AUSTIN | Economic Development

[hookem]

Originally Posted by nicktaylor89

Im not sure you all watch other C-D forums but honestly Austin's might be the most active and interesting of all American pages. Appreciate the fascinating updates so frequently.

NOT C-D! That place is toxic. You mean skyscraperpage.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by hookem

NOT C-D! That place is toxic. You mean skyscraperpage.

Yeah, C/D and Reddit is where you go to piss and moan and read about others pissing and moan. I only care about information and photos which makes SSP the only place to go. And I don't even care for SSP because the forum software is out dated and its owner - while probably a very nice guy - makes no effort to improve the forum.

[JoninATX]

Originally Posted by The ATX

Yeah, C/D and Reddit is where you go to piss and moan and read about others pissing and moan. I only care about information and photos which makes SSP the only place to go. And I don't even care for SSP because the forum software is out dated and its owner - while probably a very nice guy - makes no effort to improve the forum.

Or SSC. I only follow 2 forums.

[Sigaven]

Originally Posted by The ATX

Yeah, C/D and Reddit is where you go to piss and moan and read about others pissing and moan. I only care about information and photos which makes SSP the only place to go. And I don't even care for SSP because the forum software is out dated and its owner - while probably a very nice guy - makes no effort to improve the forum.

It's outdated but hey it still works and we're all used to it it's basically been the same format for like 20 years lol. Kind of nostalgic cause this is the same format as all the video game forums I used to visit. Even the emoticons are still the same after all these years

[N90]

Billionaire Drew Houston, the CEO of Dropbox has decided to permanently move to Austin. Leaving San Francisco behind.

https://www.businessinsider.com/drop...report-2020-11

Could his company Dropbox be next?

[N90]

Originally Posted by N90

Another one, SF to Austin

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biz...texas.amp.html

Wow, just a few weeks ago it was Jon Lonsdale moving to Austin and bringing his firm 8VC's HQ with him and now Drew Houston too. Drew Houston is the founder and CEO of Dropbox and a billionaire.

[ATX2030]

Originally Posted by N90

Wow, just a few weeks ago it was Jon Lonsdale moving to Austin and bringing his firm 8VC's HQ with him and now Drew Houston too. Drew Houston is the founder and CEO of Dropbox and a billionaire.

Perhaps the second richest person in the world will make Austin their primary residence.

https://people.com/human-interest/el...es-bill-gates/

[the Genral]

I'm still trying to figure out if this potential billionaire avalanche is a good thing for the average person in Austin. All I see is soaring property values and taxes. Even up here in Round Rock. This worries me. Should I be??

[freerover]

Originally Posted by the Genral

I'm still trying to figure out if this potential billionaire avalanche is a good thing for the average person in Austin. All I see is soaring property values and taxes. Even up here in Round Rock. This worries me. Should I be??

It is if these fuckers start donating locally to build more museums and shit.

[N90]

You know what will complement the Army Futures Command headquarters in Austin?

If San Antonio lands the Space Command headquarters.

https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Disp...-headquarters/

[N90]

And last Friday in Austin, Governor Abbott met with people from Nasdaq, CBOE Global Markets, Citadel Securities, data center operator Equinix, IEX, Members Exchange, New York Stock Exchange owner Intercontinental Exchange, TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., Virtu Financial and UBS.

This regarding many of these stock exchanges, indices, and firms to move their operations, trading floors, and data centers to DFW.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dal...outputType=amp

They were impressed by what they saw and heard on their visit to TX boys.

[ATX2030]

Originally Posted by N90

You know what will complement the Army Futures Command headquarters in Austin?

If San Antonio lands the Space Command headquarters.

https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Disp...-headquarters/

Totally agree. Plus you have NASA and SpaceX to boot.

[lonewolf]

Originally Posted by the Genral

I'm still trying to figure out if this potential billionaire avalanche is a good thing for the average person in Austin. All I see is soaring property values and taxes. Even up here in Round Rock. This worries me. Should I be??

why would you be worried? look at what these people have done to san francisco, los angeles and seattle!

[N90]

Originally Posted by the Genral

I'm still trying to figure out if this potential billionaire avalanche is a good thing for the average person in Austin. All I see is soaring property values and taxes. Even up here in Round Rock. This worries me. Should I be??

I get what you’re saying but billionaires are not the root issue when it comes to raising property values. A billionaire is one isolated person or a small group of people if you’re talking about more than one. They shouldn’t really be able to disproportionately raise property values in a major city or metro on their own. Austin is one of the leaders in the US for both SFH and apartment construction. So one billionaire or even 3 or 4 aren’t raising Austin’s average or median values up on their own.

What is driving COL up is the thousands of upper middle class people that move from higher COL cities to Austin and outbid the locals on the homes. Or foreign buyers that start bidding wars and pay in cash. And gentrification in historic communities of the city.

The fault goes on elected leaders and the city for not building enough affordable housing or housing in general to keep pace with the demands of thousands of new middle class to upper middle class residents from CA, NYC, and elsewhere

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by N90

I get what you’re saying but billionaires are not the root issue when it comes to raising property values. A billionaire is one isolated person or a small group of people if you’re talking about more than one. They shouldn’t really be able to disproportionately raise property values in a major city or metro on their own. Austin is one of the leaders in the US for both SFH and apartment construction. So one billionaire or even 3 or 4 aren’t raising Austin’s average or median values up on their own.

