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Texas A&M Division Eyes $423M Austin Campus

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Texas A&M Division Eyes $423M Austin Campus


The initial design of the new Texas Division of Emergency Management campus. Image courtesy of The Texas A&M University System

The Texas Division of Emergency Management has plans for a $423 million headquarters and emergency operations center in Austin, Texas, the Austin Business Journal reported.

The TDEM is overseen by the Texas A&M University System, whose Board of Regents first approved the project, with a $360 million budget, last November. In February, the board approved a more extensive—and expensive—plan totaling $423 million.

The project reportedly will combine steel-framed and mass timber construction. Work is expected to begin next month.

A new campus with more meeting space

As things stand currently, TDEM occupies offices at 313 Anderson Lane, near the intersection of Interstate 35 and Highway 183, but this location reportedly has limited meeting space. In addition, the agency leases about 25,000 square feet of meeting rooms at a nearby hotel and has also converted 10 to 15 guest rooms there into additional meeting spaces.

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READ ALSO: Top 5 Office Projects Under Construction in Austin


The plans approved in November specified a 296,000-square-foot campus on 48 acres at 4125 S. Farm-to-Market Road 973, east of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The complex would have included a five-story office building and the new state emergency operations center, but the recently approved amendment expanded the scope.

The extra funding will add a 38,000-square-foot sixth floor to the office building, as well as expand the overall property with a 15,400-square-foot warehouse, a 900-space parking garage and a 1,200-square-foot secure facility for the processing of sensitive compartmented information.

The new emergency operations center will be 90,068 square feet and designed to withstand 200 mph windstorms. The building is set to include meeting rooms and spaces for a joint information center, press conference room and GIS workroom.

Austin’s office pipeline soars

Austin had some 4.3 million square feet of office space under construction as of March, representing 4.6 percent of total stock, according to a recent CommercialEdge report. The metro lagged Dallas-Fort Worth, (more than 5.1 million square feet in the development pipeline), but surpassed Houston (about 1.8 million square feet underway).

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Notable office projects that came online in Austin in the first quarter of this year include Uptown ATX ‘s One Uptown, a 381,739-square-foot Class A mid-rise that is part of Brandywine Realty Trust’s 66-acre mixed-use community dubbed Uptown ATX. At full build-out, the campus will include 3.2 million square feet of residential, retail and office space.



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Austin, TX

Father of Texas man killed at 2020 protest decries Abbott’s pardon for convicted killer

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Father of Texas man killed at 2020 protest decries Abbott’s pardon for convicted killer


AUSTIN — Texas Gov. Greg Abbot issued a full pardon Thursday to a former U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder for fatally shooting an armed demonstrator in 2020 during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice.

Abbott announced the pardon just minutes after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles disclosed it had made a unanimous recommendation that Daniel Perry be pardoned and have his firearms rights restored. Perry has been held in state prison on a 25-year sentence since his conviction in 2023.

The Republican governor had previously ordered the parole board to review Perry’s case and said earlier that he would sign a pardon if recommended. The board, which is appointed by the governor, announced its unanimous recommendation in a message posted on the agency website, and Abbott’s pardon swiftly followed.

‘I am a racist’: Daniel Perry wrote, shared trove of racist, anti-protester messages

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A jury in Austin had convicted Perry of murder in the death of 28-year-old Garrett Foster, an Air Force veteran who had been legally carrying an AK-47 while marching in a Black Lives Matter protest. Perry was working as a ride-share driver in July 2020, when he turned his car onto a street crowded with demonstrators and shot Foster before driving off.

When reached by phone Wednesday, Foster’s father, Steve, said the pardon “makes no sense.”

“Looks like our justice system comes down to one person,” Steve Foster said, referring to Abbott. “A jury of peers doesn’t matter anymore… Let’s hope he doesn’t do anything again.”

