Y SUVs, Cybertrucks and Semi tractor-trailers in Central Texas. The factory will also host a battery cell manufacturing unit.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...gafactory.html

He's also begun recruiting people to Texas, both Austin and the RGV.

JoninATX · #**1398** Posted **Mar 31, 2021, 9:09 PM**

SH 130 is going to mimic IH 35 in a few yrs.

We vs us · #**1399** Posted **Apr 1, 2021, 1:04 PM**

Samsung's fab is finally back up and running. And I didn't know this but NXP has been up since the beginning of March.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...ck-online.html

Cottonwood · #**1400** Posted **Apr 1, 2021, 2:32 PM**

I'm not sure if this is the best thread to post this in, but I thought that those of you in Austin might find this article interesting.

Is Boise like Austin 20 years ago? Lessons from Texas’ capital city provide clues to Boise’s possible future

https://boisedev.com/news/2021/03/17...e-as-it-grows/

Quote:

The Lone Star State’s capital may be 1,600 miles away, but Austin and Boise share many similarities. They’re both blue cities in red states, host a research university, lack a strong public transportation system, and are experiencing rapid growth due to quality of life and a strong economy.

Twenty-five years ago Austin’s metro area was the same size as the Treasure Valley is now. Looking at Austin gives Boiseans an idea of what challenges could be in store for our city’s future and how Austinites wish they prepared for their current moment. It’s not perfect, but it allows Idahoans a little glimpse ahead in time.

Quote:

Steven Pedigo, a professor at University of Texas Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs, said the city’s weak public transit system hobbled the city’s growth and helped push working-class residents to the outskirts. He said once a city hits 2 million residents and it doesn’t have an efficient transit system, the city’s growth stalls as congestion eats up workers’ time and cuts into what made the city livable in the first place.