What is driving COL up is the thousands of upper middle class people that move from higher COL cities to Austin and outbid the locals on the homes. Or foreign buyers that start bidding wars and pay in cash. And gentrification in historic communities of the city.

The fault goes on elected leaders and the city for not building enough affordable housing or housing in general to keep pace with the demands of thousands of new middle class to upper middle class residents from CA, NYC, and elsewhere

Even if 25 billionaires move to Austin it isn't going to raise your taxes by one iota! They are not moving into dense communities! And if one moves in next door - God bless you for your good fortune (living in a neighborhood like that). You won't care about your taxation. It's pennies on the dollar for you.

Additionally, it's places like CA and NY where local and state governments got too involved in the free market which screwed everything up! I highly recommend you not wish this on your communities. The cost of living in these places is not the fault of local governments! And they cannot control it. Try to do so - you end up making it far more expensive OR a much less desirable place in which to live.

Remember - When one lives in a desirable place, the cost of living in said location will increase based on how desirable it is versus other locales. And, as you have already quoted, Austin is one of the leaders in both apartment and SFM home building in the U.S. Those homes are almost exclusively middle class homes!

With regard to buying homes - people moving from CA and NY (and the like) are not driving up the cost of local homes alone. In actuality, they arrive in Austin (San Antonio and Nashville for that matter) thinking they can negotiate a lower cost of said home. They do not engage in bidding wars. They learn very quickly that you cannot negotiate down the price of a home in these locations. So, it is in their best interest to offer asking price or slightly above to secure the "best" price in their mind.

[We vs us]

The cynic in me really thinks its the state income tax situation that sends these folks our way. It's hard to look past the Austin-as-tax-shelter formulation; even better that our quality of life makes the tax dodge palatable.

I think, too, that Austin is just starting to hit a new level of global prestige and influence in the world -- pandemic be damned. Musk helped, but we've been really ramping up the last couple of years aside from him. Maybe we're just high profile enough now that it unlocks X number of rich dudes who think, "yeah, maybe i COULD get even richer in Austin."

[electricron]

Originally Posted by We vs us

The cynic in me really thinks its the state income tax situation that sends these folks our way. It's hard to look past the Austin-as-tax-shelter formulation; even better that our quality of life makes the tax dodge palatable.

I think, too, that Austin is just starting to hit a new level of global prestige and influence in the world -- pandemic be damned. Musk helped, but we've been really ramping up the last couple of years aside from him. Maybe we're just high profile enough now that it unlocks X number of rich dudes who think, "yeah, maybe i COULD get even richer in Austin."

I do not think their only concern is where they could get richer, I believe it has more to do with the business and political climate. The economic climate in California is anti growth today, you can not use more electricity, more water, more land, more anything to be frankly honest. It is extremely tough on any business to grow solely by being more efficient with everything.

When you have to close shifts of your main production plants because there is not enough electricity to keep them open, you too will look for another place to expand your business.

[N90]

Jim Breyer is also a billionaire moving from SF Bay to Austin. Breyer Capital founder and CEO picked Austin as his company's second HQ and the location of his personal permanent home address.

https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/14/fa...s-second-home/

[ATX2030]

Originally Posted by N90

Jim Breyer is also a billionaire moving from SF Bay to Austin. Breyer Capital founder and CEO picked Austin as his company's second HQ and the location of his personal permanent home address.

https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/14/fa...s-second-home/

Austin punches above it's weight. Makes nine with the addition of Drew Houston.

https://austin.culturemap.com/news/c...ito-beveridge/

Michael Dell, tech magnate — $35.6 billion, No. 18. Last year: $32.3 billion.

Robert Smith, private equity entrepreneur — $6.2 billion, No. 125. Last year: $5 billion.

Bert “Tito” Beveridge, vodka tycoon — $4.6 billion, No. 154. Last year: $4.2 billion.

Thai Lee, tech entrepreneur — $3.1 billion, No. 268. Last year: $3 billion.

Joe Liemandt, software entrepreneur — $3 billion, No. 278. Last year: $3 billion.

John Paul DeJoria, hair care and tequila mogul — $2.7 billion, No. 319. Last year: $3.1 billion.

Jim Breyer, venture capitalist — $2.4 billion, No. 353. Last year: $2.5 billion. (Breyer recently relocated from Silicon Valley to Austin).

Brian Sheth, private equity entrepreneur — $2.3 billion, No. 359. Last year: $2.2 billion.

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by electricron

I do not think their only concern is where they could get richer, I believe it has more to do with the business and political climate. .

Yes, I should clarify -- I don't think billionaires are thinking exclusively about getting richer per se -- but will need to move to a place that is adequately connected to their current business, and fertile enough for them to branch out into new directions if they want to.

I know that CA is actively pushing them away for a variety of reasons, and that's pretty well documented at this point. I think what's more interesting is that Austin has hit a level where it can attract these folks independently . . . over other metros like NYC, or DC (or Miami, or Denver or etc). As I said, it feels like Austin is punching on a significantly higher level these days, and this is one of those corroborating data points.