The U.S. Senate is working on a bill that would extend the first-time buyer home credit of $8,000 and add a new credit of $6,500 for homeowners who have lived in their current home for 5 years or more. The new provision, if enacted, would go into effect on December 1, 2009. The new bill…
News
Austin real estate news combined with editorial and opinion.
W Receives Financing: Averts Crisis
The W Austin Hotel and Residences is an important project for downtown Austin. It’s located at the heart of the emerging Second Street District. It’s a $300 million multi-use project including a much-needed hotel, a prominent condo project, retail, and entertainment. It’s the home of the new Austin City Limits studio. Until this week, the…
Secret Congress Avenue Town Home on Market
Although not widely known, there are a small number of private town homes on Congress Avenue between 8th street and the Capital. They are well hidden — when you walk by you would never know that these buildings are private residences. If you have $6 million, if you want to live downtown but need more…
Recession Over in Austin: What Will Happen to Housing Prices
A new report from Moody’s shows that Austin and 78 other metropolitan areas (out of 384 cities in the U.S.) moved from recession to recovery during the month of August. The report labels cities on a four level scale indicating (1) Expansion, (2) Recovery, (3) At Risk, (4) In Recession. Austin was rated as (2) Recovery….
12-Floor “Capital Terrace” Development Proposed
A 12-story multi-use project near the Doubletree hotel on Lavaca and 14th street that was originally announced in 2008 is likely to rise next year. The developer, Palmco, is asking the city council on December 10 for a height variance to allow construction of the 163-foot tall building in an area zoned for construction of…
New Federal Courthouse to Rise Downtown
A bold new federal courthouse is set to rise on the same prime downtown site that Intel abandoned earlier in the decade. With a recent groundbreaking, the project will be constructed on the Western edge of Republic Square Park.During the tough years of the tech bust, the City lobbied hard for the GSA (Government Services…