Whitney Mitchell and Garrett Foster, both 28, pose for a picture provided by Mitchell’s mother Patricia Kirven. Kirven and Sheila Foster, Garrett Foster’s mother, say he was shot and killed at a protest in Austin, Texas on Saturday, July 25, 2020. Mitchell, a quadruple amputee, was not physically hurt.(Courtesy of Patricia Kirven / Courtesy of Patricia Kirven)

Abbott’s demand for a review of Perry’s case followed pressure from former Fox News star Tucker Carlson, who on national television had urged the Republican governor to intervene after the sergeant was convicted at trial in April 2022. Perry was sentenced to 25 years in prison after prosecutors used his social media history and text messages to portray him as a racist who may commit violence again.

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Prosecutors argued at trial that Perry could have driven away without opening fire, and witnesses testified that they never saw Foster raise his gun. The sergeant’s defense attorneys argued Foster, who is white, did raise the rifle and that Perry had no choice but to shoot.

Father of BLM protester slain by Daniel Perry speaks out after Abbott pushes for pardon

Perry, who is also white, did not take the witness stand, and jurors deliberated for two days before finding him guilty.

By Jim Vertuno, The Associated Press





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Austin, TX

Glen Powell inducted into Texas Film Hall of Fame at ‘Hit Man’ premiere

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Glen Powell inducted into Texas Film Hall of Fame at ‘Hit Man’ premiere


AUSTIN, Texas — Glen Powell is now a member of the Texas Film Hall of Fame after the Austin premiere of “Hit Man” at the Paramount Theatre on Wednesday, his latest film with director and fellow Texan, Richard Linklater.


What You Need To Know

  • Austin native Glen Powell was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame on Wednesday at the premiere of “Hit Man” at the Paramount Theatre in downtown Austin
  • The film — inspired by a true story written by Skip Hollandsworth for Texas Monthly in 2001 — centers on a professor who discovers he has a hidden talent as a fake hit man
  • Powell’s rise to superstardom has been driven by his roles in hit movies like “Anyone But You” alongside Sydney Sweeney and “Top Gun: Maverick” alongside Tom Cruise and Miles Teller
  • It’s not the leading man’s first time working with Linklater. Powell starred in the Texas director’s “Everybody Wants Some!!,” “Apollo 10 ½” and “Fast Food Nation”

The Texas Film Hall of Fame honors those who have made a significant contribution to Texas film and inducts new members each year.

It’s not the leading man’s first time working with Linklater. Powell has starred in the Texas director’s “Everybody Wants Some!!,” “Apollo 10 ½” and “Fast Food Nation.”

“Hit Man” premiered on May 15 in Austin, where Powell was inducted into the coveted list of Texas film greats by Linklater and the Austin Film Society.

The film — inspired by a true story written by Skip Hollandsworth for Texas Monthly in 2001 — centers on a professor who discovers he has a hidden talent as a fake hit man.

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Powell has had a recent rise to superstardom with hit movies like the rom-com revival “Anyone But You” alongside Sydney Sweeney and “Top Gun: Maverick” alongside Tom Cruise and Miles Teller.

The Austin native will also star in “Twisters” later this year alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos, a spinoff of the 1996 film “Twister.”

Linklater founded AFS in 1985 to create more opportunities for filmmakers in Austin and Texas and to bring people together through film.



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Glen Powell’s parents hilariously troll him on the Hit Man red carpet in Austin as he’s inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame

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Glen Powell’s parents hilariously troll him on the Hit Man red carpet in Austin as he’s inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame


Glen Powell was celebrating the premiere of his new film Hit Man and his induction into the Texas Film Hall of Fame… though his own parents hilariously trolled him.

The 35-year-old actor returned to his hometown of Austin, Texas on Wednesday, with the premiere and his induction held at the Paramount Theatre.

While he hit the red carpet, his parents Glen Sr. and Cyndy were by his side, holding up signs that poked fun at his fame, using quotes from the 2004 film Mean Girls.

Powell’s mother Cyndy – clad in a black dress – held up a sign that read, ‘Stop Trying to Make Glen Powell Happen.’

