Another latest and greatest skyline moment is upon downtown Austin.

The 29-story office tower that will house Google Inc.’s regional offices and several other noteworthy firms is now open for business.

Located at 500 W. Second St. and formally called “500 West 2nd,” the glass and steel structure was developed by Trammell Crow Co. in partnership with Principal Real Estate Investors.

Click to read more at Austin Business Journal.

Renderings emerged Friday of a skyscraper proposed for 600 Guadalupe St. in downtown Austin. Planned to soar more than 60 stories high — perhaps up to 75 — it would be by far the tallest building in the city.

The Lynd Co. of San Antonio and Lincoln Property Co. want to build the mixed-use high-rise on the site of an Extended Stay America hotel, the Austin American-Statesman reports. They plan for 62 stories rising 850 feet, although it could go even higher — into the mid-70 for stories, Lynd CEO Michael Lynd Jr.told the newspaper.

Click to read more at Austin Business Journal. 

BY BRANDI SMITH

After 13 years in commercial real estate in Tampa, Florida, Stacey Gilham made a big move; she packed up and headed to Austin, Texas.

“I underestimated the difficulty moving from one major market to another would present,” she says. “I needed a way to get to know the players in the market as well as to better understand the retailers in Texas, which varied greatly compared to where I had come from.”

The result was Retail Live!, a retail CRE trade event, which Gilham founded in November 2011. The first show was held the next August in Austin.

Click to read the rest of this Article.

Number crunchers would look at the proposed expansion of the Austin Convention Center in two ways: debt and taxes. If those were the only considerations, the push to add more than $600 million worth of additional space and amenities may not seem like a slam dunk.

But if the new debt, funded by hotel guests who pay additional room taxes, ushers in a golden age of tourism and bolsters the local economy, wouldn’t it be a wise investment?

Click to read more at Austin Business Journal.

Construction began recently on a mixed-use project years in the making that will reshape a slice of East Austin directly across I-35 from the Central Business District.

Grading work for the Plaza Saltillo mixed-used development started earlier this month and the players involved — including developers Endeavor Real Estate Group LLC of Austin and Columbus Realty Partners Ltd. of Dallas, plus landlord Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority — hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday to mark the first phase of work.

Click to read more at Austin Business Journal.

Social media giant Facebook Inc. has formally unveiled its multimillion dollar remodel involving four floors at 300 W. Sixth St.

The showcase is a massive interior staircase connecting floors 9-12 and constructed with Facebook’s signature wood used exclusively at many of its facilities — a mixture of Douglas fir and marine-grade plywood.

Click to read more at Austin Business Journal.