DEVELOPMENT
Major projects to look forward to in the year ahead
2 0 2 1 S P E C I A L E D I T I O N
OTHER STORIES TO FOLLOW IN 2021
TOP STORY OF 2021
Three major mixed-use projects are set to transform large parcels of land in Austin.
MOPAC 360
MENCHACA RD.
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Brodie Oaks Developer Barshop & Oles is preparing to go through a multiyear review process called a planned unit development, or PUD, with the city of Austin before it can start construction. The project would add o ces, retail, restaurant, residential units and green space to a site that currently is a strip mall. Acres: 38 Square footage: 3 million Budget: $1 billion Timeline: construction estimated to start in 2023
A photo from January shows progress at Tesla’s gigafactory plant in southeast Travis County. (Nicholas Cicale/Community Impact Newspaper)
TESLA COMES TO TRAVIS COUNTY
Estimated gigafactory completion: END OF 2021
Tax incentives from Travis County: $ 13.9 MILLION
Jobs expected
5,000+
SOURCES: TESLA, TRAVIS COUNTY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Tesla gigafactory set for completion by year’s end
BY OLIVIA ALDRIDGE
those factories next year,” Musk said in October. “Because of the exponential nature of the scaling up of a manufacturing plant, it will start o very slow at rst, and the output will become very large.” Tesla’s 2,000-acre property at the intersection of SH 130 and Harold Green Road east of Austin shows signi cant site development, with the basic structure of the factory largely erected. Tesla continues to work with Travis County—which has o ered the company approximately $13.9 million in tax incentives—as plans move forward. County commissioners voted in January to support Tesla’s federal request for designation as Foreign Trade Zone, which would exempt the automaker from customs duty payments on materials used in export production.
enough to sustain some level of operations, per American Institute of Architect standards. Giga Texas is expected to create 5,000-plus jobs over the next four years. Tesla is already hiring a number of manufacturing positions for the factory as well as engineers. One recent job posting seeks a manufacturing engineering manager to lead battery production. Musk outlined a broad shift toward in-house battery production for Tesla’s electric cars at the October shareholders meeting, including plans to focus on battery production at a gigafactory under construction in Berlin, Germany. He has not announced whether the Texas facility will have a signi cant focus on battery production. “For Berlin and Austin, we do expect to start delivering cars from
Electric carmaker Tesla’s highly anticipated Travis County manufacturing plant is slated for completion before the end of 2021, with some operations potentially coming online as soon as May. CEO Elon Musk has previously con rmed that the gigafactory will produce the company’s new Cybertruck as well as the Tesla Model Y and Tesla Semi. The $1 billion, 4 million-5 million- square-foot plant, referred to by Musk as Giga Texas, should nish construction by the fourth quarter of this year, Musk said in an annual shareholders meeting in October. But local presentations by Tesla representatives last fall indicated May 1, 2021 as the “ rst substantial completion date”—the time at which construction will be complete
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EastVillage Construction will begin on this Northeast Austin development across from Samsung in February. The project will include apartment homes and hotels along with retail, restaurant and o ce space; a grocery store; and a movie theater. Acres: 425 Square footage: 1.2 million, not including homes and green space Budget: $1 billion+ Timeline: construction starting in 2021, building expected 2028
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Austin FC nears completion on stadiumwith uncertainty ahead
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River Park This mixed-use development from Presidium and Partners Group will include residential units, o ces, shops, restaurants, hotels and more than 30 acres of open space, parkland and trails. The site includes 97 acres rezoned last year and an adjacent 12- acre parcel that is currently the Parke Green shopping center. Acres: 109 Square footage: 10 million+ Budget: $4 billion+ Timeline: 10-20 years for complete project build-out
BY JACK FLAGLER & IAIN OLDMAN
The stadium seats and pitch are in place in Austin FC’s new $242 million stadium in North Austin. The canopy that shades the seats was completed at the tail end of 2020, leaving the interior spaces as the last remaining projects before opening, according to team o cials. While the stadium is on schedule to nish construction by spring, what remains to be seen is if Major League Soccer will have games scheduled to take place on-site. As of publishing time, MLS had not yet announced a start date for its 2021 season or dates for matches. Further, it
Austin FC’s stadium is nearing completion. (Jack Flagler/Community Impact Newspaper)
is unclear at this time if fans will be admitted into the stadium for matches during the start of the 2021 season. The club was set to announce the stadium naming rights with an Austin-based company Jan. 25, after the press deadline for this edition.
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SOUTHWEST AUSTIN DRIPPING SPRINGS EDITION • JANUARY 2021
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