ROUND ROCK, Texas, Oct. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Don Quick & Associates, Inc. – the largest commercial real estate company in Williamson County – is celebrating 50 years in business in 2020. The company specializes in leasing and sales of office, retail, industrial and land properties throughout Northern Travis and Williamson Counties. Since 1970, the company has solidified its place as a leader in the commercial real estate industry and as a part of their monumental anniversary celebration in 2020, they are determined to become a leader in giving back to the community. In order to achieve that goal, Don Quick & Associates, Inc. is committing to serve 50 charitable organizations from now until the end of 2020. “We believe the best way to celebrate 50 years in Central Texas is by giving back to the people who empower our community every day. These charitable organizations are the heart and soul of this area, and we want to show our appreciation,” says Darren Quick, President of Don Quick & Associates, Inc. Click to read more at www.prnewswire.com.

Steve Medina, the president of Savvy Commercial Inspections, grew up in a low-income El Paso neighborhood, quickly learning he wanted a better life for himself and future family. At 19, he enlisted in the Navy in 1989 and was deployed to an F-18 fighter squadron launching, recovering and maintaining fighter aircraft on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Independence. The dangerous duty of a 19-year-charged with the responsibility of a $50 million aircraft and the safety of its pilot aboard a moving ship with launching and landing aircraft around him was a big part of what he is today. He was discharged at 21 years old, then went to work or an electrical utility company and made a name for himself as a fast learner and hardworking leader. Medina decided to leave El Paso because of cheap labor wages, relocating to Austin in 1996, where his work ethic stood out among crews during the tech boom. Click to read more at www.rednews.com.

Friday, Aug. 9, 2:03 a.m.: This story has been updated to include City Council action and discussion. Thursday, Aug, 8, 11:50a: This story has been updated to include discussion between city and county leaders. With an additional annual revenue stream estimated at $21 million in its sights, Austin City Council voted Aug. 9 to increase the city tax on all hotel stays within city limits from 7% to 9%. Now approved, Austin Mayor Steve Adler said the city will immediately begin banking 70% of that revenue stream—roughly $14.7 million annually—to help pay off a potential $1.3 billion expansion of the Neal K. Kocurek Austin Convention Center. The expansion was supported unanimously by City Council but remains in the air due to a citizen petition aimed at blocking it. The remaining 30% would fund cultural arts and historic preservation budgets. Hotel occupancy taxes, known as HOT, or hotel taxes, are taxes levied on hotel guests. Click to read more at www.communityimpact.com.

AUSTIN, Texas — The tidy Broadmoor office campus occupied by IBM near the Texas capital’s northern edge could hardly be less like the ramshackle patchwork of parking lots and aged buildings that sprawl beside 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. But the two sites are where Philadelphia-based Brandywine Realty Trust is mapping out similarly ambitious development schemes that could transform their respective cities — and the Philadelphia-based company itself. Brandywine is already a dominant office landlord in both cities, with holdings in Philadelphia that include University City’s Cira Centre and FMC Tower buildings, and the One, Two and Three Logan Square towers in Center City. Its 14-acre Schuylkill Yards development is under construction to the west of the 30th Street train station. Click to read more at www.inquirer.com.