In the News

Major development could transform Central Austin's Shoal Creek

The Grove at Shoal Creek Bull Creek development

Rendering of The Grove at Shoal Creek

Rendering courtesy of MileStone Community Builders

KVUE — A big development could transform part of Central Austin just east of Mopac bordered by 45th Street, Bull Creek Road and Shoal Creek Boulevard.

The field of grass and bluebonnets would be transformed into apartments and shops. The project would take several years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Garrett Martin, president and CEO of MileStone Community Builders, said he and his development team want to preserve the area's nature while building the neighborhood, called The Grove at Shoal Creek.

"I've been coming here for years with my dogs and it's just a wonderful, wonderful park," said Suzanne McCurley, who lives in the neighborhood.

Martin said to satisfy neighbors like McCurley, they will keep a 12-acre park and four other 1-acre spaces throughout the community. "We really feel like understanding what the folks in the neighborhood want out of the project will enable us to deliver to them as much as we possibly can," Martin said.

The developer will also address traffic, which neighbors are worried about with more people and cars moving into the already congested area.

"We've spent an immense amount of time on traffic and really understanding the existing conditions so we can focus on any additional issues we might add by bringing additional traffic to the roadway networks surrounding the project," Martin said.

Martin said the team has identified critical intersections such as the main one at 45th Street and Bull Creek Road. He said they plan to fully fund improvements, like adding a lane to both streets.

"It sounds like they're really considering the people that come here, so I'm hoping that it will be sensitively done," McCurley said.

As of now, Martin said they don't know the number of housing units in the project, but a high estimate is a little more than 1,200 including spaces to buy and rent at a wide range of prices, a spectrum Martin said would include homes with a price tag starting at around $300,000 and going up into the millions.

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To read the full story, visit KVUE.com.

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Eviction Notice

Major landlords with Austin ties being investigated for illegal rent hikes

Photo courtesy of KVUE

Some of Austin's rent woes could be a result of this alleged scheme.

The Justice Department (DOJ) is suing six of the country's largest landlords, along with RealPage, alleging they took part in a pricing scheme that harmed renters.

We already know the increase in population and businesses moving to Austin raised rental prices. But lawyer and owner of Texas Tenant Law Jennifer MacGeorge said the new DOJ lawsuit could prove illegal rent hikes made it even worse.

"It's about collusion versus competition," MacGeorge said. "It's just about trying to gouge the market and get as much as they can."

The antitrust lawsuit claims six property management companies — Cushman & Wakefield, LivCor, Cortland, Greystar, Dallas-based Willow Bridge, and Houston-based Camden, which have numerous locations in the Austin area — are using software like RealPage. Together, the landlords control 1.3 million apartment units.

According to the lawsuit, the software uses an algorithm to help set rents and privately share sensitive, non-public information with competitors, allowing landlords to align their prices and avoid competition.

MacGeorge said the result is higher rents, for not only residential but commercial properties. She said this type of behavior exacerbates affordability issues and displaces residents and small businesses.

"We're getting rid of people that help the economy sustain itself and be stable, which is what everybody's looking for in this environment where you can't even afford your groceries, and now you're worried about your rent. It's absolutely unacceptable," MacGeorge said.

The lawsuit names the Austin-Round Rock metro area multiple times, saying 30 percent or more of the residential properties in the area are using this type of software.

While MacGeorge mainly represents tenants, she found out some of her landlord clients are using similar pricing strategies to artificially raise prices.

"They are engaging in other practices that are artificially raising prices, such as putting in a rental rate at a renewal that's maybe 20 percent above what the tenant was paying before and leaving it that high only until the tenant moves out and then immediately dropping it," MacGeorge said.

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

rent lawsuit housing market apartments