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02/10/2012

alley flat initiative fits small, green homes into unexpected places

02/10/2012

You probably don't spend much time in Austin's alleys - those unpaved no-man's-lands that bisect city blocks. You might store your garbage bins in the one behind your house. You might take an occasional shortcut through one. But if you're a law-abiding citizen, you probably don't see Austin's alleys as full of opportunity. But that's exactly what the Alley Flat Initiative does; they view alleys as a solution to Austin's lack of affordable housing. When you think of affordable housing, you might envision overcrowded apartment complexes or new tract homes on the outskirts of town. Instead, the Alley Flat Initiative tucks small, single-family homes behind the existing main house on large lots in central East Austin. The second house, accessed via the alley, is highly sustainable and earmarked for residents who earn 80 percent or less of the median family income. Read more...

bike bridge could link southwest austin and downtown

02/09/2012

Saddled with a $7 million grant from state and federal funds, city officials are looking into developing a bridge to help bicyclists from Southwest Austin connect to downtown. The bike route would run from Escarpment to William Cannon Drive, where the city is considering building bike lanes from West U.S. Highway 290 to Southwest Parkway. The lanes would then connect to a new bridge leading to Zilker Park and the downtown trail system. Read more...

on the rise: new hotels expected to accommodate out-of-towners

02/09/2012

With over 286,000 festival fanatics flooding the streets for the SXSW Music, Film and Interactive Conference and Festivals in 2011, space to spend the night in the city was limited. Austin's current 6,000 downtown hotel rooms (and 30,000 citywide) are sometimes not enough for all out-of-towners attending events like SXSW or the Austin CIty Limits Music Festival. Those who don't stay in hotels often look at local ads by people renting out their apartments, homes or condos in Austin for specific events. Already, hotels in conjunction with SXSW - including Holiday Inn and La Quinta - are sold out for the March 2012 festival. Clearly, Austin needs more space. Read more...

acc names architect for highland mall renovation

02/09/2012

Austin Community College District Board of Trustees on Tuesday selected BGK Architects Inc. to lead the renovation design of the former J.C. Penney building at Highland Mall. At its Feb. 6 meeting, the board named BGK Architects the architect and engineering team for the renovation project. Other architecture firms that were recommended for the project include O'Connell Robertson and SHW Group LLP, both based in Austin. ACC plans to convert the 200,000-square feet of former retail space into classroom and administrative space. There will be an area dedicated to innovative math learning. The building is expected to be complete by the 2014 semester. Read more...

austin no. 3 for most jobs gained since recession

02/08/2012

Austin is among 13 of the nation's 100 biggest labor markets to have regained all of the jobs that were lost during the recession. The Capital City is ranked the third most prosperous metro during that five-year span because it added 37,900 private-sector jobs, according to the Business Journals' On Numbers, which used preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to compare 2011 private-sector employment levels against official figures for 2006, the last full year before the recession's onset. Read more...