Austin, TX
Understanding what’s going on with I-35’s expansion in Austin
Interstate 35 is one of the major north-south routes that cuts through America’s heartland, connecting major cities like Dallas, Oklahoma City, Minneapolis-Saint Paul.
It’s also the source of major traffic headaches, especially in Austin, where it will soon undergo a major expansion – a $4.5 billion project that could take a decade to finish – that includes new managed lanes, tearing down the upper decks near the UT campus, and a whole lot more.
In this latest installment of The Drill Down, a monthly feature highlighting investigative and enterprise journalism from The Texas Newsroom and our public radio partners across the state, we spoke with KUT News transportation reporter Nathan Bernier. He’s been following the project’s many developments over the years, and he’s just published a comprehensive look at what the construction will entail.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: What are some of the biggest changes happening to I-35 here?
Nathan Bernier: Well, you touched on a couple of them: adding two managed lanes, or high-occupancy vehicle lanes, in each direction. But they’re going to increase the number of general purpose lanes – your standard non-high-occupancy vehicle lanes – at various points.
Of course, tearing down those elevated lanes known as the upper decks, but also sinking the main lanes 30 to 40 feet below ground level through downtown. And that’s going to give the city and the University of Texas a chance to spend hundreds of millions of dollars, if they can come up with the money, to cover those lanes, essentially tunneling them through parts of downtown Austin.
And some other changes as well, such as narrowing the main lanes and the managed lanes from 12 feet to 11 feet wide. And there’s so many pieces to this – you know, we could talk for an hour about it – but those are some of the big changes coming to I-35 through Central Austin, that eight-mile stretch.
» The Drill Down: Investigative and enterprise stories from across Texas
One aspect of all this that has a lot of folks upset is the displacement of people and businesses. This project, as I understand, is going to force out more than 100 homes and businesses. I gather you’ve been talking to some of those people who may be driven out. What are you hearing?
Yeah, that’s one of the main things we wanted to do with this story is to find out who’s affected by it, who’s being impacted. Whether you support the expansion or not, there are harms being done to people along the project length.
And so it’s really just a matter of looking at property tax records and looking at TxDOT documents and just walking up and down the frontage roads to try and find people who are being told they’re going to have to leave. We have a series on that called Driven Out.
One person I spoke to recently is named Carl Judd. He lives in a Deluxe Inn motel right on the highway that’s going to be torn down to create a construction staging area where highway building machines and equipment can be stored. He’s lived in this motel for 11 years and is 69 years old; he’s on Social Security, and he doesn’t know what’s going to happen next.
“What am I going to do? No idea. No idea at all. Because I need a place where – I’m older; I’m set in my ways. I smoke cigarettes. I drink beer,” he said. “I’m entitled to three months notice and possibly relocation expenses, which would be helpful because it’s going to be really difficult to find an apartment for $1,000.”
Austin has the highest rents in Texas, so finding an affordable place near public transit is going to be hard for him.
Let’s talk a little bit about how you went about reporting this story. It’s such a huge topic. How did you approach it? You mentioned that part of it is just getting out on the street and talking with people – but also, you’ve got to break this down in a way that kind of makes sense to a larger audience.
Yeah. It’s very difficult to wrap your head around this project because it is so large and it’s in a very populated area. One of the things that I did was looking through TxDOT’s documents first, because they’ve published thousands of pages of details on this. They’re required to under federal law as part of an environmental study.
And there are so many details buried in these documents that aren’t in the, you know, the executive summary – really interesting stuff. And there’s so many stories in there that I love to get to, and I’m trying to get to them all.
But of course, not all the details are in the documents, and a lot of it does require, as you say, just going down, shoe-leather journalism, knocking on doors and asking people what’s happening to them. Of course, looking at county tax records is a really helpful way to find out which properties are in the new right of way, the expanded footprint, and who owns them.
So it’s a combination of those techniques and filing public information requests with TxDOT to get more details on stuff they don’t make publicly available. For example, I got the calendar of an official who’s overseeing the program to find out who they’re meeting with and try and follow up with those folks to get information.
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Well, any major roadblocks so far? No pun intended.
Well, yeah. I mean, one of the hardest things about this is just how much information there is. And it’s difficult to process, to read through thousands of pages of documents. It’s time-consuming.
TxDOT will answer my questions, but not always to the degree of detail I would like. And they don’t always make officials available for interviews, so sometimes I need to show up at the events where they’re speaking to people and and get them on the record there, when there’s no communications person around.
So what are you working on next, Nathan?
