AUSTIN | Economic Development

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by the Genral

I drove by that property a few weeks ago when I was releasing a possum I caught in my chicken coop.

Maybe this needs its own thread . . . ?

[the Genral]

Originally Posted by We vs us

Maybe this needs its own thread . . . ?

That's all you got out of my amazing, potentially mind blowing, thought out and quite well written post backed by potentially undisputed evidence derived from an unbelievable amount of excessive, time consuming work, dedication and relentless research regarding Tesla's move to Austin and unlocking the mystery of why they chose a location devoid of rail service???
Oh and btw, that damn possum killed one of my female homing pigeons. Her boyfriend is still devastated and has taken to sitting on the chicken eggs and won't let me near them. I was trying not to bum everyone out by mentioning this, but you made me...

[urbancore]

Originally Posted by the Genral

That's all you got out of my amazing, potentially mind blowing, thought out and quite well written post backed by potentially undisputed evidence derived from an unbelievable amount of excessive, time consuming work, dedication and relentless research regarding Tesla's move to Austin and unlocking the mystery of why they chose a location devoid of rail service???
Oh and btw, that damn possum killed one of my female homing pigeons. Her boyfriend is still devastated and has taken to sitting on the chicken eggs and won't let me near them. I was trying not to bum everyone out by mentioning this, but you made me...

General, you need to find a post retirement hobby/job. Now.

[the Genral]

Originally Posted by urbancore

General, you need to find a post retirement hobby/job. Now.

But that would cut down on my posts here. Oh...

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by the Genral

That's all you got out of my amazing, potentially mind blowing, thought out and quite well written post backed by potentially undisputed evidence derived from an unbelievable amount of excessive, time consuming work, dedication and relentless research regarding Tesla's move to Austin and unlocking the mystery of why they chose a location devoid of rail service???
Oh and btw, that damn possum killed one of my female homing pigeons. Her boyfriend is still devastated and has taken to sitting on the chicken eggs and won't let me near them. I was trying not to bum everyone out by mentioning this, but you made me...

Actually . . . I was hoping you'd expand on the possum/chicken saga. It sounds like it deserves a fuller treatment. And honestly, if the proverbial third leg of the narrative is the murder of a HOMING PIGEON . . . maybe you need to work up a film script for this instead. My moody tween daughter -- who is only just beginning down her goth path -- would LOVE something like this.

[We vs us]

Gotta say, too, Genral -- you're not wrong. It's weird that there's no rail connection here. Counterintuitive, TBH. How to get all those cars/trucks out into the world? If it's by truck transport -- boy, the wear and tear on 130 is going to be monumental.

[We vs us]

Unrelated to Tesla entirely:

Silicon Valley unicorn Hippo leases entire office building planned for downtown Austin
Startup, now valued at $1.5B, to add 100-plus jobs in Texas capital

Hippo Analytics Inc. — a Palo Alto, California-based home insurance disruptor — teased last month a major office expansion in Austin.

Now we know a little more about just what the Silicon Valley company is planning.

The tech startup valued at $1.5 billion in July leased roughly 34,600 square feet at a yet-to-be constructed boutique office building at 701 E. Fifth St., Hippo and the developer, Elevate Growth Partners, confirmed. That’s all of the office space at the building, dubbed Waterloo Central, planned at the location of the former Gas Pipe smoke shop.

Hippo’s new downtown office space will have room for 310 employees, more than double the number currently working in the Texas capital. The company has a total headcount of 280, with 145 in Austin at an office at 522 Congress Ave.

The insurance company said it will consolidate its Austin operations at 701 E. Fifth St. when the new building opens.

Somewhat related to Indeed backing out of Indeed Tower -- I'm looking for more datapoints about the health of our market. And to see if the Indeed lease termination is the leading edge of a trend, or just how a single company is dealing with the pandemic.

Score one for "just a single company dealing with the pandemic."

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...-building.html

[Echostatic]

Has that building started construction yet? Or am I getting it confused with something else.

[AusTxDevelopment]

Somewhat related to Indeed backing out of Indeed Tower -- I'm looking for more datapoints about the health of our market. And to see if the Indeed lease termination is the leading edge of a trend, or just how a single company is dealing with the pandemic.

It's my understanding that they didn't terminate the lease for their downtown building, but are choosing not to move in and instead will put it up for sublease. That gives them the ability at a later date, when the market picks back up, to kick out their subtenant and move into the space. Buying out of a lease that large (and long-term), even when NPV'd, is a much bigger cash outlay than just paying the monthly rent. If you are conserving cash you'd definitely choose subleasing. Unless you have a termination clause like DLA Piper had at 405 Colorado (which are not that common in commercial real estate), terminating the lease is the nuclear option. Well, walking the lease is the true nuclear option but you get sued for that.

[LiveattheOasis]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kxa...ates-show/amp/

Looks like we’ve effectively passed 1 million people.

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by LiveattheOasis

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kxa...ates-show/amp/

Looks like we’ve effectively passed 1 million people.

