Cedar Park officials are planning the next phase of Lakeline Park with a focus on nature-based education and ecological preservation.

The details: Backed by voter-approved 2022 bond funding, Phase 2 design is expected to conclude this spring after community input reshaped priorities. Parks Director Mike DeVito said the updated vision emphasizes trails, signage and programming that highlight the park’s natural environment.

“My vision is that everything we’re doing out there has some educational purpose to it,” Parks and Recreation Director Mike DeVito said. 

What else? Additional improvements are also underway nearby. A planned pedestrian bridge over South Bell Boulevard will link the park to regional trails and the YMCA, with completion anticipated by 2027. Meanwhile, new YMCA amenities—including a pavilion and adventure course—are expected to open in May, further expanding recreational opportunities in the area.

Sichuan restaurant Spicy House opened in Northwest Austin in January.

On the menu: The restaurant serves a variety of Sichuan cuisine such as dan dan noodles, konjac beer duck, pork with spicy garlic sauce and chili oil pork dumplings.

Also on the menu are other meat and seafood dishes, fried rice and appetizers such as scallion pancakes, wontons and spring rolls. 

The drink menu includes a honeydew melon smoothie, red bean ice with popping boba toppings, and a variety of tea drinks such as milk tea, jasmine tea and green tea.

• 11630 N FM 620, Austin

From high school sports amenities to more parks and stores, here are five of the most expensive projects filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in the Austin metro this week.

1. Titan NorthPark IX in Georgetown ($18 million): A 281,213-square-foot warehouse shell building will be built.

2. West Bastrop Village Pond Park ($2.6 million): The 106,000-square-foot park will offer sidewalks, athletic courts, playgrounds and open green space.

3. Gattis Retail Center Bldg 2 and 3 in Round Rock ($2.4 million): Developers will build two shell buildings on a roughly nine-acre tract of land as part of a future retail center.

4. Hendrickson HS Turf Field & Pond Design in Pflugerville ($2 million): Hendrickson High School will replace its existing baseball and softball fields with artificial turf fields. The project will feature a new drainage system and modification of the existing detention pond.

5. Eldorado Expansion in Austin ($1.5 million): Eldorado Cafe will add 4,402 square feet in restaurant space after becoming the tenant of an adjacent suite.

Austin planners have detailed a new citywide strategy to allow taller buildings in various places, in exchange for affordable housing. The proposal responds to direction from City Council last year to revise a similar program, and the impacts of a new state law.

The details: After over a year of sometimes-controversial rezonings and new construction under Austin's "DB90" building program, city planners have proposed a replacement this spring. The citywide density bonus, or DBC, would allow different building heights in different places.

DB90 allowed a blanket 90-foot total of building height for projects that committed to either include some affordable housing, or pay the city fees. Under DBC, additional building height ranging from 0-60 feet beyond current allowances could be tacked on in exchange for affordable housing. City planners said the program's multiple tiers responds to different neighborhood contexts around Austin and a changing housing market.

The Texas power grid is undergoing “generational” growth, experts said during the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ annual summit March 31 in Round Rock. Much of that growth is due to data centers—an industry under scrutiny from state lawmakers as some Texas communities push back against proposed developments.

The big picture: Over 2,000 projects totaling 453,000 megawatts are currently looking to connect to the state grid, ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas said April 1. About 357,000 megawatts of those connection requests are potential data centers, ERCOT documents show.

Looking ahead: Communities should take the lead on discussions about individual data center projects, Vegas told reporters. He said that when “communities that are ready to support those investments,” ERCOT is prepared to help data centers connect to the grid.

During a March 31 discussion on data centers, panelists noted that the projects have an “increasingly high” negative reputation in communities across the state. Austin consultant Eric Goff said developers often need to make commitments to local residents to earn their support for data center proposals.