I’m just continuing to look at the impacts of this project on Austin. I’m trying to explain in an unbiased way what is happening, because this is bringing a lot of change. And some people are affected deeply by this. So I think, no matter what you think of the project, people deserve to know about it, because I-35 goes through right through the middle of the city.
We’re talking to more people who are being displaced. There’s also a story that I need to do on a large drainage tunnel that will be up to 22 feet in diameter that’s going to be bored underneath a very populous street in Austin, Cesar Chavez. So there’s so much more to this project to cover. And, you know, it’s an endless source of stories.
And let’s not forget, I-35 is the backbone for U.S. trade with its now No. 1 trading partner Mexico, which has just overtaken China in the most recent numbers.
Can people reach out to you and send in questions or tips or anything like that?
Absolutely. I’d love to hear from people affected by it, or also TxDOT employees or construction company workers if they have information and they want to share it privately, confidentially, to me, behind the scenes. The best way is to email me: nathan@kut.org, and I check that all the time.
Listen to an extended interview with Nathan Bernier in the audio player at the top of this story.
“We’re thrilled to expand our relationship with the team at NRP and our focus on the Affordable Housing market in
The transaction represents Safehold’s second transaction with NRP in
Safehold established a dedicated Affordable Housing team in 2025 and has continued to expand its investment into the sector. Additional information is available at www.safeholdaffordablehousing.com.
About Safehold:
Safehold Inc. (NYSE: SAFE) is revolutionizing real estate ownership by providing a new and better way for owners to unlock the value of the land beneath their buildings. Having created the modern ground lease industry in 2017, Safehold continues to help owners of high quality multifamily, affordable housing, office, industrial, hospitality, student housing, life science and mixed-use properties generate higher returns with less risk. The Company, which is taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT), seeks to deliver safe, growing income and long-term capital appreciation to its shareholders. Additional information on Safehold is available on its website at www.safeholdinc.com.
About The NRP Group:
The NRP Group is a vertically integrated developer, owner, builder, and manager of best-in-class multifamily housing with a mission to create exceptional rental housing communities for individuals and families, regardless of income. Since its founding in 1994, NRP has developed more than 62,000 apartment homes and currently manages over 30,000 residential units. Through its disciplined approach to vetting opportunities, NRP has established a track record of delivering impressive returns for investors. The company’s formidable size and depth of talent provide the experience and infrastructure necessary to execute developments of varying degrees of complexity and scope in both urban-infill and suburban locations, including market-rate, affordable, mixed-income, and senior housing. The NRP Group has been consistently named a largest developer and builder in the U.S. on the NMHC “Top 50” lists, the Top 5 on the Multi-Housing News’ “Top Multifamily Developers” list, named a Top Affordable Housing Developer by Affordable Housing Finance, and has won three NAHB Pillar awards since 2020 for Development, Construction and Ones to Watch. The NRP Group has become the top multifamily developer in the U.S. that creates both affordable and market-rate housing at a national scale. Based on over 30 years of experience and expertise, NRP provides construction and property management services to outside owners and developers. For additional information, visit www.nrpgroup.com.
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/safehold-closes-second-affordable-housing-ground-lease-in-texas-302809796.html
SOURCE Safehold
AUSTIN (Nexstar) – During a Texas Senate Business and Commerce hearing Wednesday, lawmakers heard invited testimony examining soaring property and casualty insurance costs. Testimony focused on the need for more affordable options and the need to address the role of AI.
Increased costs
Amanda Crawford, the Commissioner of Insurance at the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), acknowledged the reality of rising insurance costs for everyday Texans.
“The past few years have been very, very difficult. The average annual homeowner premium in Texas has increased from under $2,000 in 2020 to over $3,500 today. It’s a 79% increase in six years. That is a tremendous burden for Texans, especially for a necessary product like home insurance,” Crawford told lawmakers Wednesday.
Crawford went on to clarify that this increase can be attributed to increases in home values and claim costs related to severe weather.
“Annual homeowners’ losses averaged 5.5 billion from 2015 to 2020, rising to 9.1 billion from 2021 to 2025.” Crawford went on to say that “Last year alone, the National Weather Service recorded 902 hailstorms in Texas. The next closest state, Kansas, had 375.”
Holding insurance companies accountable
Crawford clarified that the TDI requires insurance companies to elaborate on their filings to ensure that Texans are not subject to unfair practices and prices.
“My expectations are that every rate filing submitted to TDI gets a careful review. We examine every statutory filing for statutory compliance. We verify the math, we scrutinize assumptions, we make them show their work”
According to the Texas Insurance Code, the rate review process conducted by the TDI does not explicitly focus on affordability.
