Austin Mayor Watson Looks to get Aggressive on Growth

Austin’s mayor wants the city to stop coasting on its reputation and start acting more like a dealmaker.

Mayor Kirk Watson is promoting a sweeping economic development overhaul aimed at reclaiming growth that has increasingly flowed to suburbs across Central Texas. The proposal, unveiled this week with backing from several Austin City Council members, calls for a more hands-on approach to courting companies, fast-tracking development and expanding the city’s tax base.

Watson told the Austin Business Journal in an interview that the city has grown “too passive” in recent years, relying on its status as a magnet for talent and business rather than actively competing for deals. That hands-off posture has allowed surrounding communities to capture projects — and the tax revenue that comes with them — that might otherwise have landed within Austin’s borders.

“It’s time to play the prominent role that people expect us to play,” Watson said.

The plan outlines 10 target sectors, including advanced manufacturing, life sciences, semiconductors and artificial intelligence, as well as corporate headquarters and entertainment. But beyond industry targeting, the proposal zeroes in on a development strategy: identifying “shovel-ready” sites, building an inventory of development-ready land and streamlining approvals through a proposed permitting concierge service.

City officials would also be directed to catalog publicly owned real estate within 90 days of the policy’s approval, creating a pipeline of sites that could be quickly marketed to prospective tenants or developers, according to the outlet. Another inventory of privately owned, undeveloped land could further guide investment.

The effort comes as Austin grapples with a soft downtown office market and mounting fiscal pressure. Vacancy in the central business district hit 28.8 percent in the first quarter, according to CBRE, highlighting the persistent challenge of backfilling space. Watson has made clear that attracting employers to the urban core is a priority.

At the same time, the city faces a tightening budget outlook. A recent five-year forecast projects a growing deficit that could reach $122 million by 2030 if property tax rates remain unchanged, according to the publication. Voters already rejected a proposal to allow steeper tax hikes, leaving leaders with few options beyond expanding the tax base.

That reality is shaping the policy’s urgency. The city has already dangled incentives to land projects like a Southwest Airlines crew base and a biotech lab.

The proposal is expected to go before the City Council in early May.

— Eric Weilbacher