The Waco Business Newsletter: June 20, 2019
A bi-monthly newsletter investigating the people, places, and policies shaping Waco’s economy.
I'm Austin Meek, Vox of Waco Business News and host of "Downtown Depot," the radio show and podcast tracking the ins and outs of Waco business. Listen live on Fridays at 11:30AM on 103.3 KWBU-FM or stream previous episodes of "Downtown Depot" anytime via Apple Podcasts, NPR, and Waco Business News.
The Waco Business Newsletter: June 20, 2019
L3 Technologies hangars located near Texas State Technical College in Waco.
LOCAL LINKS
Great news for Waco: the merger between L3 Technologies and Harris Corp has been formally approved, creating the sixth-largest U.S. defense contractor, with a market value of $34 billion at the time it was announced in October 2018. While it's encouraging that a low unemployment rate is pushing Waco's economy to record levels, most of those jobs aren't lifting the city's median household income; presumably, many positions at the expanded L3 would provide the six-figure jobs our community desperately needs. (Reuters)
In June's "Small Business Spotlight" presented by American Bank, I featured an Uptown retailer called Way Limited. When an injury during his college football career forced him to the sidelines, Deoryen Thornton started styling fellow athletes; he now travels across the country making sure his clients like Tauren Prince and Royce O'Neal are always dressed to the nines. Even if you've never heard of "street wear," I highly suggest checking out Deoryen's shop at 1621 Austin Avenue. (Waco Business News)
Loren Schwartz, a senior financial advisor for Merrill Lynch, joined me recently on Downtown Depot to discuss how and why she's a champion for diversity. (Waco Business News)
Train Waco, a Crossfit box located at 713 Elm Avenue, is moving from East Waco to the QTI building at Franklin and Valley Mills. Gregg Glime discussed the location change today on Downtown Depot. My personal read is that 1) Crossfit as a concept wasn't readily accepted by East Wacoans, so many Crossfit clients had to travel further than necessary, and 2) someone gave the Train Waco team an offer they couldn't refuse. Their exit opens up 13,000 SF of move-in ready space on the ascendent Elm Avenue corridor. (The Waco-Tribune Herald)
Rendering of the planned Starcity co-living concept to serve Silicon Valley workers unable to find affordable housing.
OTHER LINKS
Affordable housing has become such an issue in California that one startup, Starcity, is developing an 18-story, 800-unit "dorm for adults" in San Jose. (City Lab)
Google is expanding in Austin, taking on 150,000 SF at Saltillo and the entire 35-story, 723,000 SF tower known as Block 185 currently under construction in downtown. This growth will provide space for 5,700 future Googlers, some of whom will (hopefully) see Waco as a viable weekend destination or investment opportunity. The company will also invest $600 million to develop a data center in Midlothian. (Austin Business Journal)
This highway project in Houston is unbelievably bad. Texas will spend $7 billion widening a series of highways and, in the process, displace 168 single-family homes, 1,067 multifamily units and 331 businesses with 24,873 employees. Yikes! (StreetsBlog)
Some cities are beginning to question whether the long-held American ideal of a house, yard, and picket fence is really sustainable in the future. This story and maps offer interesting context and visuals for the growing discussion in many US cities about eliminating single-family zoning. (The New York Times)
Mark Lamster, architecture critic of the Dallas Morning News, gives ten suggestions on how to improve the city to the new Mayor of Dallas, Eric Johnson. Waco would do well to apply many of these points to our city. (The Dallas Morning News)