Monday
Morning Report
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Internal
The Executive Committee of the Austin-San Antonio Corridor Council meets this Wednesday, January 16, 2:00 pm at the Corridor Council offices in San Marcos, 304 C.M. Allen Parkway. RSVP to council@thecorridor.org.
Corridor Council staff will be in Washington this week with the San Antonio Mobility Coalition visiting Congressional delegations and participating in meetings of the National Transportation Research Board.
Infrastructure
New TxDOT director Amadeo Saenz has begun putting together his upper management team: David Casteel, currently the San Antonio District Engineer, will become assistant director for district operations - overseeing all 25 TxDOT District Engineers - and Phil Russell will take over a newly-created position, assistant director of innovative project development (Congratulations to both of them). Changes start Feb. 1.
After more than nine months of community workshops and open forums, a draft document of the Downtown Master Plan for San Marcos should be completed by early February, planners told The Record last week. Tougher architectural standards and higher densities seem likely in the plan. Details here.
Majed Al-Ghafry has been named San Antonio's new public works director by city manager Sheryl Sculley. Al-Ghafry comes from North Las Vegas, Nev., where he ran public works in one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. He replaces Tom Wendorf, who resigned last year.
The Austin-area Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority has issued a requests for proposals for firms to help finance the next round of toll projects that the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization approved in October (SH 45 SW from Loop 1 S to FM 1626, US 290E from US 183 to SH 130, US 183 from Springdale to Patton, SH 71 E from Riverside Dr. to US 183, and the "Y" at Oak Hill) and is considering taking over design costs on additional projects from cash-strapped TxDOT. Austin Business Journal details here.
NAFTA trade reached an all-time high for surface transportation in October, 2007. Goods valued at more than $74.2 billion crossed the U.S. border into and out of Canada and Mexico, representing an 11.1% increase over October 2006's surface trade and establishing a new monthly record, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The NAFTA partners' previous monthly high of $69.8 billion was March 2007. Surface transportation refers to freight movements by rail, truck and pipeline. About 90 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moves via land transportation. Details.
New Braunfels Municipal Airport got a timeline last week for the airport’s 20-year master plan, including runway construction, park layouts and new hangar spaces.Traffic has increased from about 36,000 to about 90,000 takeoffs/landings in the past three years. "That makes us roughly the 15th busiest airport in Texas with a tower,” as spokesman told the Herald-Zeitung. Details here.
Mayor Betty Ann Matthies of Seguin will seek a second term as mayor in 2008, saying she wants to complete the $14.5 million in projects the voters approved in 2006 for the Destination Seguin program. Among those projects are fairgrounds & coliseum improvements, and Walnut Creek re-development. Details.
"Constructive cooperation" are the key words being used to describe Bandera's new attitude toward planning and development as the city welcomes a newly restructured Planning and Zoning Board and begins to develop fast-growing city's first master plan. Fireworks erupted recently over growth pressures in the town's extraterritorial jurisdiction being hit with an influx of newcomers. See details.
Economic Development
The Seguin Economic Development Corporation has put out a report documenting their successes over the last few years and providing a 10-year strategy for local development efforts. The report includes various facts about the Seguin area, and notes that nearly 30% of Seguin’s workforce is employed in manufacturing, which is more than double the state average. Details and how to see the report here.
If you want to see how commuter rail can affect local real estate values, take a look at this story from the Dallas Morning News about development of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Park Lane station, a new $750 million mixed-use real estate project being built in conjunction with their commuter line. Developers say without the commuter rail station, there would be no market for the development. Story here.
Though there are other more upbeat signs about the American economy, US consumer spending - which has powered the national economy through a downturn in the housing and construction industries and rising energy costs - appears to have dropped off sharply over the last few months. Responsible for about 70% of US economic activity, personal consumption has not declined as dramatically since 1991, according to today's New York Times. Story here.
For those in the Sequin real estate business, SH 130 affords new opportunity for development. The toll road is still three or four years from arriving in this small town east of San Antonio but Sequin is using it as a catalyst for growing today. A number of people are trying to acquire property along the corridor, at this point, there's a lot of speculation. Sequin Mayor Betty Ann Matthis said, "SH 130 is within the city limits, and we annexed it specifically so we could control that growth".
“To paraphrase St. Paul: judgment, advice, and luck, and of these three, luck may be the greatest.” -Charles Fried
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