They estimate the whole MSA sits at 2,307,000. Similarly sized peer MSAs are Kansas City, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, and Sacramento per Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...#United_States

[the Genral]

Originally Posted by LiveattheOasis

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kxa...ates-show/amp/

Looks like we’ve effectively passed 1 million people.

Just waiting on it being official. How and who decides when it is? When it does become official, I think it will be a remarkable reference but hardly a welcome one considering our infrastructure was never designed to support that many people. I still think its a cool tag, one I never thought would be possible considering the pop was under 400K when I moved here. Still, at the end of the day, there's still waaaaaay too many people living / moving here.

[427MM]

Secret is out, Austin is amazing! Now can we just get through the objection of the Council Members who fear change to replace our outdated land use code? Would make such a huge difference in the amount of housing that gets built...

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by the Genral

Just waiting on it being official. How and who decides when it is? When it does become official, I think it will be a remarkable reference but hardly a welcome one considering our infrastructure was never designed to support that many people. I still think its a cool tag, one I never thought would be possible considering the pop was under 400K when I moved here. Still, at the end of the day, there's still waaaaaay too many people living / moving here.

It's not really the 1 Million people living in Austin that are the problem. It's the other 1 million people who _don't_ live in the city, but who use the city's infrastructure and resources (roads, public safety, etc.).
Or the people who no longer live in Austin, because they've been priced out.


Austin would be a in a better place (infrastructure wise and other) if we had reached this milestone sooner (had allowed a greater share of metro growth to occur in the city).

[We vs us]

Interesting. Tik Tok plans to hire "hundreds" in Austin, despite Trump's shut down order.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — TikTok, the popular video and social media platform owned by a Chinese company, is moving forward with hiring hundreds of new employees in Austin, despite President Donald Trump’s executive order telling the company to sell or shut down operations in the United States.

TikTok’s expansion into the Austin market began in March. Now, dozens of job openings are posted to join the platform.

Blake Chandlee, TikTok’s vice president of global business solutions and Austin resident, said the company’s plan is to stay here for “years to come.”

“We’re proud to build our presence in Austin and be a part of the thriving business and tech community locally,” Chandlee said. “The Austin community embodies the same creative and entrepreneurial spirit that defines the TikTok community, and we are going to do all we can to ensure our company’s future in Texas and the U.S.”

Background: President Trump signs executive orders to ban TikTok, WeChat in 45 days
Trump called TikTok a “national security risk,” giving TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, 45 days to sell the company to an American buyer or end business in the U.S. Microsoft has reportedly expressed interest in purchasing the company.

TikTok has denied sharing user data with the Chinese government and said data is stored in the United States and Singapore.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/aust...-or-shut-down/

[austlar1]

Maybe I am missing something in all of this, but Trump's efforts to take down (or shake down) TikTok seem to be done with the intention of placing this company in American hands, not so much because of national security issues, but because it is a way to punish Chinese interests and possibly reward a friendly US business interest. The only flaw in this logic is that Microsoft/Bill Gates is not normally identified with Team Trump. Gates in a recent interview in Wired expressed puzzlement about the TikTok drama unfolding at Microsoft(https://www.wired.com/story/bill-gat...H7k9T-vQ4lEInY). At any rate, I think TikTok will still be around when the dust settles, and it looks like it will have a strong presence here in Austin.

[the Genral]

I've seen Tik Tok and I have to say...its a waste of brain cells.

[lonewolf]

Originally Posted by austlar1

Maybe I am missing something in all of this, but Trump's efforts to take down (or shake down) TikTok seem to be done with the intention of placing this company in American hands, not so much because of national security issues, but because it is a way to punish Chinese interests and possibly reward a friendly US business interest. The only flaw in this logic is that Microsoft/Bill Gates is not normally identified with Team Trump. Gates in a recent interview in Wired expressed puzzlement about the TikTok drama unfolding at Microsoft(https://www.wired.com/story/bill-gat...H7k9T-vQ4lEInY). At any rate, I think TikTok will still be around when the dust settles, and it looks like it will have a strong presence here in Austin.

you are missing something mi amigo

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by lonewolf

you are missing something mi amigo

Please illuminate me on the topic before the mods shut us down. Bill Gates also seems a bit perplexed by the TikTok shuffle. The best he can come up with is that it is "pretty bizarre" and "singly strange". Referring to the Trump proposal that the federal government take a cut of any sales proceeds, Gates (who stands to be a big beneficiary of any deal with Microsoft) calls it "doubly strange". To me it just looks like a naked shake down, almost a gangster move, by a sovereign nation. Apparently I am not the only one who sees it that way. Here are a few sample headlines. There are at least a dozen more to be found:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolo...tech-industry/

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020...ft-tiktok-deal

https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertb.../#3d8d235330ce

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/08/...onal-security/

[SproutingTowers]

https://www.whitehouse.gov/president...-posed-tiktok/