Stories by Chad Swiatecki
Hotel industry rebound pinches city's acquisition strategy to solve homelessness
The city may have to shift away from its strategy of converting hotels and motels into temporary and permanent supportive housing sites for the homeless, due to a rebound in the lodging market that has raised prices and cut down…
Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • Jun 9, 2022
Staffing issues cause slow rollout of arts, historic preservation programs
The Economic Development Department plans to wait until fall to begin spinning up three programs for music, arts and historic preservation that are funded by proceeds from the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax. Portions of those programs aren’t slated to become…
City Hall • By Chad Swiatecki • Jun 7, 2022
Cultural Arts continues revisions for arts contracts funded by hotel tax
The city is moving ahead with further revisions to its process for awarding contracts for Cultural Arts funding, with the rollout of the first phase of a three-tiered pilot program expected to take place in October. Cultural Arts staff members…
City Hall • By Chad Swiatecki • Jun 2, 2022
Real estate leaders, developers eye start of proposal process for convention center project
Leaders in Austin’s real estate and development community learned plenty about the planned expansion of the Austin Convention Center during a panel discussion last week, but they were left waiting as to when the contracts for design, engineering and contracting…
Planning • By Chad Swiatecki • Jun 1, 2022
Council eyes possible trimming, merging of some boards and commissions
City Council appears ready to take a comprehensive look at the makeup and purpose of the many boards and commissions currently advising Council on city policy, with the possibility of dissolving or merging some of the groups. At last week’s…
City Hall • By Chad Swiatecki • May 31, 2022
Audit report finds city making slow progress on website accessibility, usability
The city has moved slowly in making its website as accessible and useful as possible for residents and falls short of federal principles to ensure usability for people of all abilities, according to a recent report from the Office of…
City Hall • By Chad Swiatecki • May 26, 2022
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Land trust program targets applicants impacted by displacement
Residents in City Council districts 1 and 6 will have the first chance to purchase one of a cluster of single-family homes the city is making available at affordable prices through the Austin Community Land Trust. In a memo released…
Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • May 25, 2022
Safer Sixth Street memo pushes new cameras, advises against gun buyback
The city is moving ahead with several new components of last year’s Safer Sixth Street initiative, with police, fire and emergency services staff already using a new staging area on Neches Street intended to improve response times for medical needs…
Public Safety • By Chad Swiatecki • May 24, 2022
Sixth Street plans could create cushion for new incubator music venues
While new mega-capacity venues such as the Moody Center (capacity 15,000) or the Moody Amphitheater (5,000) attract high-ticket tours from established performers, the smaller clubs that can hold 300 people or less are often the most threatened by the city’s…
Planning • By Chad Swiatecki • May 23, 2022
Stream Realty reveals plans for reinventing 'dirty Sixth'
If the downtown Sixth Street entertainment district is going to achieve a successful transformation in the coming years, the first real glimpse of its future will come from the improvements planned for the north side of the two blocks between…
Planning • By Chad Swiatecki • May 19, 2022
City, music groups seek partners for update of 2015 creative ecosystem census
The 2015 census that showed the Austin music and creative community was becoming economically marginalized will be updated this summer, with organizers hoping to reach a larger and more diverse pool of respondents from the Austin area and beyond. More…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • May 18, 2022
HAAM seeks $1M from city to provide health care for musicians
The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians is seeking $1 million from the city to help maintain health care coverage for 3,000 local musicians and cover an additional 1,000 who qualify for assistance from the nonprofit. During a presentation at last…
