Big-time Development

Massive retail development slated for Southwest Austin near Dripping Springs

Belterra Texas Dripping Springs Southwest Austin

New mixed-use development will serve Belterra residence and those in Dripping Springs.

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KVUE — Construction will begin next year on a major mixed-use project in Southwest Austin.

The development will be between Nutty Brown Road and Belterra Drive along Highway 290. According to developers Crescent Communities and Endeavor Real Estate, it will be 90 acres of retail, shopping and office space. Endeavor Real Estate also developed The Domain in North Austin.

Just outside the Belterra residential community, developers envision shopping, restaurants, urban living and more, promising a destination for people in Southwest Austin and Dripping Springs.

"Belterra now has more than 1,400 residences and hundreds more on the horizon. The time is right to add a mixed-use development to Belterra's offerings as the community and surrounding area are becoming more populated," said Tommy Tucker, residential president for Central Texas at Crescent Communities.

Business owner Mary Clarkson has lived in Dripping Springs for 21 years. She owns a colorful bed and breakfast called 3 Dawg Night. Now deemed the "Wedding Capital of Texas," she says growth in the Hill Country is great for business.

"This is the last, I guess, the last vast space to go expand on," said Clarkson. "New developers, new ideas, new money, and they've got a proven track record so that will be, you know, a good thing."

"I support the growth. It's not my favorite thing all the time, but you know, I support it because it is inevitable," Clarkson said.

Construction on the project's first phase is expected to begin in early 2016.

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Read the full story and watch the video at 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.

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