The April 15th episode of The Austin Breakdown brings updates on downtown development, local school districts anticipating recapture payments and transportation projects south of the Colorado River.

Developer eyes demolition of downtown Austin block home to Oilcan Harry's, Coconut Club

A portion of a downtown Austin block home to several LGBTQ bars is in line for demolition as developer The Hanover Company seeks to transform the site into a new mixed-use high-rise. Members of the project’s development team presented initial plans for the demolition and redevelopment of 201-213 West Fourth Street to the Austin Historic Landmark Commission on April 11, which include replacing nightclubs Neon Grotto and Coconut Club with a restaurant on the ground-floor commercial space of the residential tower. The popular drag show venue Oilcan Harry’s would be temporarily relocated during construction and welcomed back into a new space at the tower at a reduced rent.

Local school districts eye looming recapture bills

With home values skyrocketing around the Austin area, one possible consequence is changes to funding for local school districts. In Texas, public school districts may be subject to recapture, also known as the Robin Hood law, which reallocates what the state deems excess tax revenue from property-rich districts to poorer ones. Austin ISD has the highest recapture bill of any district in the state, and as property values rise in the city’s outer edges, other nearby school districts are anticipating becoming subject to recapture, too. Reporter Carson Ganong discusses Pflugerville ISD, Hutto ISD and other Austin-area districts.

Slaughter Lane, William Cannon Drive undergo mobility improvements

As Austin grows, local officials continue to reckon with how to grow the city’s transportation infrastructure to fit the needs of its expanding population. While high-profile projects like Project Connect and the planned expansion of I-35 develop, the city is also putting millions of dollars toward efforts to improve mobility in other high-traffic corridors in growing areas of Austin, like South Austin’s William Cannon Drive and Slaughter Lane. Reporter Glorie Martinez shares the latest on these mobility projects.

Also on this episode...

The city of Round Rock fields noise complaints related to the new music venue Round Rock Amp; Leander City Council files a formal complaint with the U.S. Postal Service Inspector General’s office following reports filed to Leander police for theft allegations of USPS mailboxes in the Crystal Falls area; Austin City Council plans to transform the lakeside property formally occupied by the Austin-American Statesman into a mixed-use campus; and more.

The Austin Breakdown is a production of Community Impact Newspaper. It is produced by Olivia Aldridge with editing by Marie Leonard. Weather and allergy reports are sourced from www.weather.com and AccuWeather. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other major listening platforms. New episodes are released every Friday morning.