Welcome to The Yard

Creative development unveiled near Austin's massive new public market

Austin has an affinity for taking something old and making it new again, revitalizing struggling areas of the city and turning them into hot destinations. The latest of which is The Yard, a new mixed-use development for creative businesses.

The Yard is located near South Austin’s massive new public market Saint Elmo, a $120 million project sitting on over 10 acres of land off South Congress Avenue. Like Saint Elmo, The Yard is transforming a 150,000-square-foot complex into mixed-use buildings for creative local companies, a music venue, food truck court, festivals, and more.

Thoughtbarn and Delineate Studio and commercial real estate experts Scott Ungar, Adam Zimmerman, and Brian Schoenbaum developed the concept for The Yard in collaboration with Civilitude Engineering and the City of Austin. There's a heavy emphasis on design, food, and drink.

“The mission of The Yard is to foster Austin’s creative community and culture,” said Schoenbaum, partner and tenant of The Yard, in a release. “We wanted to create a supportive community for creative and talented business owners to grow and flourish alongside each other.”

The Yard development team has thoughtfully curated its tenants. Businesses set to open in The Yard include St. Elmo Brewing Company, Vuka and Impact Hub Austin, SUP ATX, and The Austin Winery. Drophouse Design, wakaNine, Granite Recyclers of Austin, and Enabler have already opened at the revitalized warehouse campus.

“Every business at The Yard is a master of their craft, whether you’re a coffee roaster, distillery, fabrication shop, or brewery,” said Bryan Winslow of St. Elmo Brewing. “Because of that, joining this community felt right because we knew we’d be surrounded by like-minded entrepreneurs in a collaborative, maker-friendly space. There are not many places in Austin, or the country, that will be like The Yard.”

The official grand opening is scheduled for winter 2016, and The Yard hopes to be a multifaceted spot for Austinites to come together, create, shop, eat, and drink. The Yard is also looking for more creative businesses to jump on board. See the full list of tenants here.

The Yard is a new complex featuring creative Austin businesses.

Rendering courtesy of Thoughtbarn/Delineate Studio

The Yard is a new complex featuring creative Austin businesses.

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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