CAPELLA   AUSTIN  NEWSLETTER

May 8, 2022

Austin Fully Rebounds from Covid Crisis

Connect Media – 4/25/2022

All systems are go for the Austin commercial estate market. An NAI Partners market study found that nearly all the key indicators trend up in regard to the health of the Austin market. Among the key results: Vacancy rates at 3.7%. Vacancies have contracted to level not seen in five years. Sales values are up 157% from the previous year. Austin unemployment rate is now the same as what it was before the pandemic.

More…

Kroger Putting Grocery Delivery Warehouse In NE Austin

ABJ  – 5/5/2022

Kroger Co. is one step closer to bringing its grocery delivery service to Austin.  Finishing work will begin June 1 on its roughly 70,000-sq. ft. distribution center at 2401 Ferguson Lane, with an estimated completion of Sept. 30.

More…

Workers Head Back In Austin

WSJ – 5/4/2022

Companies nationwide are struggling to get employees back in the office, but not in Austin.  These days, the city’s workforce is putting in more face time at offices than those in any other major U.S. metro area.   Austin offices are 59%-occupied—and cracked the 60% threshold last month—according to data from Kastle Systems, an office-security firm.

Additionally, since February 2020, Austin has added more than 80,000 jobs, according to the Texas Workforce Commission and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

More…

Boring Company Gets Go-Ahead To Begin Engineering Work For Kyle Pedestrian Tunnel

ABJ  – 5/4/2022

Austin Sees Biggest Spike In Mortgage Payments In The U.S., Says Zillow

Austin Culture Map – 4/29/2022

Among the country’s 50 biggest metro areas, Austin saw the biggest rise in mortgage payments from March 2021 to this March 2022, according to a new report from real estate platform Zillow.  The report shows a year-over-over change of 63.5% in the typical Austin-area mortgage payment.  Zillow pegged the Austin metro area’s typical monthly mortgage payment at $2,299.

More…

H-E-B Starts Work On New Store In Georgetown As Austin-Area Expansion Revs Up

Austin American Statesman – 5/6/2022

H-E-B’s Central Texas expansion is continuing, as the grocery chain has started work on a new 121,000-sq. ft. store in Georgetown. The new store — at 1010 W. University Ave. in the Wolf Lakes Village neighborhood — will replace a 67,000-sq. ft. store at 1100 South IH-35 that opened 33 years ago. The I-35 store will remain operational until the new location opens, the company said.

More…

Pet Supplement Startup Dandy Acquired; Natural Pest Control Deal Done

ABJ – 5/6/2022

• Dandy Pet Inc., an Austin-based company making supplements for pets, has been purchased by Fuzzy, a pet health company based in San Francisco.
• New Jersey-based VCM Products LLC, owner of BuggyBeds and EcoBuggy, has acquired Austin-based Vic West Brands, creator of Grandpa Gus’s Natural Pest Control Products.
• Three companies providing senior health care — Elite Patient Care, Provider Health Services and AllyAlign Health — have merged to create Curana Health.

More…

Retail-Tech Company Brings In $30M

ABJ – 4/29/2022

The evolution of the grocery business includes greater integration of technology and data. That has been a tailwind for Austin-based Clerk Inc., a retail-tech company that just raised $30 million in series B funding. The funds also expanded the footprint of Grocery TV, Clerk’s digital advertising network featuring commercials in the checkout line.

More…

Small Plates: New Taqueria Chain Debuts; Mighty Fine Expanding

ABJ – 5/3/2022

» Salsa Limón, a Fort Worth-based taqueria, opened in Central Austin on April 27. The location, called Lupita, is located at 3001 Guadalupe St., in the former home of Steel City Pops.
» Mighty Fine Burgers, Fries & Shakes is opening three locations within the next year in Dripping Springs, Hutto and Kyle.
» After three years of Covid-related delays, construction has started on Mutts Canine Cantina, a restaurant with a membership-based off-leash dog park. A groundbreaking was held in late April and the cantina is slated to open by the end of the year.

More…

Ascension Seton Opens New Health Center In Austin On Its 120-Year Anniversary

Community Impact – 4/29/2022

Ascension Seton opened a brand-new multispecialty health care facility at 1004 W. 32nd St., Austin, on April 27. The freestanding center, which is adjacent to the main Ascension Seton Medical Center, provides patients three kinds of personalized care—cardiovascular care, spine care, and outpatient imaging services.

