Bee Cave parkway Nears Completion

BEE CAVE Bee Cave Parkway nears completion After at least six years of planning and construction, Bee Cave Parkway’s grand opening has been pushed back another week so that the road painting and traffic light coordinating processes can be completed, said contract engineer Casey Sledge. “Right now, they’re doing the finishing touches,” Sledge said. Sledge said that they were working with Texas Department of Transportation to coordinate the traffic lights at the intersections where Bee Cave Parkway hits Texas 71 and RM 620, in addition to making some sign changes. “Before Bee Cave Parkway was built, you had this choke point between 620 and [Bee Cave Road] on 71,” City Administrator Frank Salvato said. “Now, people coming from the Lakeway area can go on Bee Cave Parkway instead of everyone coming down on 71.” Both Sledge and Salvato said they expect final adjustments to the road to go off without a hitch, and for the opening ceremony to take place Nov. 13. — Rachel Rice, Lake Travis View LAKEWAY

Central Texas home sales showing signs of a pickup

By Shonda Novak| Wednesday, July 1, 2009, 02:43 PM

Central Texas’ new-home builders started nearly 35 percent fewer homes in the second quarter than a year earlier and closed 36 percent fewer sales, new figures show.

However, there are signs the market may be picking up from earlier this year, because builders started 1,861 new homes in the second quarter, up nearly 53 percent from the first three months of 2009, according Residential Strategies Inc., which tracks the housing market.

“The second-quarter period historically marks a time of increased start activity, based on increased buyer traffic and sales during the spring selling season,” said Mark Sprague, the Austin partner with Residential Strategies. “Homebuilders had very few backlog orders to fulfill during the first quarter and no need to begin any speculative construction, but buyer traffic and sales have increased, marking the need for additional starts during the second quarter.”

For the 12 months ending in June, builders closed 8,978 sales, down 32 percent from the 12 months that ended in June 2008.

From The Austin American Statesman

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