“There is not a purpose in there around affordability. It is about driving market competition. It’s about making sure they’re not excessive, but then they’re also adequate. And it’s about having market forces drive the rates that are filed. So I think that’s an interesting perspective when you look at it, because that really frames the whole rate review process as it has been put into law.”
Insurance company officials say they are also focused on affordable costs.
“Our industry is not just saying, hey, legislators go fix all this. We are working all the time to bring down costs. It’s a good business decision because it helps us be more competitive,” said Scot Kibbe, the Vice President for State Government Relations at the American Property College for Insurance Association.
Concerns of price surveillance
Senator Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, questioned whether insurance companies may be using technological advances, such as AI, to participate in price surveillance, a tactic to maximize profits.
“It sounds like, to some extent, every industry, with the advent of technological advantages we didn’t use to have, is able to create a special price just for you to find out your breaking point,” Johnson said.
David Bolduc with the Office of Public Insurance Counsel noted that there are protections in statute against companies charging different prices for the same coverage. But he added that the practice can be difficult to detect.
“I don’t know that TDI has the ability to monitor that. I mean, we hear about it,” Bolduc said in response to Johnson. “I think, if you could do something in statute that would allow us to report it, or would allow TDI to take action about it, that might be useful in terms of monitoring it,” Bolduc added.
Earlier this month, the TDI released a “use of artificial intelligence” bulletin to set expectations on how “regulated entities will govern the development, acquisition, and the use of AI technologies in their operations.”
Crawford says this bulletin will help address price surveillance concerns by reminding companies of Texas Insurance codes related to unfair discrimination and deceptive practices.
“That’s one of the reasons for putting out the AI bulletin, the expectations and the consumer protection around the use of that data, and what they are using that for,” Crawford said.
Potential solutions
Bolduc called on lawmakers to reexamine AI’s role in the industry. He also asked lawmakers to look into making coverage changes more transparent.
“It might be useful to continue looking for ways to be transparent about coverage changes. Notices of material change don’t seem to be working particularly well in the sense that we get a lot of phone calls from people saying they don’t understand what happened to them,” Bolduc said Wednesday.
Billy Crocker, Senior Vice President of Alliant Insurance Services, says the best way to fix pricing is to drive up competition between insurance companies.
“I think creating a lot of competition is the best way to drive this down, both for personal and business lines,” Crocker told lawmakers. “And then that brings the opportunity for access.”
Austin, TX
Forman Capital Provides $28.2 Million Lot Development Loan for a 253-Acre Mixed-Use Project Near Austin, Texas
Forman Capital, a leading private direct commercial real estate lender, has closed a $28,204,026 lot development loan for The Highlands, a planned 253-acre mixed-use community located along Manzano Mile at FM 1431 in Marble Falls, Texas, located on the edge of the broader Austin MSA. The borrower and developer is Rockspring, a Texas-based real estate firm with more than three decades of experience across the state’s most dynamic growth markets.
The Highlands stretches along Manzano Mile, encompassing single-family homes, rental apartments, and retail commercial uses on undeveloped land. The Forman Capital loan will fund horizontal development in advance of vertical construction, which will be performed by other developers and builders, and is expected to start in the fall.
The Forman Capital team that worked on the transaction includes Scott Mehlman, Ty Regnier, Brett Forman and Ben Jacobson.
“Forman Capital has always been drawn to developers who are doing something meaningful — not just building but genuinely adding real value to a community. The Highlands does exactly that, bringing much-needed housing and amenities to a city that has grown faster than its supply could keep pace with. We are proud to support Rockspring’s vision here,” said Brett Forman, Forman Capital Managing Partner.
“Marble Falls and the 71 Highway corridor are benefiting from the same powerful tailwinds driving growth across Texas, with the added advantage of a quality-of-life profile that is attracting both residents and businesses,” said Scott Mehlman, Forman Capital Partner and Chief Investment Officer. “The Highlands is exceptionally well-positioned to meet that demand, and we look forward to seeing this community take shape.”
About Forman Capital
Delray Beach, Florida-based Forman Capital provides private commercial real estate debt and equity financing for transactions ranging from $10 million to $100 million. The firm focuses on short-term construction financing, mezzanine debt, and preferred equity across various real estate asset classes and geographies. Company principals Brett Forman and Ben Jacobson have closed more than $3 billion in commercial real estate transactions since 2004. For more information, visit www.formancap.com.
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