More…

Funding Wrap: Yotta Energy Raises Fresh Millions For Rooftop Solar Innovation

ABJ – 5/2/2022

• QuotaPath Inc. secured $41 million in series B funding — less than a year after raising $21.3 million in a series A round.
• Clerk Inc., an Austin-based retail-technology company, raised $30 million in series B funding.
• Rooftop solar energy storage startup Yotta Energy Inc. raised an additional $3.5 million for its series A funding round.

More…

Pizza Purveyor Aviator To Develop Large Dining, Entertainment Complex In Elgin

ABJ  – 5/4/2022

An Austin-area pizzeria and brewhouse chain aims to build a five-acre retail, restaurant and entertainment complex in the suburb where it got its start.

Aviator Pizza & Drafthouse on May 3 was approved by the Elgin City Council and Elgin Economic Development Corp. for an economic development agreement that will aid with the development of a three-building, 54,000-square-foot complex and 40,000-square-foot patio near Roy Rivers Road and U.S. Hwy 290.  Aviator is required to invest at least $10 million in the development and hire at least 17 full-time and 11 part-time employees, but expects to exceed those figures.

More…

Historic Zoning Process Started For Fourth St. Buildings Home To LGBTQ Bars

ABJ – 5/6/2022

A plan to redevelop a portion of Fourth Street in downtown Austin home to LGBTQ bars was dealt a setback this week when a city commission voted May 4 to begin the process that could lead to the buildings being deemed historical landmarks. The unanimous vote by the Historic Landmark Commission was not a final recommendation. Staffers have been asked to compile more information for the next commission meeting on June 1.

More…

Crypto In Austin: City Getting Set To Host Major Emerging Tech Event Consensus 2022

Austin American Statesman – 5/4/2022

The digital currency movement will take center stage in Austin next month, as thousands of attendees are expected for a conference focused on cryptocurrency, blockchain, the metaverse and other emerging technologies.

The event, called Consensus 2022, is scheduled for June 10-12.  Hosted by cryptocurrency-focused news site CoinDesk, it will include speakers and panels focused on the blockchain and crypto ecosystem.  The event will be operate a bit like SXSW, with houses, popups, live music and other events, and main panels and sessions centered at the Austin Convention Center.

More…

Upscale Homes Hit Market In Wilco

ABJ  – 4/29/2022

The final phase of home sites is available in Liberty Hill’s new Northgate Ranch community, an upscale neighborhood with homes starting in the mid-$800,000 range. The phase includes 26 one-acre homesites. Giddens Homes, Drees Custom Homes and Monticello Homes are the builders in the community.  Randolph Texas Development is turning another portion of the former Northgate Ranch into the Lariat master-planned community.

More…
Businessman Nate Paul Back In Bankruptcy Court In Bid To Protect Austin Properties

Austin American Statesman  – 5/5/2022

Austin real estate investor Nate Paul, who has spent the past few years embroiled in multiple bankruptcy proceedings and legal fights with his debtholders, has filed for bankruptcy once again, this time to seek protection for a chunk of North Austin properties  near Braker Lane and Metric Boulevard valued on tax rolls at more than $160 million.The filing this week by WC Braker Portfolio LLC, which owns nearly a dozen properties, brings the number of active bankruptcies by Paul-affiliated business entities to 11, according to court documents.

More…

Housing Wrap: UT Getting More Student Housing; NY Firm To Renovate East Riverside Apartments After Purchase

ABJ  – 4/29/2022

A $6 billion first-of-its-kind renewable fuels plant is officially slated for a site in Matagorda County, about 175 miles southeast of Austin. Chile-based HIF Global LLC will build the plant in Bay City, executives and local officials said at an April 28 event celebrating the project. The facility will use carbon-free electricity, water and carbon dioxide to make fuels such as gasoline.

More…

Austin Habitat For Humanity To Partner With Taylor Morrison To Provide Affordable Housing For Austin ISD Employees

Community Impact – 5/5/2022

Austin Habitat for Humanity will partner with national homebuilding company Taylor Morrison to provide affordable homes for Austin ISD employees, according to a May 5 press release. The partnership will offer 30 affordable homes in two Taylor Morrison housing developments— Loyola, located at US 183 and Loyola Lane, Austin, and Park at 51 East, located off US 183 and East 51st Street, Austin.  Austin Habitat for Humanity will recruit AISD teachers, staff and families with children attending district schools to purchase the affordable housing units.

More…

Students From UT Austin Win ULI Hines Competition for Redevelopment Plan

CoStar – 5/4/2022

A student team from the University of Texas at Austin won the 20th annual ULI/Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition, and did so by focusing on an area in another part of the United States.  The UT Austin team of grad students came up with the winning plan to create a vibrant mixed-use, mixed-income neighborhood for a four-block site in downtown Oakland, California.

More…