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His father Glen Sr. – donning a grey suit – held up another sign that read, ‘It’s never gonna happen.’

Glen Powell was celebrating the premiere of his new film Hit Man and his induction into the Texas Film Hall of Fame… though his own parents hilariously trolled him

Powell's mother Cyndy - clad in a black dress - held up a sign that read, 'Stop Trying to Make Glen Powell Happen'

Powell’s mother Cyndy – clad in a black dress – held up a sign that read, ‘Stop Trying to Make Glen Powell Happen’

Glen Jr.  – who rocked a brown polka dot shirt under a grey suit coat with matching pants and white shoes – took it all in stride, posing next to the signs on his big night.

The Austin Film Society announced in late March that they were inducting Powell into their Texas Film Hall of Fame, in conjunction with this premiere.

Richard Linklater – who founded The Austin Film Society and directs Hit Man from a script he co-wrote with Powell in his screenwriting debut – was proud to induct Powell into the Texas Film Hall of Fame.

‘It’s an honor to be part of inducting a fellow Austinite, my friend and collaborator Glen Powell, into the Texas Film Hall of Fame,’ Linklater began.

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‘The Texas Film Hall of Fame acknowledges Texans who have had a lasting impact on film culture, and Glen has already achieved this milestone,’ he continued.

Hit Man is based on the outlandish true story of Gary Johnson, a seemingly mild-mannered Houston professor who lives alone with his two cats.

What no one knew was he was also moonlighting as a fake hitman, working with the police to help them arrest people who wanted others dead.

The film version – based on Skip Hollandsworth’s 2001 Texas Monthly article – follows Powell as Johnson, whose life is upended when he falls for a woman (Adria Arjona) who tries to hire him.

Glen Jr. - who rocked a brown polka dot shirt under a grey suit coat with matching pants and white shoes - took it all in stride, posing next to the signs on his big night

Glen Jr. – who rocked a brown polka dot shirt under a grey suit coat with matching pants and white shoes – took it all in stride, posing next to the signs on his big night

Richard Linklater (right)- who founded The Austin Film Society and directs Hit Man from a script he co-wrote with Powell in his screenwriting debut - was proud to induct Powell into the Texas Film Hall of Fame.

Richard Linklater (right)- who founded The Austin Film Society and directs Hit Man from a script he co-wrote with Powell in his screenwriting debut – was proud to induct Powell into the Texas Film Hall of Fame.

Hit Man is based on the outlandish true story of Gary Johnson, a seemingly mild-mannered Houston professor who lives alone with his two cats

Hit Man is based on the outlandish true story of Gary Johnson, a seemingly mild-mannered Houston professor who lives alone with his two cats

What no one knew was he was also moonlighting as a fake hitman, working with the police to help them arrest people who wanted others dead.

What no one knew was he was also moonlighting as a fake hitman, working with the police to help them arrest people who wanted others dead.

Powell had worked with fellow Austin, Texas native Linklater on 2006's Fast Food Nation, 2016's Everybody Wants Some and 2022's Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood

Powell had worked with fellow Austin, Texas native Linklater on 2006’s Fast Food Nation, 2016’s Everybody Wants Some and 2022’s Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood

Powell had worked with fellow Austin, Texas native Linklater on 2006’s Fast Food Nation, 2016’s Everybody Wants Some and 2022’s Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, they started discussing ideas on how to the Hollandsworth’s article into a movie, resulting in them sharing a writing credit for the first time, and Powell’s first ever screenwriting credit. 

This is also the second collaboration between Linklater and Hollandsworth, who wrote the January 1998 Texas Monthly article that became the 2011 film Bernie.

Hit Man debuted at the Venice Film Festival last fall and then the Toronto International Film Festival, where Netflix picked it up for $20 million, more than doubling its $8.8 million budget.

The film will have a small theatrical release on May 24 before debuting on Netflix worldwide June 7. 



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