Tag Archives: Economic Development Department
Tuesday, June 18, 2019 by Chad Swiatecki
Austin
Kitchen, Tovo to push for speed in addressing housing, cultural preservation efforts
City Council members who have in the past pushed to create an external entity to pursue public/private partnerships and other opportunities focused around city priorities appear ready to direct staff to accelerate the process.In a report completed late last month,…
Thursday, June 6, 2019 by Chad Swiatecki
Entertainment & Events
City releases road map for ‘agent of change,’ sound compatibility issues
The city’s Economic Development and Development Services departments will spend much of the next 12 months implementing a variety of measures to reduce noise complaints and other issues that arise between residents and nearby entertainment businesses.On Wednesday, EDD released a…
Monday, January 28, 2019 by Chad Swiatecki
Entertainment & Events
Club owners, developers’ input sought for agent of change survey
The city’s Music and Entertainment division is pushing for more music and entertainment venue operators and members of the local development community to take a survey that will play a major role in shaping the long-brewing “agent of change” ordinance…
Thursday, January 24, 2019 by Chad Swiatecki
Development
City quietly moving forward on redevelopment portfolio properties
Behind-the-scenes work on the redevelopment of four city-owned parcels is continuing, with requests for proposal resolutions for three of the properties expected to come before City Council by the end of March.The four properties are: an Austin Energy parcel at…
Friday, November 9, 2018 by Chad Swiatecki
Austin
City taps UT incubator to meet 2040 zero waste goal
The city and the Austin Technology Incubator at the University of Texas are turning to startup companies to help find a solution to dramatically reduce waste headed to landfills from Austin.ATI’s new Circular Economy Incubator, which launched last month, has…
Wednesday, September 5, 2018 by Chad Swiatecki
Budget
Chamber groups’ funding would become leveled under proposed process
Austin’s Economic Development Department is in the beginning stages of restructuring how local chambers of commerce are funded by the city, with the goal of making the funding more equitable and available to more groups.A recent memo from interim EDD…
Thursday, August 23, 2018 by Chad Swiatecki
Entertainment & Events
Memo points toward cultural trust to save arts spaces
It appears City Council will move ahead with the creation of a cultural land trust and an economic development corporation in the coming months, both attempts to combat the rising cost of real estate for residents and local artists.A new…
Tuesday, August 14, 2018 by Chad Swiatecki
Planning
Four city parcels ID’d for redevelopment focus in next budget
The Economic Development Department is recommending City Council spend the next budget year focusing on putting four pieces of city-owned property into higher use with mixtures of housing, commercial space, parklands and more.A recent memo detailed the department’s efforts since…
Tuesday, July 24, 2018 by Chad Swiatecki
Entertainment & Events
Economic development corp. stands out as answer to creative space crunch
A long-burgeoning effort to have the city create an economic development corporation that would help public and private entities to partner on ambitious development projects may be the best solution to help Austin’s creative community address a rapidly worsening space…
Tuesday, May 8, 2018 by Chad Swiatecki
Austin
Incentive proposals target middle class, creatives in push to address affordability
After more than a year of community input and research, the city is taking the next steps to dramatically overhaul its policies for economic incentives to grow businesses in Austin.The proposed changes, which will be presented at today’s City Council…
Tuesday, November 21, 2017 by Jo Clifton
City Hall
Audit: City jobs programs disorganized
The city’s workforce development programs are neither well-planned nor well-coordinated, and the city does not have reliable data to evaluate the success of the programs, according to an audit released last week by the Office of the City Auditor.The audit,…
Friday, September 22, 2017 by Jessi Devenyns
Austin
Austin’s creative culture holds weight in economic incentives revision
In response to City Council direction in March, Austin’s Economic Development Department has spent the better part of the year meeting with specific groups in the community that have a stake in how the city approaches policies such as business…
Friday, July 14, 2017 by Chad Swiatecki
Entertainment & Events
Venue rent relief seen as goal of new incentives programs
As Economic Development Department staff worked on plans to update the city’s economic incentives program, the department’s top executive gave a preview earlier this week of how the creative economy could be helped in the coming years.At Monday’s meeting of…
Tuesday, July 11, 2017 by Chad Swiatecki
City Hall
City reveals new music division manager
The city has selected the new head of the Music and Entertainment Division, roughly three months after the position opened following a cloud of controversy.The announcement that Erica Shamaly, a longtime Austinite with close to two decades in local film…
Wednesday, July 5, 2017 by Jack Craver
City Council
Council approves workforce training audit
It took a while for City Council to wrap its collective head around the concept, but after an hour and a half of discussion it overwhelmingly approved a study that will try to assess the effectiveness of some area workforce…
Wednesday, May 31, 2017 by Chad Swiatecki
Entertainment & Events
Agent of change revamp to add hotels could delay vote on proposal
Austin’s much-debated policy proposal to address conflicts between music venues and nearby developments appears to be getting a makeover and a possible delay from a planned early June vote by City Council.That was the feeling of venue owners, city staff…
Monday, April 17, 2017 by Chad Swiatecki
Entertainment & Events
Music omnibus advances as venues await agent of change, licensing moves
The city is touring its early progress in enacting pieces of the Music & Creative Ecosystem Omnibus, a slate of actions designed to protect Austin creatives and venues from further eroding under development pressure. Presentations to the city’s Arts and…
Friday, February 3, 2017 by Chad Swiatecki
Entertainment & Events
Music venues’ ‘agent of change’ proposal faces revisions ahead of spring vote
The city of Austin has concluded its series of public forums on a pair of proposed policy moves that would attempt to draw clear lines of responsibility between new residential developments and creative spaces that are increasingly co-mingling in the…
Tuesday, January 10, 2017 by Chad Swiatecki
Entertainment & Events
Council expected to take up agent of change and entertainment licenses in March
Regulations for live music venues throughout Austin appear to be changing both very quickly and remarkably slowly.At Monday’s meeting of the city’s Music Commission, the dominant topic was the long-proposed “agent of change” principle that is intended to reduce legal…
